According to Dave Pagnotta, the Canucks and Kraken are among the teams that have talked to the Islanders about Nick Leddy.
The Islanders will need to cut some salary to make room for Adam Pelech’s new contract, which figures to be around $6 million per season if they give him reasonable term.
The Islanders have been rumored to be shopping Leddy in a trade, as measure to prevent losing him in the expansion draft without compensation. Leddy carries a cap hit of $5.5 million next season.
Darren Dreger reports that there has been no movement on the contract negotiations with the Colorado Avalanche and captain Gabriel Landeskog.
On the 31 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman says (9:30) that the two sides aren’t close, and that Landeskog is upset with the progress in negotiations. Landeskog wants a 7- or 8-year deal and the Avalanche aren’t there, or at least weren’t initially, and are apart on AAV. Friedman says that teams are getting it out there that they would be interested in him, and the St. Louis Blues are number one on that list. He notes that Landeskog is very close with Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly. He lists Los Angeles, Nashville and Boston as other teams that might have interest.
On 31 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman says (21:50) that “everyone thinks” the Kraken will select Chris Driedger from Florida and sign him. He also says that Montreal expects that Jake Allen will be selected now that the Habs can easily protect both Joel Edmundson and Ben Chiarot. He says they are interested in Braden Holtby, but not at his full salary. Presumably they would only claim Holtby if the Canucks incentivize it for them.
Friedman says the Kraken will “undoubtedly” take a couple goalies in order to flip them to another team.
In our Mock Expansion Draft in May, Seattle claimed Driedger, Cam Talbot, Joey Daccord, Adin Hill and Vitek Vanecek and traded Hill and Vanecek.
The New Jersey Devils have acquired Ryan Graves from the Colorado Avalanche.
The second round pick is the Islanders’ pick, 61st overall.
The move appears to be expansion draft motivated as the Avalanche would have had a choice between exposing Graves or protecting 4 forwards and 4 defenseman and leaving an additional 3 forwards unprotected, likely including Joonas Donskoi.
With Graves in the fold, the Devils will have a choice between protecting Jonas Siegenthaler or P.K. Subban, who has 1 season left on his contract at a cap-hit of $9 million.
Ben Bishop will waive his no-movement clause for the expansion draft, reports Matthew DeFranks.
This will allow the Stars to protect Anton Khudobin, who is signed for two more years at a cap hit of $3,333,333. 22-year old Jake Oettinger is exempt from the expansion draft.
It is unlikely Bishop will be claimed, as he’s signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $4,916,666 and has lingering injury issues.
Frank Seravalli reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche have identified Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper as a primary trade target.
Seravalli notes that the teams are still negotiating with Frederik Andersen and Philipp Grubauer but are obviously considering other options, including Kuemper. Kuemper has 1 year remaining on his contract with a cap-hit of $4.5 million and salary of $5.5 million. He reports Arizona’s internal budget is rumored to be around $65 million, so expect them to shed Kuemper’s salary.
If the Coyotes move Kuemper quickly, it will open up space to protect Adin Hill in the expansion draft.
In other goaltending news, Seravalli reports that teams have asked the Rangers about Alexandar Georgiev, but the Rangers would like to see a 1st round pick coming back for the young goalie. Don’t bet on that one.
According to Andy Strickland, the Bruins and Taylor Hall are moving towards a new contract for the winger.
The Bruins acquired Hall at the trade deadline from Buffalo. If they do reach an agreement, the Bruins will likely wait until after the expansion draft so they won’t feel the need to protect Hall.
The Leafs have granted Zach Hyman permission to speak with other teams, reports Darren Dreger.
As it appears the Leafs won’t be able to come to an agreement with Hyman, they will hope that another club will come to an agreement with the winger so they can trade his rights for likely a mid-round draft pick.
Hyman has been connected to the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers.