from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Sounds like Edmonton checked in on Ilya Kovalchuk. Not a bad idea, actually. But it won’t happen.

- Before deciding on Don Waddell as his general manager, Carolina owner Tom Dundon did a phone interview with the Oilers’ vice-president of player development, Scott Howson. Also: It appears that the number of teams contacting the Hurricanes about Jeff Skinner is growing.

- Finally, there were some rumblings the Kings were moving along with Drew Doughty. Blake said the heavy lifting will come in June. “This won’t surprise anyone, but I sat down with him 1-on-1 after the season and outlined our plan for the next four to five years. We want him here, and he knows how much.”

many more Thoughts...