On the Canucks …
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Canucks and Radim Vrbata haven’t held any contract extension talks. The Canucks may be waiting to see how the Canadian dollar effects the salary cap. Teams will get a cap projection from the league next month.
On the Blackhawks …
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Blackhawks are getting calls on defenseman Trevor Daley. LeBrun senses that Daley may be a bit frustrated with his role with the team, and it hasn’t appeared to be a good fit for the Blackhawks so far. There should be a market for Daley, and it’s doubtful the Blackhawks are in a rush to move him. The Penguins are one of the teams looking to add a defenseman, but his cap hit ($3.3 million – salaries of $3.1 and $2.7 million) might be an issue for the Penguins.
On the Rangers …
- Andrew Gross of The Record: While he’s not a 100 percent certain, Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle is leaning towards retiring after the season. He is in the final year of his two-year, $9 million deal. Being away from his two young daughters is getting harder “more and more every year.”
“You miss a lot of things,” said Boyle, whose daughters, Eastin and Wesley, are 7 and 5. “At a certain point, you don’t want to miss it any more.”
Retirement is not for sure though.
“Again, nothing is for sure,” Boyle said about retirement. “For some guys, it’s physical. For me, physically, I feel fine. It’s mentally, having kids and being away.”
There isn’t much of a chance that the Rangers would offer him a contract for next year if he decides he wants to play.
On the Devils …
- Tom Gulitti of The Record: The Devils will look at Tyler Kennedy (PTO) over the next 10 days and then make a decision.
“No,” Shero said. “I think some of the guys have done good jobs, but, like with anything, you’re always looking to try to improve your roster and add depth whatever it is. We’ll see if we have to make some moves. There’s no determinations being made or evaluations. It’s more him joining the team and see where it takes us.”
“Whether it’s starting in Albany and playing some games there, we’ll see.”
The Devils haven’t thought about sending Patrik Elias to Albany of the AHL on a conditioning stint.
