On the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs …
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: Many are thinking that the Tampa Bay Lightning will trade Steven Stamkos’ negotiating rights soon.
Talk is there could be issues between Lightning GM Steve Yzerman and head coach Jon Cooper. Cooper apparently has had difficulty with Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Drouin and Nikita Kucherov may not be fan either.
Don’t expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign players to one year deals and then look to trade them at the deadline as they may not have the roster space this year.
On the Detroit Red Wings …
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Pavel Datsyuk‘s agent, Dan Milstein is confident that the Red Wings will be able to trade Datsyuk’s $7.5 million salary cap hit, but GM Ken Holland isn’t as optimistic Milstein.
“He’s hoping we can free up the cap space,” Holland said. “Pav will feel better. And I will feel better. Red Wings fans will feel better. But if there is not a taker, if the price is significant in the sense that I have to trade a player that I think is going to play in the NHL for 10 years, for a one-year window of opportunity and you might get to July 1 – lots of these players that are potentially free, they are going to re-sign with their teams. That’s historically what’s happened.”
The Red Wings would need to trade the cap hit before July 1st so they can get into the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes. The Arizona Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes are two options. The Wings could take back a contract in the $2 million range as well.
“I’ve been talking to a small group of teams that have expressed some interest. People are looking for assets. We have to determine how much future you pay.”
