from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,
- If there are going to be deals you have to look at the goalie market because those are the biggest decision to be made. The Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop, $5.95 million through 2016-17), Anaheim Ducks (Frederik Andersen, RFA) and Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury, $5.75 million through 2018-19) all have contracts to deal with. It has been rookie Matt Murray, a Conn Smythe candidate, who has carried the Penguins to the Cup final while Bishop was injured in the playoffs and backup Andrei Vasilevskiy did a capable job getting the Bolts to the Eastern final. Making $925,000 on an entry-level contract through next season, Vasilevskiy has often been viewed in Tampa as the next guy into the net but that could happen a little quicker based on his post-season success....
- Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has been busy working the phones and is trying to move winger Scott Hartnell, who has a cap hit of $4.75 million through 2018-19. Teams may also be calling to see what’s going to happen with captain Nick Foligno, who has a $5.5-million cap hit through 2020-21 and is coming off a difficult season where he dealt with plenty of injury issues.
- Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli could be a busy man. He’s made it quite clear he’s willing to listen on the No. 4 pick in the annual crapshoot, especially if he’s able to get a top-end blueliner in return. As much as the Oilers need to think about the present, they have to consider the fact they’re going to get a good player with that selection. There is talk teams have been calling the Oilers about forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle. As many as seven or eight teams are looking for top-six forwards at the moment so there’s a strong market.
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