- Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: The Maple Leafs were interested in Jonathan Bernier at the draft, then interest waned a bit, but a source said their interest as picked up again. It’s not clear if an actual offer was made, but Matt Frattin’s name may be involved. Bernier carries a $1.25 million cap hit this year, and will be a RFA next year. Andy Strickland via twitter: Sources are saying that the Kings GM Dean Lombardi wants a specific player from the Maple Leafs and a pick for Jonathan Bernier. Michael Traikos via twittter: Traikos asks Strickland if it could be Nikolai Kulemin? (I didn’t see a response)
- James Murphy of ESPN: The Ducks and Bruins had “exploratory” talks regarding Ryan, but Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli let them know that David Krejci and Milan Lucic are not available. The Bruins have dropped out of the Rick Nash sweepstakes. Reports are that the asking price was any combination of Krejci, Lucic, Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton. Chiarelli had already let it be known that Seguin and Hamilton were non-starters.
- Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area: According to a source, the Sharks haven’t had any discussions with the Blue Jackets regarding Rick Nash in “months.” The Blue Jackets haven’t come down from their insistence of Logan Couture, which is a non-starter. Rumors surfaced that the Sharks offered Dan Boyle to the Rangers for Marian Gaborik shortly after the season, but it fell through when he needed shoulder surgery that will keep him out until December.
- Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald: The Flames still have some items on their to-do list. One of their top priorities is to trade for some muscle and physical presence.
“We’re still having conversations with teams just to see what teams are thinking about and what teams need,” the Calgary Flames general manager said Wednesday. “We know we haven’t addressed our need to be a harder, tougher team to play against. Depending upon what other deals are out there, that’s something we’re still looking at.”
The Flames have a surplus of defenseman, 9 Dmen on 1-way deals. Jay Bouwmeester’s name is still rumored to be available.
“It’s been interesting,” Feaster said. “I thought when Suter went off the market, and even Parise, that you would see more. It’s been slow.”
“I think there are a number of reasons for that,” he said. “I think one of them is now the wait is, ‘what’s Shane Doan going to do.’ And then I also think, there’s still a wait and see on where are things going from a CBA perspective. And do you want to commit money? How close to $70 million do you want to get?”
