Snapshots: Stamkos, Shattenkirk, Bruins, Canucks, Coyotes, Datsyuk
Saturday is shaping up to be an important day in the Steven Stamkos saga, writes TSN’s Frank Seravelli. The interview period with pending unrestricted free agents kicks off on Saturday, meaning that the Lightning have less than 48 hours left of exclusive negotiating rights with their captain. As a result, GM Steve Yzerman may have to deliver his best offer to Stamkos by Friday before other teams have an opportunity to make their pitch.
Other news and notes around the league:
- The market for St. Louis D Kevin Shattenkirk is starting to head up. Seravelli writes that the Blues would be willing to allow teams to talk extension with him but that they need a trade partner first. Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds that while there are a lot of teams interested, no extension talks have been held. Shattenkirk has one year left on his contract at $4.25MM and will be an unrestricted free agent after.
- The Bruins are likely to take one more stab at re-signing pending UFA Loui Eriksson, reports WEEI’s DJ Bean. Boston has been unwilling at this point to go beyond a four year contract to get a deal done. Bean adds that the team has held talks with W Lee Stempniak and D John-Michael Liles but will not bring back D Zach Trotman or G Jonas Gustavsson.
- Vancouver GM Jim Benning met with the media Thursday. He noted (and the team tweeted) that the Canucks will not re-sign pending UFA W Radim Vrbata and defensemen Matt Bartkowski and Yannick Weber.
- The Arizona Coyotes have selected a new arena site and are working through the legal documentation, reports AZ Central’s Craig Morgan. Their lease with the City of Glendale expires following the 2016-17 and the management contract for the Gila River Arena was taken away from the team and awarded to AEG back in April.
- Several teams have been in discussions with Detroit regarding Pavel Datsyuk‘s contract, according to ESPN’s Craig Custance. There is an opportunity to expand the market to more teams if the Wings are willing to retain part of his $7.5MM cap hit but Custance notes that they don’t have much of an appetite to do so.
Snapshots: Blackhawks, Avalanche, Canucks
Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman shrugged at Evgeni Malkin rumors reports Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. Bowman touched on a number of subject while speaking to the media on a conference call. Bowman confirmed that while he has been in talks with Andrew Shaw‘s agent, no progress has been made. A source revealed to the Tribune yesterday that both Shaw and possibly Marcus Kruger could be moved if need be. Regarding the Malkin rumors, Bowman indicated he wouldn’t comment on individual player rumors. The noise regarding Shaw and Kruger’s availability only intensified the speculation that Chicago was truly investigating a trade for Malkin. Speculation, Bowman insists, is just that and that discussions will be ongoing during a time where general managers are working in close quarters.
Other news around the NHL:
- The Denver Post provides insight as to what to expect when the Avalanche select at 10th overall during tomorrow’s draft. Possibilities at forward include Alexander Nylander, Michael McLeod, Tyson Jost Clayton Keller, Max Jones, or Logan Brown. On defense, the Post lists Olli Juolevi, Mikhail Sergachev, and Jakob Chychrun as possibilities. Director of Amateur Scouting Alan Hepple was quoted as saying that they don’t believe any goalies are worthy of a Top 10 pick.
- Ed Willes of The Province writes that Milan Lucic has to be at the top of Vancouver’s wish list. Yesterday, Lucic and the Kings broke off negotiations, enabling Lucic to hit the open market. While the winger is expected to have a number of teams after him, the former Vancouver Giant indicated that he was keeping his options open once July 1 hits.
Canucks Re-Sign Sven Baertschi
The Vancouver Canucks have announced the re-signing of forward Sven Baertschi to a 2 year contract. The deal will pay him $1.7MM in 2016-17 and $2MM in 2017-18, resulting in a cap hit of $1.85MM. That represents a sizable jump from the $900,000 in salary he earned in 2015-16.
Baertschi played in 69 games with Vancouver last season, posting career highs in goals (15), assists (13), and points (28) while averaging 13:27 per game in ice time.
The 23 year old was originally a first round pick of Calgary (13th overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft before being traded to Vancouver at the 2015 trade deadline. In his career, Baertschi has played in a total of 138 NHL games, scoring 25 goals while adding 33 assists.
The Canucks still have a pair of restricted free agent forwards to re-sign this offseason, Emerson Etem and Linden Vey.
Former Canucks Goalie Cloutier Hired As Team’s Goaltending Coach
The Vancouver Canucks have hired former goalie Dan Cloutier as their new goaltending coach, the team announced Tuesday.
#Canucks name Cloutier goalie coach; Melanson now goalie coach, player dev.
RELEASE → https://t.co/ocOTFpUVpepic.twitter.com/EW1how2B2E
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) June 14, 2016
According to the release, former goaltending coach Roland “Rollie” Melanson will now work with the Canucks goaltending prospects in the AHL, CHL, and NCAA. He was the Canucks goaltending coach for the last six seasons, working with Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider, Eddie Lack, Jacob Markstrom, and Ryan Miller. In April, Melanson announced he would not return for a seventh season in that capacity.
Cloutier has spent the previous four seasons as a goaltending consultant for the Canucks, working with their prospects. He played 208 games with the Canucks between 2000 and 2006, posting 109 wins with a .906SV% and 2.42 GAA.
Of course, we all remember Cloutier for one specific moment of his career: