“You always keep an eye on that first day of July, you see what teams do and where players go. It’s always interesting,” Richards told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “There’s always something that surprises you. That’s why I want to keep everything open-minded. I’ve talked to people that have been through it and there’s always things that come out of nowhere and you want to be open-minded to receive all that stuff. It’s probably my last contract, so you want to set yourself up where you have a chance to win and feel comfortable.”

“Every day, it gets closer. I’m starting to think about it a lot,” Richards said. “It’s a very unique time, but also a little bit stressful. It’s going to be a very important decision. It’s exciting in a good way. It’s a big moment. It’s starting to hit me that it’s getting close, whereas a month ago, I would sit back and not really worry about it.”

Petr Svoboda, Jaromir Jagr’s agent,

“We had more discussion yesterday with Detroit and Pittsburgh,” Jagr’s agent, Petr Svoboda, told ESPN.com on Wednesday morning. “Jags may be talking with [Pens GM] Ray Shero and maybe [owner] Mario [Lemieux] today, so hopefully we’ll be further along after that. Hopefully we’ll have some news, one way or another, soon.”

On Jagr using NHL interest to get more money from KHL,

“It’s absolutely not true,” said Svoboda. “I’ve heard that, but it’s not true. I mean, there’s always that option if things don’t work out with [the NHL], but this is not about trying to get more money from [the KHL]. I know Jags wants to come back to the NHL and for the right reasons.”

On Teemu Selanne’s future,

“Teemu hasn’t decided whether he’s going to play or not,” Selanne’s veteran agent Don Baizley told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “If he plays, it’s going to be in Anaheim.”

Paul Kariya may play it safe and retire. Talks between Kevin Bieksa and the Canucks are progressing. The Coyotes and Bryzgalov don’t have a deal and are still far enough apart that a deal could go either way.

“We’re intrigued,” Holland said, “like we were with Dominik Hasek and Mike Modano. He was an elite player in his prime. He’s 39 years of age. If he decides to come back to the NHL, he’s coming back for all the right reasons. Whether he comes to Detroit or another destination, the great ones, even when Father Time is against them a little bit, they’re still pretty good players.”

Holland has made an offer to free agent Jonathan Ericsson of around $2 million a season. He’s in talks with Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller.

“I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of the team,” Howson said. “It may turn out that taking the pick is in the best interest of the team.

“I want to make changes. I want to add high-end skill guys who can make an immediate difference. But you can’t force people to do something that you want them to do. So we’ll see how it plays out.”

“I think moving down is a more realistic possibility,” Nieuwendyk said. “Our guys feel that after a certain point in this draft there are a number of good players and you’d be happy with acquiring any one of them. We don’t have our third round pick, so trying to get an additional pick is something that will definitely be discussed.”