Latest NHL Buzz: Agents in no rush to establish market

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*Several agents and GM's (including Pens GM Ray Shero) are in Slovakia for the World Championships and discussions are going on but don't look for a flurry of signings for impending free agents to happen in the next couple weeks.

With it being early May, there is no incentive for agents to establish the market. Most agents like to wait until after the draft to engage in serious negotiations with a players current team before July 1 hits. The reason is there's so much tampering that goes on during draft weekend, agents often get a good idea which teams are going to be hot after their client.

*The Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers each getting swept in four games was stunning. I will give Philadelphia this that they were a banged up team. Meanwhile, with no Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, everything was setting up for this to be Washington's year in the playoffs.

What went wrong? One of my biggest complaints with Washington all year has been that they went too far in trying to be a defensive minded team.

They never found that even playing field and while a new defensive mindset was needed, they lost their dynamic ability offensively which made them so dangerous in the past, and their core players like Nicklas Backstrom suffered because of it.

The Capitals collapse should also fall more on the shoulders of GM George McPhee than Bruce Boudreau. By going defensive, McPhee did not put the right personnel in place and year after year, McPhee has failed to bring in that tough rugged defenseman every team needs come playoff time, like a Chris Pronger or even to a much lesser extent a Hal Gill.

McPhee's job is believed to be safe but what about Bruce Boudreau? He has the support of McPhee but I'm being told not to read much into McPhee's comments last week. However, there's a good chance Boudreau will be safe but Washington is just having their organizational meetings this week so his fate hasn't yet been determined from ownership.

*There is pressure on Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher to hire a proven NHL coach after the failed Todd Richards experiement. Former Penguin head coach and current Wild scout Michel Therrien could emerge as a candidate and would be an excellent choice but it's Therrien's former assistant Mike Yeo who Fletcher is said to be very tempted to hire.