Hoss

Vegas got a team...

Officially official as Bettman announced Vegas will join in 2017-18. Approval was unanimous, including the strippers. League said it was for three reasons: - league not ready to welcome two new teams at the same time - Canadian dollar - lack of geographical balance Said they are a prime candidate for future expansion.

LeBrun: Milan Lucic via text message says he's headed to UFA market. No deal with Kings. Huge, huge name headed to July 1. Now I suppose Kings still have time to make another new offer but that's how Lucic sees it at this juncture

Here's an idea: Girgensons and a second for Dmitry Orlov. There's a rumor Washington will consider a move of Orlov because of the expansion draft and they want to add a center to their bottom six. Orlov is a lefty.

Shattenkirk is a righty. This doesn't mean he can't play with Risto, but it's worth noting. Buffalo could look to have two legit pairings. They could then likely play McCabe with Shattenkirk and find a cheaper partner for Risto. The increased minutes for this pair also makes it easier to spend less on the third pair.

Stephen Whyno @SWhyno #StLBlues announce they've agreed to terms on a 1-year deal with forward Scottie Upshall.

ArizonaCoyotesNews @AZCoyotesNews NEWS: #Coyotes Sign Goligoski to Five-Year Contract READ bit.ly/28TOsZa pic.twitter.com/hr2lWOrZLD

Friendly reminder: Just because somebody suggests a player could be moved doesn't mean they are undervalued. I just bought Kane's jersey, FFS. I think the guy is awesome and I want him here long term, but we can't pay forwards 99.9% of the cap. He would be the obvious option of big-money forwards to go. He's got two years left on his contract, so if you think he's not somebody you can retain with the new cap structure you'll have in adding Stamkos then it's better to see what teams will give for a player with some control left.

I don't think ERod has any chance of starting in Buffalo while Fasching and Bailey have slight-to-decent chances.

Custance: Hearing Coyotes and defenseman Alex Goligoski closing in on a five-year deal in the neighborhood of $5.5 million per season. Not bad.

They're far less questionable than Johnson is. Especially as full-time starters. Johnson has no experience as a starter. I would pick Fleury and Varlamov over Johnson if I'm looking for a starter. I might choose Reimer over Varlamov and Fleury, though.

I'm not too worried about Calgary for him as they're going to be swinging bigger than a questionable veteran. Varlamov and Fleury sound like the likely targets there. Anaheim could be a team to watch on Johnson. Colorado if they trade Varlamov (would probably elevate Pickard to starter and want a reliable backup).

Disco Dan had a show on ROOT in Pittsburgh and it was hugely popular. I want him and Wilmer Valderrama (as Fez) to host a talk show.

Mercury Morris just started sweating

I think Boston, Toronto and Buffalo will all offer the same - the absolute max. Those are the only relevant teams, in my opinion.

If we do go after and sign Stamkos I imagine we dangle Evander Kane pretty hard for a left-handed dman.

Bobby McKenzie says "don't be surprised" if Goligoski signs a five-year deal with Arizona soon.

The signing bonus he gets would be 10% of the total money he can get. Every team interested will be offering him these terms. I wonder if he'll be pushing for a handshake agreement on playing time and second contract terms (based on performance).

I would absolutely do 8 for Fowler and a piece. I have suggested 8 for Fowler and the Ducks' first dor a while. I imagine we'd have to counter with another piece (like Baptiste or another mid-round pick).

Good stuff here. Vesey's agent says they'll meet Buffalo at the draft and will have talks leading up to August 15th. Wouldn't rule out signing in Buffalo and said they're on his shortlist. Does say he thinks it'd be silly not to stay the course and go to free agencyz

Les Flames sont à la recherche d'un gardien et ont ciblé aussi Semyon Varlamov de l'Avalanche. #tvasports (flames targeting Semyon Varlamov)

I would think they'd 100% NEED to include Kane to make this work financially.

Per Steve Zipay of Newsday the Blackhawks are "seriously kicking the tires" on Evgeni Malkin.

The deal only makes sense if Edmonton really is thinking small for Hall. They should be able to get a much better defender than Hamonic (who is a second-pairing guy). New York would have to add a healthy piece or two to the deal.

I'm highly skeptical of Murphy. He's been throwing out some pretty shaky stuff for a long time. He also reported he was hearing that the NHL was putting off Vegas until Carolina figures themselves out despite the news breaking that day that Vegas was the recommendation.