Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Sheldon Souray has 2-years at $5.4 million a season left on his contract, and their aren’t many teams interested. The San Jose Sharks may come calling to replace Rob Blake and add some much needed scoring from the blueline. The Sharks could offer Kent Huskins and Torrey Mitchell. There would be cap difference, so what they do about Marleau and Nabokov would come into play. Would the Oilers give up the 31st overall pick for Kris Versteeg? They would move comfortable with their 45th pick. The Oilers are interested in signing John Scott, a 6-8 defenseman from the Wild organization. “Would the Sabres take Kaberle and give up Derek Roy or Jason Pominville? Probably. Would the Sharks take him for Devin Setoguchi? You bet. Would the Blue Jackets for Jake Voracek. For sure. How about Dallas for Loui Eriksson or Jamie Benn? Try the Bruins for centre David Krejci?” They are not really Brian Burke type placers, but have an offensive upside the Leafs need.
Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch: It’s rumored that the Columbus Blue Jackets have offered Guy Boucher the head coaching position. It would be viewed as a slightly risky move as Boucher has only one year of professional coaching experience. The 38-year old coached the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs this past season, after coaching 3 season in the QMJHL.
Ansar Khan of MLive: After signing Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom, the Red Wings now have $52.3 million tied up in 17 players for next season. Ken Holland would like re-sign Todd Bertuzzi, but his available funds is small. He could offer the same $1.5 million Bertuzzi made last season (possibly less), but Bertuzzi should be able to get more on the open market.
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The New York Rangers plan on improving their team by staying with their organization, letting the young players a chance to develop. From Glen Sather “This has been a long process, and it’s ongoing, but as we go into this summer, our plan is to keep our own players. I can tell you one thing — we are certainly not going to overpay for free agents. If we can improve with a signing that makes sense, we’ll look into it, but we want to give our guys the first shot.” Donald Brashere is done with the team, but has 1 year left at $1.4 million. They will continue to try and trade him. The Rangers have about $12 million in cap space to sign Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. They also have free agents, Jody Shelly, Vinnie Prospal, Erik Christensen, Brandon Prust, P.A. Parenteau, and need a backup goalie and 7th defenseman. They could clear a lot of cap space by putting Wade Redden on waivers and sending him to the minors.
Luke Decock of the Raleigh News & Observer: Could the Hurricanes look to move up from he #7 spot to one of the top-2 draft spots? They have 11 picks in this years NHL draft. The Bruins are tight financially (cap wise) and could to shed some cap space. The ‘Canes could send a 2nd round pick or two, and a lower priced player (Chad LaRose) to move up. The Hurricanes could look to drafting a defenseman, regardless of where they are picking. The team on a whole hasn’t had much luck drafting out recently unless it’s from the OHL or WHL.
