On John Carlson …
Ray Ferraro: (answering question) John Carlson won’t be signing five years, it would be seven years around $7 million a season. “Can’t believe for a second he would sign in Canada.”
On Slava Voynov …
John Hoven: Defenseman Slava Voynov is still playing, but once his KHL season is over he is expected to explore NHL options. It will likely be an offseason of legal and NHL obstacles that they will have to overcome.
On the Vancouver Canucks …
JD Burke of The Athletic: Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 tweeted last week that the Canucks would be interested in pending free agent center Tyler Bozak if he hit the open market.
Bozak is 32-years though and may not fit into their development plan. GM Jim Benning has said they may look to some veteran free agents to help mentor their young players and to fill the gap while other develop.
Signing someone like Bozak to a one- or two-year deal and use a deadline trade chip could make sense. Going three to five years for Bozak may not be a good ideal.
On the Dallas Stars …
Sean Shapiro of The Athletic: (mailbag) May not be against the idea of packaging some younger players who are bottom-six players for a legit top-six scoring option.
Don’t like the idea of 35-year old Ilya Kovalchuk even if it’s on a one-year deal. Kovalchuk may be looking for a multi-year deal and a signing team would be responsible for his cap hit if retired early again.
Would be shocked Valeri Nichushkin didn’t return to the Stars next year.
If the Stars feel 2017 first round pick Miro Heiskanen is ready for top-six NHL action next year, he’ll remain with the team. If they see him as their No. 7, they’ll send him to the AHL.
Wouldn’t rule out the idea of the Stars looking at Canadiens Alex Galchenyuk. The teams have a history doing trades.
Find it hard to see Kari Lehtonen being back next season. The price to trade for Joonas Korpisalo would be high. Michael Hutchinson could be an option. Carton Hutton would be an ideal backup for the Stars, but he may not interested in signing on as a backup.
