from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

- There is a strong belief that given the fact the Arizona Coyotes have $18 million in cap space, that UFA centre Antoine Vermette, who won a Cup with the Blackhawks, will simply return to the desert on July 1. He is comfortable there. Makes sense.

- One of the bigger surprises this weekend is the inactivity by St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong. After deciding to keep coach Ken Hitchcock and the club’s staff, there was a strong belief the Blues were going to be aggressive in making changes. The Blues have made the likes of forwards T.J Oshie and Patrik Bergland available, but haven’t been able to get anything done and that has to be disappointing for Armstrong. After making an early exit from the playoffs (again), the Blues can’t afford to go back with same old, same old. A league executive told me in the weeks leading up to the draft that the Blues were one of the most aggressive teams in trying to make changes. That certainly didn’t happen this weekend.

more