Kings center Anze Kopitar is in the final season of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension. However, while the team is hoping to get a new deal in place for Adrian Kempe, that won’t be the case for the captain. In an appearance on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio earlier this week (Twitter link), GM Ken Holland indicated that Kopitar’s camp has indicated that he isn’t looking to sign a new deal at this time and intends to take a year-by-year approach moving forward. The 37-year-old has played 1,454 games over his career in Los Angeles but is at the stage where it makes sense to assess things one year at a time. Last season, Kopitar was still quite productive, tallying 21 goals and 46 assists in 81 games along with nine points in seven playoff contests.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Before he was traded to Pittsburgh, the Oilers showed interest in goaltender Arturs Silovs, relays Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins. However, the Canucks indicated that they would not move him to Edmonton, their division rival. Knowing that Silovs was likely to be claimed on waivers in training camp, Vancouver elected to send him to the Penguins for a fourth-round pick and prospect Chase Stillman. But the fact that Edmonton was discussing Silovs suggests that GM Stan Bowman is keeping an eye on the goaltending market heading into training camp.
- UFA defenseman Tory Dello has inked a one-year deal with Karlovy Vary in Czechia, per a team release. The 28-year-old started the season in Detroit’s system but was traded to New Jersey just after the NHL trade deadline (but before the AHL one, keeping him eligible to play down the stretch). Between the two teams, Dello had eight points in 41 games; this will be his first stint overseas after spending the last five years in the AHL.
- UFA winger Mathias Emilio Pettersen is expected to sign with SHL Djurgarden, reports Hockey News SE’s Mattias Persson. The 25-year-old spent last season with AHL Texas, collecting nine goals and 20 assists in 70 regular season games while adding three points in 14 playoff contests. However, Emilio Pettersen wasn’t eligible to be tendered a qualifying offer last month as he qualified for Group Six unrestricted free agency and it appears he’ll be using that to take a chance at playing in a new league.
Why search the goaltending market Stan, why not just hope one of our prospects has a big rookie year!
Stan Bowman is awful. Remember when he traded for cap room right before the Blues offer sheets came into effect then didn’t match them? Now he’s seriously about to roll into another season with Skinner
I mean before the season that broberg contract was pretty ludicrous but not now. And Holloways was completely worth matching even before his breakout. We could sure use both those guys right about now.
Stan deserves all this bad juju. Him being a God-awful GM who keeps getting jobs because of his name is just the icing on the cake really.