from Damien Cox of Sportsnet,

This year, with such a seemingly weak free agent class, you’d think the mistakes that lead to buyouts will be minimized. Then you see Colorado give Carl Soderberg that money and you imagine that Wednesday’s opening day of free agency could see all kinds of money thrown at players simply because they are available without having to be acquired via trade.

It will be fascinating to see what kind of money is offered to players like Mike Green, Antoine Vermette and Matt Beleskey. Some GMs, however, think agents and players better be ready to make very quick decisions before the money dries up.

“The money that’s there on July 1st may not be there a few days later,” said one GM.

Interestingly, the Bruins and Rangers made decisions on the weekend to avoid tying themselves to long-term contracts they deemed excessive by moving Dougie Hamilton and Carl Hagelin, respectively. In other words, both teams demonstrated it’s still possible to say, “No.”

Other weekend takeaways:

— Most people believe the Kings will bounce back next season after missing the playoffs, and adding Milan Lucic should help. Still, it’s worth remembering that L.A. gave up its first round pick (No. 13) to get Lucic, and has already surrendered its first round pick next season in another strong draft year.

much more