Bruins forward Ryan Spooner is coming off a bit of a down season but despite that, “the interest is out there” for his services around the league, reports CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty. Two years ago, he tallied a career high 49 points but that dipped down to 39 this season while his role diminished a bit as the season went on, a trend that continued in the playoffs where he was a healthy scratch at one point.
The 25 year old is set to become a restricted free agent in July and is due a qualifying offer of $1.1MM, one he will undoubtedly receive whether it’s from Boston or another organization. Haggerty adds that the Bruins gave prospect Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson some indications that he is in their immediate plans for next season and the youngster would likely fit in nicely in Spooner’s spot on the depth chart. There’s no guarantee Spooner will be dealt between now and the expansion draft but it appears that he’s certainly in play as GM Don Sweeney looks to shake up his roster.
Elsewhere around the league:
- The Islanders do not plan to ask either winger Andrew Ladd or defenseman Johnny Boychuk to waive their no-move clauses in advance of the Expansion Draft at this time, GM Garth Snow told Newsday’s Arthur Staple. The challenges that they face are well-documented and if either veteran were to consider waiving it, it would free New York up to protect some other core players from the Golden Knights.
- Although Craig Berube has interviewed for both the head coaching vacancies in Florida and Buffalo, CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio reports (Twitter link) that will not land either job. Berube was the head coach for AHL Chicago this season but with the Golden Knights taking over as primary affiliate for that team next year in place of St. Louis, they have brought in their own head coach with today’s hiring of Rocky Thompson. TSN’s Darren Dreger suggests via Twitter that Berube could wind up as an associate coach with the Blues.
- The Oilers opened up brief contract talks with the agent for defenseman Kris Russell on Tuesday, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports (Twitter link). Both sides have been vocal about their desire for a reunion but Edmonton is expected to deal with a new contract for center Leon Draisaitl and an extension for center Connor McDavid before really getting into more substantive discussions with Russell (or any other free agents). The 30 year old is coming off a one year, $3.1MM pact that he got just before the start of the season and will likely be looking for more on the open market.