Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Dreger's 'Off-Season Watch': on Heatley and Malone, Kesler's situation, Hawks, etc.

06/25/2014 at 2:46pm EDT

ESPN's Pierre LeBrun posited a set of "Rumblings," and TSN's summarized a similar amount of rumor fodder posited by Darren Dreger:

Patience is a Virtue: Minnesota Wild forward Dany Heatley and former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Malone may have to be patient in free agency according to Dreger. Dreger says their willingness to take one-year contracts will draw attention from more teams. The Lightning used their second compliance buyout on Malone on Tuesday while Heatley will become an unrestricted free-agent on July 1.

Canucks Complex Dealings: The Vancouver Canucks are still trying to trade Ryan Kesler but this is a complicated negotiation. It's believed Kesler has identified just two teams in the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks. That puts rookie general manager Jim Benning and the management of the Canucks in a tough spot because they're just negiotioation with the two teams. Maybe it's possible that the Canucks try to pull in their horns in an effort to encourage Kelser to expand his list.

Blackhawks Hope to Keep the Band Together: GM Stan Bowman and the Chicago Blackhawks are very eager to make sure the star component remains intact for a lengthy period of time. We're talking about how the new CBA is going to impact the superstar model of player and certainly Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews qualify as such. No longer is it allowed to frontload and go with that 10, 12 or 15-year mega-deal. Now we know it's a maximum of eight years so it's not inconceivable that, as long as the salary cap climbs to around $75 million in 2016 that Kane and Toews could come in around $11-12 million each.

The "Off-Season Watch" continues, and Dreger reports that Daniel Alfredsson's going to be "flexible" with his decision-making timeline. It is possible that, should the Boston Bruins don't re-sign Jarome Iginla, both Iginla and Alfredsson could be Wings next season.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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