Snapshots: Kubalik, Kuraly, Senators

Blackhawks winger Dominik Kubalik is one of the more intriguing restricted free agent cases to watch for this season.  The Calder Trophy finalist had 30 goals during the regular season and was one point off the team lead in their playoff run.  At 25, he’s also eligible for salary arbitration and when you combine that with the other factors, you get a rather rare combination.

However, it’s something that Kubalik hasn’t really given much thought to yet as he told Jay Cohen of the Associated Press that he’s just happy to be back home in the Czech Republic right now and that he anticipates that he’ll speak to his agent about his contract situation over the next couple of weeks.  The Blackhawks only have roughly $7MM in cap space with which to re-sign Kubalik and Dylan Strome plus a goaltending tandem.  It’s safe to say GM Stan Bowman has some work to do.

More from around the NHL:

• Bruins center Sean Kuraly once again missed today’s game against Tampa Bay but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be out too much longer. Head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters, including Matt Porter of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), that Kuraly is listed as day-to-day.  The 27-year-old has missed the last two games of this series and has a goal (a game-winner) and two assists in 10 postseason contests so far.
• While the Senators appear to have their goalie tandem intact for next season already with Anders Nilsson and Marcus Hogberg, Postmedia’s Don Brennan argues that Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion should be inquiring about the availability of Pittsburgh’s goaltenders. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford mentioned earlier this week that he has had interest in both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry and suggested one will likely have to be moved.  While Ottawa has amassed a lot of prospect depth between the pipes (including former Pittsburgh prospect Filip Gustavsson), they don’t have anyone that necessarily projects to be a starter and either of Murray or Jarry would represent an upgrade.