Notebook Buzz
Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils are inching closer to a new agreement. The two sides are believed to be in the final stages of finalizing a new multi-year deal that is expected to be announced at somepoint this week, pending league approval.
Devils officials and agent Jay Grossman remain tight lipped on the specifics of the deal.
Some in the know are hinting the new agreement will be a 12-13 year deal in the range of $84-$91 million but it is not clear if the Devils will be able to move forward with this type of deal.
Elsewhere around the league
Free agent forward Tim Kennedy is an intriguing young player who has drawn strong interest of late. The 24 year old forward is talking to six teams, agent Allain Roy told me this afternoon and Kennedy is expected to make a decision later this week.
Toronto and Los Angeles are among the teams in the mix making a very strong pitch.
Kennedy had 10 goals and 16 assists in 2009-2010 for the Sabres and also had a solid playoff campaign, recording 3 points in 6 games.
*The Atlanta Thrashers today signed forward Bryan Little to a three year deal worth $7.15 million. Little was a restricted free agent and plenty of RFA’s remain unsigned including James Neal, Bobby Ryan and Marc Staal.
*Stephen Bartlett, the agent for Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Cristobal Huet is working on a deal for Huet to be loaned to Swiss team Fribourg-Gotteron. Huet’s $5 million + cap hit will then come off the books.
Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune reports the deal is not 100% done but is close and will get done. This is something that’s been in the works for sometime. Huet played in 48 games for the Hawks last season, going 26-14 with a 2.50 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage.
Huet lost his starting job to Antti Neimi who remains unsigned.
