from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- I asked Dallas GM Jim Nill about Kari Lehtonen and he came back at me with a question: “How many games did he lose last season, including playoffs?” Uh, 15? “Thirteen,” he answered.

So that means you’re not buying him out? “No, we’re not buying him out. That last game is not a full reflection of the season. Nobody remembers the game before where he stood on his head. He's disappointed, and the team is disappointed. We finished second overall, and everybody is focussed on the playoffs. Something went right too, you’ve got to be careful.”

- Here’s another question I posed to Nill. Is there any chance he re-signs Jordie Benn, but lets Jason Demers, Alex Goligoski and Kris Russell walk? That makes Stephen Johns, Julius Honka and John Klingberg his right-side defenders; some combination of Benn, Esa Lindell, Patrik Nemeth, Johnny Oduya and Jamie Oleksiak on the left.

“I can see what you’re thinking there, and it’s possible,” he replied. “But there’s a fine line between development and playing to win. We’re going to sit down over the next two weeks as a group and discuss this. We had a great season, but we’re still in our infancy. We’re going to get younger, yet. Bigger and faster. I’d like to bring back one of them, but if we can’t find a way to make it work, that could happen.”

Nill wouldn’t comment, but the suspicion is Goligoski is the target. We’ll see.

- There’s a lot of smoke around the Rangers, too. Rick Nash’s no-move is gone, but he does have some control, 12 teams he can be traded to.

It sounds like there is legit interest. He’s got a big ticket, and that makes it more difficult, but it’s not impossible. Remember he’s got plenty of fans in the organization who know he was hurt last season.

If he’s healthy, he makes a big difference. And, is he more valuable with one year remaining in his contract, not two? The Rangers also have centres. And, everyone is looking for centres. They’re going to be interesting to watch.

much more including the draft, UFAs and other team topics...