Maroon really, really wants to stay
Lou Korac: Unrestricted free agent forward Patrick Maroon really wants to stay in St. Louis but limited salary cap space likely won’t allow it to happen.
The Blues need to lock up some of their restricted free agents.
Maroon would like to wait until they get things settled but he may not be able to afford to sit around and wait.
The Blues don’t plan on moving Allen
Jeremy Rutherford: The St. Louis Blues have no plans to trade goaltender Jake Allen this offseason.
Allen has two years left on his deal at a $4.35 million and is expected to be with the team next year.
The Blackhawks may not be done making moves
Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago: The Chicago Blackhawks have traded for Calvin de Haan, Olli Maatta and Andrew Shaw, signed Ryan Carpenter and Robin Lehner, and acquired prospects John Quenneville and Aleksi Saarela.
They may not be finished making moves either. They potentially have three roster spots open with just over $2 million in cap space.
They still have unsigned RFA Brendan Perlini. Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Sikura could make the team out of camp.
Potential trade candidate Artem Anisimov received his $2 million bone last week and he no longer has a modified no-trade clause. He carries a $4.55 million cap hit but only $5 million in salary for the next two seasons.
Brandon Saad has also had his name in the rumor mill but he’s not really a cap clearing move. The Blackhawks would want equal or close to equal value if they were to move Saad.
If Perlini’s contract talks don’t progress well he could be another trade option.
With eight NHL contracts on the blue line, moving one could be an option as well.
“I think we’re in a good position with the cap,” Bowman said. “We’ve really got sort of a pretty full roster now. Whether this is the way we start camp or tweak a few things, I think we’ve come a long way in the last month. If you look at where we were a month ago and where we are today, we’re a much, much better team and we’re well positioned to have a good season.”