Jim Jamieson of the Vancouver Province: Guys, hold you breath … Sami Salo left night’s game, and is out indefinitely with a suspected ruptured testicle.
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Red Wings could have a similar look next season. Some teammates and front office people think the Nicklas Lidstrom will be back next season, and the hope is that he’ll do it closer to $6 million rather than his 2009-10 salary of $7.45 million. Tomas Holstrom should receive a contract, and Todd Bertuzzi could get one as well. RFA’s Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller should be getting offers as well.
Ken Warren of the Ottawa Sun: Warren thinks the Ottawa Senators should not bring back Anton Volchenkov next season. Volchenkov already turned down a contract extension and could be looking at a deal in the 5 year, $22.5 million. If he was to take around $3.5 million, that would be okay, but it sounds like he’s looking for the big payday. The Sens may be willing to let him go.
Gregg Krupa of the Detroit News: One area the Red Wings may look to improve this off-season is the supporting cast, and overall depth. They could use some toughness, and some extra scoring. They lost a lot of goals before this past year. They probably won’t have the cash to add a big scorer, though there really isn’t much on the free agent list. The Wings could also look at moving Chris Osgood, if another team feels he could be a #1 goalie still, even though he’s 37 years old.
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The NY Rangers will look at bringing in a backup goalie, with Martin Biron and Johan Hedberg apparently at the top of Glen Sather’s wish list.
Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The St. Louis Blues don’t appear to be in a rush to make contract offers to RFAs David Perron and Erik Johnson, talks with both are just beginning . Johnson is not eligible to receive an offer sheet since he missed a year of service with a knee injury. Perron is eligible to receive an offer sheet, and the Blues as an organization are okay with having their RFAs pass the July 1st date if they are not ready to meet the contract demands. Doug Armstrong will be taking over as team GM Larry Pleau on July 1st, and will handling contract negotiations before that. Erik Johnson was the 1st overall pick back in 2008, and will probably be looking for a big deal.
