DeAngelo’s camp brought up the mutual termination
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: It was Anthony DeAngelo‘s camp that brought up the idea of a mutual termination of his contract with the New York Rangers. The idea was contingent on DeAngelo being able to get a contract in place with another team.
A source said that he was close to reaching an agreement with the Montreal Canadiens that would have made DeAngelo ‘whole’ after the termination for this year. It’s not known if the Canadiens’ interest was contingent on DeAngelo willing to sign a multi-year deal afterward.
Seattle expansion draft protection decisions for the Predators
Adam Vingan and Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic: Nashville Predators Mattias Ekholm‘s name was in the rumor mill ahead of trade deadline. Protection decisions for the expansion draft was one of the reason his name was out there. GM David Poile said that he’s not losing Ekholm in the expansion draft.
“I’m not losing Mattias Ekholm in expansion, if that’s what you’re asking me,” he said. “I’ve got that covered.”
Roman Josi has a NMC, with Ryan Ellis and Dante Fabbro also requiring to be protected. Ellis had his name in the rumor mill as well, but it’s unlikely they’d move him.
If they went the eight skater route with the four defenseman, two of the spots would be filled by Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg.
Mikael Granlund is a pending UFA that won’t need to be protected. The Predators would be interested in bringing him back, but it would likely have to wait until after the expansion draft.
Could the Predators leave $8 million centers in Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen unprotected? It may take a sweetener for the Seattle Kraken to take one of the two centers.
Other teams may be looking to the Kraken to help out their cap situation are well – Tyler Johnson (Lightning), Jordan Eberle (Islanders), James van Riemsdyk (Flyers), and maybe Jason Zucker (Penguins).
Kraken GM Ron Francis on the idea of taking on a high AAV contract.
“It’s situation by situation,” he told reporters. “It’s going to depend on the player. It’s going to depend on the dollar amount of the contract, the AAV, the term of the contract. It’s going to depend upon what that price is. We’re certainly open to having those discussions, but it’s almost a case-by-case evaluation as to whether it makes sense for us or not, short-term or long-term.”
