NHL Rumors: Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, and Penguins
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed forward Oliver Bjorkstrand to a five-year contract extension worth $27 million, a $5.4 million AAV.
Blackhawks prospect goaltender looking for a trade …

Scott Powers: Ivan Nalimov was under contract in the KHL this offseason when the Blackhawks signed Kevin Lankinen. It’s hard to say what his trade value is, but his agent said they are hopeful that the Blackhawks trade his rights before the start of the season.

Nalimov thinks he can play in the NHL at some point, and didn’t think the Blackhawks were aware that Nalimov would be okay with playing in the AHL.

The Blackhawks potentially have three goaltenders for the AHL – Lankinen, Delia, and Forsberg – and Nalimov doesn’t see a route to the NHL with the Blackhawks.

Blue Jackets and RFA Bjorkstrand aren’t far apart …

Aaron Portzline: Sounds like the Columbus Blue Jackets and restricted free agent forward Oliver Bjorkstrand are “close” on a deal. There is no timeline on when it could get done, but it’s sounding like they aren’t far apart.

Aaron Portzline: The Blue Jackets weren’t interested in talking to defenseman Ryan Murray about a long-term deal. (He signed a one-year deal)

Penguins still watching the trade and free agent markets …

Josh Yohe of The Athletic: The Pittsburgh Penguins roster is basically filled out. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said that a making a trade is still a possibility and they’ll continue to look at the free agent market in case someone slips through.

“It’s don’t like to answer this question about trades because when you answer it one way, something changes,” he said. “We stay in the loop with what’s going on, I’ll put it that way. And if something comes along that makes sense, we’ll consider doing it. But right now, we’ve accomplished what we tried to do. We got more balance. We’re deeper. We’ve done that. So I’m comfortable if this is the group we have entering the season. I think it’s going to be a good, competitive training camp. One of the areas I keep a closer eye on when you get to mid-July is free agents. Every year, there are guys who slip through the cracks, guys who didn’t get the deals they were looking for on July 1. Sometimes a player like that becomes available. We’ll keep an eye on that.”