from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

- The Wild were already in the market for a center. Their search will amplify following the arrival of Bruce Boudreau. The ex-Anaheim coach got results with the Ducks, partly because of his team’s 1-2 center punch of Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler. Boudreau would like a similar setup in Minnesota, where Mikko Koivu is becoming more suited for matchup play than offensive production. The Wild have depth on defense. The Oilers do not. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins might be a player of interest for Boudreau and Wild GM Chuck Fletcher. In turn, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in place, Edmonton is in a position of strength at center. This may be the time for the Oilers to deploy Nugent-Hopkins as trade collateral to improve their defense.

- Dallas GM Jim Nill is in a tough spot with his goaltending. Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi are under contract for two more seasons at a combined annual cap hit of $10.4 million. Nill, formerly Detroit’s assistant GM, may consider Jimmy Howard an upgrade over both goalies. But it would take some maneuvering to move Lehtonen or Niemi to make room for Howard, who otherwise projects to be Petr Mrazek’s backup.

- The Panthers chose to re-up Erik Gudbranson to a one-year, $3.5 million deal instead of extending the right-shot defenseman long term. This indicates the Panthers aren’t sold on the Gudbranson, despite his 26:54 of ice time per game, highest of all team defensemen, in the first round against the Islanders. The 24-year-old Gudbranson, picked third in 2010 after Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, is of the age where high-end defensemen sign multiyear contracts.

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