NHL News: Seattle, Senators, Coyotes, Bruins and Predators
Reports from Russia say Nikita Zaitsev was the Ottawa Senators who contracted the virus, but it may have been a false positive.
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Seattle still on track

Pierre LeBrun: Everything remains status quo with the expansion calendar for Seattle. A source is saying that so far nothing has changed with regards to their timeline.

Reports from Russia on Senators player who may be infected

Igor Eronko: There were reports out of Russia that the Ottawa Senators player who had contracted COVID-19 was defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.

  • Igor Eronko: “To be clear: I heard Zaitsev had a false positive test. His dad doesn’t comment”

Darren Dreger: The NHLPA continues to talk with the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and the San Jose Sharks who were the teams that the Senators played against just before the shutdown.

Coyotes sign Ryan McGregor

Arizona Coyotes: The Arizona Coyotes have signed forward Ryan McGregor to a three-year entry-level contract. Terms were not released.

McGregor was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2017 draft. He played in four games for the Toronto Marlies (AHL) in 2018-19.

Alexander Kinkopf: On McGregor: “All-time GP leader (286) for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting; 228 points (90G, 138A) over five seasons and served as team captain the previous two. Turned 21 in January.”

Bruins sign two to entry-level contracts

Cap Friendly: The Boston Bruins have signed defenseman Nick Wolff and goaltender Jeremy Swayman to entry-level contract.

Wolff signed a one-year deal that kicks in next season. He’ll carry a salary cap hit of $792,500 with an AAV of $925,000.

Swayman signed a three-year deal that kicks in next season with a salary cap hit of $925,000 with an AAV of $1.05 million.

Predators sign Cole Smith

Nashville Predators: The Predators have signed forward Cole Smith to a one-year, two-way contract that kicks in next season.

“He is a big, strong guy who has gotten better every year,” Predators Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel Jeff Kealty said. “If you talk to the people at North Dakota, they just rave about the character traits that he has – his competitiveness, his drive, his physicality, all those ingredients he adds to a team in a winning environment. We feel like he’s going to be able to add all of that to our organization.”