from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

- General manager Ron Francis made it clear that the priority at this point is to try and sign Staal to an extension.

"I’ve had a general and open and honest conversation with Eric’s agent on things," Francis said Saturday. "We’ll continue to have those as we move into the summer. Eric has indicated he wants to be part of the Hurricanes moving forward, and we’ll see if we can get that worked out."

- General manager Jim Benning shed a bit more light on the deal that wasn’t completed with San Jose for Bieksa on Friday. It fell apart because the Canucks wanted a second-round pick in this year’s draft and the Sharks were only willing to provide a second-rounder next year.

"Going in, the market place dictates that Johnny Boychuk went for two second-round picks," Benning said, citing last fall’s deal between the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders. "Kevin is a little bit older. That’s what our asking price was [a second-round pick this year]. I don’t think it’s too much, I think it’s fair. That’s what we were trying to get if we were going to move Kevin."

But for now, Bieksa remains a Canuck, although sources suggest Vancouver is talking to other teams.

"He’s still part of our team. We’ll continue to explore options and see where it goes," said Benning.

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