Updated: 8:00 p.m: There has been some speculation today that Marc Andre Fleury has turned down a 3 year extension from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The deal is rumored to be identical to the contract Cam Ward signed last spring. Ward will earn $2 million in 07-08, $2.5 million in the 2008-09 season and $3.5 million in 2009-10. According to a source who covers the Wilkes Barre Penguins, Fleury was offered a 4-5 year extension that was backloaded.
After almost two months, will the Penguins finally land one of their top targets in free agency? It has been confirmed from various sources that Danny Markovs’ representatives have contacted the Penguins front office to see if they are still interested in signing the veteran defenseman. Markov has been seeking up to 3.5 million per season but it appears he has come to the resolution that if he wants to return to the NHL, he will have to settle for around 2.5 million per season which is what he made last season. The Bruins are very interested in signing Danny Markov but have no cap room to do so even if the defenseman was willing to accept last season’s salary. I have not been able to get any info on whether the Penguins are still interested as everyone has been pretty mum about Markov. I can confirm that Markov did initiate the talks with Ray Shero and from what I’ve been told it caught the Penguins front office off guard.
