One of the more intriguing defensemen still available on the open market is Chris Lee. The 36-year-old has yet to play in the NHL but is coming off a strong season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL (where he led all defensemen in scoring with 65 points in 60 games) while also making a strong impression with Team Canada at the World Championships back in May.
Accordingly, his agent Peter Cooney told Ken Campbell of The Hockey News that five or six NHL teams have kicked the tires with regards to Lee’s asking price. The holdup seems to be that no team is offering a one-way deal as of yet and Cooney noted that if the best offer that’s received is a two-way one, he’ll stay overseas where suiting up in the Olympics would be a distinct possibility.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- While some have wondered if free agent winger Jaromir Jagr could potentially go back to Pittsburgh to end his career, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that GM Jim Rutherford has no interest in bringing Jagr in. The 45-year-old played spent 11 seasons with the Penguins from 1990-91 through 2000-01, collecting 1,079 points in just 806 games. While he’s undoubtedly past his prime, Jagr did put up 46 points in 82 games with Florida last season, showing he can still produce at the NHL level.
- Unrestricted free agent defenseman Ryan Culkin, who wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer by Calgary last month, has inked a one year deal with AHL Tucson (affiliate of the Coyotes), the minor league team announced. Culkin split the season between the AHL and ECHL levels and while he was productive in the latter (12 points in 16 games), he didn’t have much success in the AHL as he was held off the scoresheet in a career-low 19 contests.
Jagr is the complete opposite of what the pens are, of course they won’t bring him in.