Snapshots: Blues, Trade Targets, Radulov
St. Louis Blues beat writer Norm Sanders analyzed the situation the Blues find themselves in as the draft and free agency approaches. After signing both Scottie Upshall and Dmitrij Jaskin, the Blues still have a number of decisions facing them. Sanders writes that Jaden Schwartz will be signed first as he’s been dubbed a “priority signing” by general manager Doug Armstrong. He also names defensive Kevin Shattenkirk as a candidate to be traded since he’s approaching the final year of his contract. Sanders also makes note that his name has constantly been floated as being moved to another team. As for captain David Backes, Sanders writes that unless an agreement is had, Backes would be a much sought after free agent.
- Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury must feel like he’s either back in high school or in a hockey soap opera. Fleury has been the subject of trade rumors ever since the emergence of Matt Murray during the 2016 Stanley Cup playoff run. Interesting then that his name only comes up as #14 on Frank Seravalli’s TSN Top Trade Bait mentions. Fleury’s name was all over the hockey world as being moved to Calgary until Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford announced that he wasn’t aggresively shopping the former #1 overall pick. Seravalli put the aforementioned Shattenkirk as his #1 target to be dealt while Pavel Datsyuk‘s contract sits at #2. The Edmonton Oilers stand as having the most targets likely to be moved with Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, Jordan Eberle, and their 4th overall pick in this year’s draft being tagged.
- NBC Sports Pro Hockey Talk’s Ryan Dadoun scouted free agent Alexander Radulov and what it would take to land him. Dadoun writes that Radulov is purportedly looking for a 2-year/$15MM deal but that might not happen for a player who left the NHL for the KHL and was reported to be a locker room liability. Most teams are comfortable with a 1-year deal to see if Radulov’s KHL successes transfer across the ocean. PHR ranked Radulov as the 11th best free agent on the market and predicted that he would land with Capitals for just over $5MM.
Snapshots: Schedule, Shattenkirk, Salary Cap, Coyotes, Red Wings, Malkin, Dallas Defense
The NHL released their 2016-17 schedule on Tuesday. Here are some of the important dates:
Wednesday, October 12: Regular season begins
January 27-30: All-Star Break
Tuesday, February 28: Trade deadline
Sunday, April 9 Final day of the regular season
Elsewhere around the league:
- The market for St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk appears to be heating up, writes Joe Haggerty of CSN New England. Boston, Edmonton, and Philadelphia have already expressed an interested in acquiring Shattenkirk who is one year away from unrestricted free agency with a cap hit of $4.25MM. Haggerty also notes that Shattenkirk is looking to play on the East Coast following this coming season.
- Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that teams should learn the salary cap figure for next season at some point today. If the NHLPA exercises their 5% inflator, an option given to them each season in the CBA, the cap should be somewhere around $73MM.
- The Coyotes are open to trading up or down from the seventh overall pick in Friday’s NHL Entry draft, writes The Arizona Republic’s Sarah McLellan. GM John Chayka acknowledged he received a “pretty impressive offer” last week with regards to trading down in the draft.
- If Detroit wants to move the cap hit of now-retired Pavel Datsyuk, GM Ken Holland may have to give up a top young prospect. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that other teams are asking for 2015 1st rounder Evgeni Svechnikov or speedster Andreas Athanasiou to be included as a sweetener for them to take on Datsyuk’s $7.5MM cap charge.
- Steve Zipay of Newsday hears that the Blackhawks are “seriously kicking tires” on Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin. Considering Chicago is in a tough spot with their free agents and cap situation, they would have to find a way to clear up a lot of cap space in order to take on Malkin’s $9.5MM contract.
- Dallas GM Jim Nill said Tuesday that he expects free agent defensemen Jason Demers and Kris Russell to test the free agent market, reports ESPN’s Craig Custance. Nill noted that they’re content going with a younger group of defenders.