NHL Rumor Wire – May 25th, 2011

Calgary Flames fist priority is to get forward  Alex Tanguay re-signed and GM Jay Feaster believes  it will get done.

From Vicki Hall (Calgary Herald) on Faceoff.com

With 38 days to go before National Hockey League free agency, Jay Feaster expressed confidence on national radio Monday the Calgary Flames will lock up left-winger Alex Tanguay.“We believe we can,” the general manager said on NHL Live. “We do want to get him signed.”

It looks like Carolina Hurricanes‘ Jussi Jokinen and Joni Pitkanen will walk as free agents and Erik Cole and Chad LaRose will be re-signed.

From Luke DeCock (newsobserver.com)

Of course, there’s debate over that, too. At this point, based on what Rutherford said last Tuesday, it looks like Jussi Jokinen and Joni Pitkanen will walk as free agents and Erik Cole and Chad LaRose will be re-signed.There’s a healthy discussion ongoing among fans over whether meeting Jokinen’s salary demands might not be a better use of Carolina’s scarce salary dollars than re-signing Cole and LaRose, fan favorites who each have their pros and cons.That Rutherford’s support for Paul Maurice is polarizing is nothing new, of course — the Maurice backers and “Mo Must Go” dissenters have been going at that particular argument for more than a decade.It’s the broader, deeper discussion of the team’s management, its future and its ambition that’s new, and will be interesting to follow as the offseason moves along.

The Detroit Red Wings have called a news conference for 11 a.m. Wednesday to announce the retirement of defenseman Brian Rafalski. Could Pheonix Coyotes‘ Ed Jovanovski be his replacement?

from Helene St. James (Detroit Free Press)

So who’s available this summer? The biggest name is Windsor native Ed Jovanovski, who has spent the past two-plus seasons with Phoenix. He’s offensively gifted, and he’s 6-feet-3 and 220-plus pounds. He plays in all situations and easily can log 20 minutes a night.He’s going to be 35 in June, but he’s still a high-end defenseman. He has been a force in the league for 15 seasons, carrying the Florida Panthers all the way to the Stanley Cup finals in his rookie year in ’96.He made $6 million last season. It should be easy enough to sell him on Detroit: It would mean, at least if Lidstrom returns, a chance at adding a Cup to his career, a chance to play next door to his hometown and a reunion with good friend Todd Bertuzzi, with whom he played in Vancouver.

Jaromir Jagr‘s agent Jaroslav Zidek, hopes they will only negotiate with KHL teams.

From Dmitry Chesnokov (Puck Daddy)

Jaroslav Zidek, the agent for former Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers star Jaromir Jagr, spoke with Sovetsky Sport’s Pavel Lysenkov about Jagr’s future.And it looks like Jagr is not considering any offers from the NHL at this point.Zidek outlined a few factors that will ultimately affect where Jagr signs. And the first of them may mean he is leaning towards signing with KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. “Jaromir is at the French Open right now. But he may soon come back to [the Czech Republic]. His old friend Radek Stepanek, a Czech tennis player, invited him,” Zidek told Lysenkov, who was recently named Russia’s Sports Journalist of the Year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs would love to be in on the bidding for Brad Richards, on July 1st.

From Damien Cox (TheStar.com)

This, obviously, could be a situation similar to that in 2009 when Brian Burke quietly journeyed to Sweden on the final day of June hoping to be able to present the Sedin twins with contract offers the next day. Vancouver GM Mike Gillis, however, beat Burke to the punch, and Daniel and Henrik stayed out west.This time around, Burke would like to at least have a chance to negotiate with Richards, and it’s been suggested he might be willing to, if not break the bank, do some things contractually that he hasn’t be willing to do before in Toronto.

The Edmonton Oilers are still weighing their options on defenceman Sheldon Souray.

From Jim Matheson (Edmonton Journal)

EDMONTON – Assistant general manager Ricky Olczyk said the Edmonton Oilers are still weighing their options on defenceman Sheldon Souray, who spent all of last season in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears.Souray still has a year left at $4.5 million salary, with a $5.4-million salary-cap hit.The odds are the Oilers will buy him out after June 15 at two-thirds of his salary, with his cap number spread out over two years.But Olczyk said there has been no firm decision made yet.