Kings will have a better idea of their cap situation soon
John Hoven: Los Angeles Kings GM Rob Blake: “Once we get Adrian Kempe signed that will help solidify our cap situation, and then we’ll know what we’ll be able to do in free agency to improve our roster.”
Could the Rangers be interested in Evan Rodrigues?
NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts podcast on the New York Rangers: “Someone suggested to me today, and I actually thought this was interesting, he said do you think that NYR would go for Evan Rodrigues as a 2C? I said do you think he can play 2C? He said, yea, I think he could. Just throwing it out there, this is a player btw”
Some free agent options for the Capitals
Tarik El-Bashir: (mailbag) Washington Capitals coach Peter Laviolette and GM Brian MacLellan are not on the hot seat at all. They dealt with injuries last season and will start next season without Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom and Carl Hagelin.
Three UFA forwards that would help the Capitals but won’t come cheap are Ilya Mikheyev, Andreas Athanasiou and Frank Vatrano.
Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin could cost too much. If picking between the two, would pick Kadri and he’s been linked to them.
Leafs don’t have a lot to work with
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t be able to afford to re-sign Ilya Mikheyev, who could be looking for $5 million. They’ll need to find his replacement.
They still need to re-sign RFA defenseman Rasmus Sandin, and talks may not be going smoothly. If signed, they’d have seven defensemen under contract. Trading Sandin makes little sense.
GM Kyle Dubas needs to re-sign RFAs Pierre Engvall and Ondrej Kase.
The Leafs need to move Petr Mrazek’s $3.8 million as they have little space for a starter. Darcy Kuemper, Ville Husso and Marc-Andre Fleury are options.
Will they look to move Justin Holl ($2 million) or Alex Kerfoot ($3.5 million)?
They should not trade William Nylander.
