Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Wednesday Hockey Thoughts

05/18/2016 at 11:44am EDT

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Much of the trade speculation around the upcoming draft surrounds Edmonton at number four, but is it possible things really begin with Columbus one pick higher?

The conventional wisdom is the Blue Jackets will go with Jesse Puljujarvi there, as Toronto and Winnipeg are expected to take Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine one-two.

Columbus needs centres as much as anything. If the Jackets believe Puljujarvi can play there long-term, it’s a no-brainer. If not, could they trade down a couple spots, add an asset and still get, say, Logan Brown? Might be something to consider.

- Word on Chicago’s negotiations with Andrew Shaw — a restricted free agent — was that there was some “small progress” but no new talks were scheduled. The Athletic’s Scott Powers, who is in Russia, did get some confirmation from Blackhawks’ GM Stan Bowman. Bowman said he is waiting for the official cap number before figuring out how to make it happen.

- On unrestricted free agent-to-be Loui Eriksson: there were some conversations when Boston GM Don Sweeney and agent J.P. Barry were both at the World Under-18s in North Dakota. There are plans to talk again in the near future. Sounds like both sides searching for more common ground.

- Anaheim has some critical negotiations to close. Frederik Andersen, Hampus Lindholm, Brandon Pirri, Rickard Rakell and Sami Vatanen are all restricted free agents needing new deals. They’ve been at this for awhile with everyone but the recently acquired Pirri with not much success.

We’ve expected the potential trade of a surplus defenceman, and that’s still possible. But, what’s also interesting is that a couple of terms have heard the Ducks are considering having some of those individuals play next season under their qualifying offers if nothing long-term gets worked out. That doesn’t happen much anymore, although teams would undoubtedly love to see someone bring back that precedent so they could all use it.

The risk is you run into a Subban-esque situation, where the player gets annoyed, doesn’t forget it and makes you pay even more in the long run. We’ll see.

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

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.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

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