In today’s rumor rundown, the Dallas Stars and Tyler Seguin are talking again and may be closer to working out a deal prior to the start of the season. In Columbus, things don’t look as promising as the team and star players Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky don’t seem to be on the same page. Eric Staal has made it known how he feels about the Minnesota Wild and Darnell Nurse may miss camp for the Edmonton Oilers.
Seguin and Dallas Talking Again
After earlier saying he was “disappointed” when it came to the status of his contract situation in Dallas, Tyler Seguin and the organization got back together almost immediately after that and began talking again. According to Mark Stepneski of NHL.com, belief is things are going well and GM Jim Nill said, “We are deep in discussions. It’s moving in the right direction. We’ll go from there. I’d like to get it done before the season starts, but with negotiations, you never know. But I think both parties would like to get it done before.”
Getting a deal done would be huge for the Stars who could then go into the season without the distraction of Seguin being arguably the biggest free agent available next summer or the worry of having to trade him versus losing him for no return. Speculation is the team would like to get a long-term deal done for the same price as Jamie Benn’s $9.5 million per season.
Related: NHL Rumors: Seguin, Pacioretty, Trouba, More
Jackets May Not Start Season With Biggest Stars
With the future contracts for Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky still uncertain, the Columbus Blue Jackets are setting the stage for a potential season that starts without their two stars.
GM Jarmo Kekalainen spoke regarding the progress of new deals for both players and things aren’t looking good. He’s open to moving either player if the right offer presents itself and Kekalainen told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he couldn’t commit to either phenom being on the Opening Night roster next month:
He said:
“In this business, there’s always talks between the general managers whether you’ve got pending free agents or not. We talk regularly. Sometimes there’s trades. So I’m not speculating on them. I’m just saying we talk all the time, so I wouldn’t say about any player whether they’re a pending free agent or not that they’ll be on our team in October because anything can happen between now and Oct. 3”
Kekalainen said he expects to have to make some important decisions if the sides can’t work out new contracts. He mentions that he would like to keep both players and that hopefully both would like to stick with the team.
There is some speculation as to which teams may be the most interested and Florida’s name has come up for Panarin. When asked if the team was close to a deal, however, beat writer Aaron Portzline responded with “Nope”.
Related: NHL Rumors: Panarin, Pacioretty, Flyers, More
Eric Staal Wants to Stay In Minnesota
Wild center Eric Staal recently told NBC Sports’ Sean Leahy that he’s looking to stay in Minnesota after his deal expires. After a couple really strong seasons with the Wild, the team has a decision to make about the 33-year-old and whether or not taking a chance on a new contract that will pay him more than his current team-friendly $3.5 million does is worth the risk.
It was reported last month that new GM Paul Fenton wants to wait to see how Staal performed this season before deciding. The good news here is that if Staal is making it know he wants to stay, potentially the team can get him re-signed without having to commit to a long-term deal or they can convince him at his age to take another team-friendly deal.
Related: NHL Rumors: Zetterberg, Nurse, Voynov, More
Darnell Nurse May Miss Some Time at Camp
Recently, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal noted Darnell Nurse and the Edmonton Oilers weren’t close to a new contract yet and Nurse’s agent Anton Thun said that there is nothing imminent and that his client won’t be attending training camp without a new contract. Nurse said of the situation, “This is an organization I want to be a part of obviously.” He said he wanted to be out there for first day (camp physicals).
Darren Dreger recently appeared on The Nielson Show over at TSN 1260 and suggested he’d be surprised if a contract isn’t finalized before the season starts but that the Oilers wouldn’t likely pay more than $3 million per season on a two-year bridge deal. He believes the team is fairly firm on that number.