The Penguins have made no progress in discussions with restricted free agents Brian Dumoulin and Conor Sheary, GM Jim Rutherford told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He added that he expects both to “probably” go through the arbitration process. Both players are coming off contracts that paid them below $1MM and will likely at least triple their previous contracts when they sign their next deal. Pittsburgh has money to work with still as they have a little more than $10MM in cap space per CapFriendly at the moment.
Other notes from around the East:
- While the expectation is that the Bruins are waiting to re-sign RFA David Pastrnak before seeking a deal with unrestricted free agent Drew Stafford, CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty suggests that the fact that there hasn’t much talk about a new contract suggests that Boston isn’t all that interested in keeping him. Haggerty thinks they won’t offer him much more than a PTO deal given their prospects that are on the cusp of making the big club and what is a perceived lack of interest elsewhere around the league. The 31-year-old slotted 21st in our free agent rankings last month with a projected two-year, $4.5MM deal.
- Nolan Patrick will not be participating in the upcoming World Junior Summer Showcase (which opens up on July 28th), the Flyers confirmed to NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman (Twitter link). The second overall pick from last month is once again dealing with a sports hernia, the same injury that cost him a big chunk of the season, but he is expected to be fully ready in time for training camp in September.
The Bruins need another veteran winger to play with Krejci. They can’t expect 2 rookies to come in & have instant chemistry with him. I can see that happening with one, but two is pushing it. Krecji needs a veteran scorer to help him. Whether that is Stafford or Vanek or whoever, he needs at least one vet on his line & Backes isn’t the answer because that really didn’t work at all last season. Also, Vatrano has had difficulty staying healthy so it is hard to consider him a reliable option on Krejci’s wing.
The Bruins are relaying way too much on these “prospects”. I mean what are the odds that all these guys pan out? Being afraid to acquire someone who is already NHL established b/c they’re afraid of “blocking” guys is ridiculous.
Ridiculous is right. Welcome to the current management styles of the Boston Bruins front office. When the bear growls rrrrrrr, the R stands for ridiculous.
They need at least 1 of Stafford, Vanek, and Jagr, if not 2… this is ridiculous. Also, if all the kids pan out, even if you’re competing, the name is still worth a pick at the deadline. Especially the last 2 guys. If Jagr only plays 12 minutes a game down the stretch for you because Bjork scores 20 goals or whatever, he can still get you pick at the deadline because he’s Jaromir Jagr.