Nichols' Notes

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The Pittsburgh Penguins (more notes on them further down) have, per Jim Rutherford and via The Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari, decided that they will not attempt to re-sign some of their unrestricted free agents.

"I want to make sure they find out from us first,"Rutherford said.

The UFA list for the Pens includes Jussi Jokinen, Lee Stempniak, Marcel Goc, Taylor Pyatt, Tanner Glass, Joe Vitale, and Brian Gibbons up front; Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen and Deryk Engelland on the blueline; and Tomas Vokoun in net.

Vokoun's agent, ICYMI, affirmed Tuesday that his client is 100 percent committed to playing in the NHL next season.

The bigger-name news surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks from the GM meetings Wednesday involved Stan Bowman saying again his top priority remains getting contract extensions done for Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. That'll obviously get wrapped up eventually though and the intention is to put pen to paper on July 1, which is when the stars are first eligible to sign.

The second line center position remains a topic of intrigue for the team as the Hawks look to get back to the top of the mountain.

“I wouldn’t just limit it to [second-line center],” Bowman told Mark Lazerus of The Sun-Times. “We’re always looking to improve our team, whether it’s at center, wing or defense. It’s not one position that we’re fixated on.”

Bowman did say he's had talks with RFAs Ben Smith, Jeremy Morin and Antti Raanta. Raanta, incidentally, is expected to back up Corey Crawford.

New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello responded to rumors that defenseman Adam Larsson, due to become a restricted free agent, is planning on playing in Sweden next season.

"I don’t have any knowledge of that,” Lamoriello told The Star-Ledger's Rich Chere, denying any concern over losing the young rearguard. “Not at all.”

Calgary Flames forward Michael Cammalleri is slated to become an unrestricted free agent and he was on Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 Wednesday. Much of the interview revolved around competition committee discussions, but naturally the talk turned to his playing future.

Cammalleri says he's chatted with Brad Treliving "a couple of times" and indicated "the dialog was good." The new GM has expressed an interest in keeping Cammalleri in Calgary and they've talked about that door not being closed.

"At the same time, I'm aware pending free agency isn't that far away," Cammalleri said. "So I'd imagine I'll be talking to my agent a lot here over the next couple of weeks and make some decisions."

Cammalleri had kind words regarding Brian Burke, Treliving and Craig Conroy.

"Ownership there is as solid as it gets. They're going to give them all the resources they can there to win."

Cammalleri also had an interesting perspective in terms of free agents looking to sign somewhere with an eye specifically on winning the Cup.

"I would say to you the days of signing in Colorado or Detroit and giving yourself a 50 percent chance of winning the Cup have changed. I'm not saying that Colorado and Detroit aren't a good place to sign now, but you know what I mean... a decade ago. So I think it's tough. It's tough to chase one. So that landscape has changed a little also."

P.K. Subban will be a restricted free agent this summer and he joined Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 Wednesday with a non-update update on contract negotiations with the Montreal Canadiens.

"As far as I'm concerned, I haven't been given details on that stuff just yet. We know that it's going to be a short off-season and things are things are going to have to move at some point."

Subban reflected on his philosophy of how he likes to let his agent and friend, Don Meehan, handle things and use that agent experience to do his job.

On the subject of the Habs: "We haven't reached our ultimate goal yet, but it's been great for me. You know what? I've been happy here. I've been happy playing in Montreal. We've had... it seems that our team is starting to come together and we're putting together a pretty young team that has a lot of potential, so that's always fun. I've always expressed my interest to want to play there and play there for a long time, and hopefully I'll be able to do that."

Defenceman Brooks Orpik’s time in Pittsburgh may quickly be coming to an end, as Pierre LeBrun indicates it's believed the Penguins will move on without him. Orpik's agent told The Tribune-Review's Josh Yohe at the end of May that a long-term contract was the preference, and that he would expect there to be heavy interest in his client. There is zero doubt about that claim, especially this summer.

On the subject of those same Penguins, a few notes from Rob Rossi of The Tribune-Review Wednesday night. He indicates GM Jim Rutherford, on the subject of trade talk, told reporters “Some people came after me today, and there's ideas out there. I haven't been throwing any ideas out, but I'll listen.”

On UFA-to-be Matt Niskanen, Rutherford said retaining him “is not going to be easy.”

Rossi has noted this recently before, but he reminds readers that during the time the Penguins did not have a GM, James Neal's agent received calls from several NHL teams who expressed an interest in acquiring the winger. Neal has not requested a trade and on the topic of any trade rumours involving him wanting out, he recently tweeted:

The Shea Weber trade rumours never seem to die. Ever. But time after time, Nashville Predators GM David Poile shoots them down. He did so again Wednesday at the GM meetings.

"We’re keeping him, we’re building our franchise around him," Poile said, via LeBrun. "I think we’ve got one of the best young defenses in the league. I think he’s got an excellent chance of winning the Norris Trophy in 11 or 12 days from now. Why wouldn’t we build our team around him? That’s exactly what we’re doing. We just need one or two forwards and when we get that, you’ll be saying, 'Imagine that someone ever thought they would trade Shea Weber?' No, we are not trading Shea Weber." 

The Buffalo Sabres have the No. 2 overall pick at the draft in a few weeks. Next year they'll have not only their own first rounder, but also those of the New York Islanders (Thomas Vanek trade) and the St. Louis Blues (Ryan Miller deal). Sabres GM Tim Murray told LeBrun that he'd like to potentially "get a couple of more first round picks" for 2014 and intimated one possibility to accomplish that could be taking salary back in a trade, which would also help the Sabres get to the cap floor.

In the Wednesday night edition of TSN's Insider Trading, Darren Dreger said the Los Angeles Kings don't plan on buying out Mike Richards. They are expected to push him to improve his conditioning and get stronger. With Richards used in a depth role on the Kings now, Dreger intimates Richards could push back and we'll see where things go from there.

Dreger also says the word on the street is that Vincent Lecavalier, who has a no-move clause, is in play and that his agent has already talked to Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall about the possibility of moving his client. Dreger suggests there are no specific teams in mind or a list compiled yet, but that would have to be done to help the process along.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are high on Dan Boyle's list, also per Dreger. We already know the New York Islanders traded for his negotiating rights. Boyle had wanted a two-year deal from the San Jose Sharks, but the Sharks were only prepared to extend a one-year offer and things never progressed beyond that point. Multiple sources have indicated, and Dreger reiterated it again here, that Boyle is expected to let the Islanders know this week if he'll consider staying there and thus talk contract specifics. Dreger suggests the money might be more than the Leafs are willing to pay for Boyle, but they do have interest.

ICYMI, Mikhail Grabovski's agent provided an update to The Post's Alex Prewitt on contract negotiations with the Washington Capitals. Grabovski is slated to become an unrestricted free agent and it seems as if there is mutual interest on his part, and that of the team, to have him return. Gary Greenstin also addressed the speculation regarding a potential pairing of Grabovski with UFA-to-be Nikolai Kulemin of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Everything is possible, but we’re not talking about package deal,” Greenstin said. “Everything is possible. I cannot discuss, but right now who knows what’s happening on July 1. I’m positive both will be playing in NHL. They have absolute great chemistry together. But we’ll see what’s happening.”

Earlier Wednesday, Brooks Laich's agent told CSN's Chuck Gormley that he hasn't heard a thing about the Capitals planning to buy Laich out. Gormley also tweeted that the agent for Mike Green has similarly heard nothing about the team wanting to buy out the defenseman.

Leafs GM Dave Nonis tells Sportsnet.ca's Chris Johnston the team will have organizational meetings next week, which will include the plan for the team's unrestricted free agents. They include Dave Bolland, Kulemin, Mason Raymond, Jay McClement, Troy Bodie, and Paul Ranger. James Reimer will also be a restricted free agent.

On Leo Komarov potentially returning from the KHL, Nonis offered this: “We’ll see. I’d put him down on the list. Leo was good for us, but there’s a dollar figure that makes sense for everybody. The reason he went back to Russia was about money. We would like to have kept him this year, but the dollar figure didn’t make sense. We’ll have to revisit it.”