NHL Rumors III: Blackhawks, Richards Recapture, Zidlicky, Isles and Selanne
  • Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times: The Blackhawks won’t give up on Kris Versteeg and still view him in their future plans. Versteeg had offseason surgery last year and GM Stan Bowman said that sometimes it takes a full year for a full recovery. The Blackhawks could use some depth down the middle, but they won’t be rushing 19-year old Teuvo Teravainen.
  • CapGeek: A look at a Brad Richards cap recapture penalty that the Rangers would receive if Richards retired before his contract ended: 2014: $2.167 million for 6 years.  2015: $2.966 million for 5 years. 2016: $4.166 million for 4 years. 2017: $5.666 million for 3 years. 2018: $5.666 million for 2 years. 2019: $5.666 million for 1 year. Richards has made $33 million from the Rangers for the first three years of the contract. If he was bought out, it would be $45.6 million for three years.
  • CapGeek: Devils Marek Zidlicky’s new one-year contract contains a no-trade clause. He will get a $250,000 bonus for 10 games, 15 games, 20 games and 25 games.
  • Pierre LeBrun: Sources are saying the World Cup of Hockey is likely to be in 2016.
  • Ken Campbell: Gary Bettman on Islanders owner Charles Wang and the potential sale of the team, he “is continuing to consider his options.”
  • Ken Campbell: Teemu Selanne when asked if he’s changed his mind on retiring: “Not yet. I’ll have to see how my golf game goes.”