PHILADELPHIA -- New York Rangers general manager Glen Sather wanted to go for another run at the Stanley Cup with the same group that fell three wins short last season.

"We like everybody," Sather said Saturday at the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center.

What Sather wanted and what he knew he'd realistically be able to do this offseason never matched up.

Sather issued center Brad Richards a compliance buyout last week. Friday, the NHL and National Hockey League Players' Association jointly revealed the salary cap for next season will be $69 million.

Sather said he thought the figure would be higher. His shock couldn't have been too great, because hours before the cap was revealed Sather traded right wing Derek Dorsett to the Vancouver Canucks for a better chance of signing some of the Rangers' own free agents.

New York is approximately $23.3 million under the salary cap with 11 players signed, according to Capgeek.com.

PHILADELPHIA – The first round of the 2014 NHL Draft came and went Friday with Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray unable to find a trade partner for captain Jason Spezza.

One of the components Murray was seeking in a deal for Spezza was a first-round draft pick. With that window now closed, the parameters of an acceptable deal will have to change, potentially making it more difficult to accommodate the request by his top center to be traded.

Murray said there was an initial group of four or five teams who expressed interest in acquiring Spezza, three of which he considered to be serious. But interest appeared to dry up rapidly on Friday.

"A couple of the teams that I was talking to didn't come with a presentation [Friday], for the most part," Murray said at the conclusion of the first round of the draft. "I talked to a number of general managers that initially called and talked, and it just didn't go anywhere."

PHILADELPHIA -- Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning reshaped their roster and possibly the direction of the franchise in a span of a few hours with a series of trades Friday afternoon.

He did it for the benefit of the team, not to send any messages about what his tenure will be like.

"That didn't really come into my thinking," Benning said of any potential message sending.

The message was sent nonetheless. Before the 2014 NHL Draft began at Wells Fargo Center, Benning showed he will be in control and he will be decisive.

Benning made the biggest splash of the day when he traded center Ryan Kesler to the Anaheim Ducks and defenseman Jason Garrison to the Tampa Bay Lightning, bringing back center Nick Bonino, defenseman Luca Sbisa and right wing Derek Dorsett. Perhaps as important, Benning acquired the 24th and 50th picks in the draft and freed up approximately $4 million in salary-cap space.

LAS VEGAS -- Things have changed drastically for Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin.

Since the 2013-14 season ended, his team has fired its coach, Adam Oates, and its general manager, George McPhee, the only manager Ovechkin has known during his NHL career.

McPhee has been replaced by Brian MacLellan, who had served as an assistant to McPhee for the past seven years. Oates was replaced by Barry Trotz, the longtime coach of the Nashville Predators.

Ovechkin says he is curious how things will play out and he knows the organization has made a huge commitment to get the team back to being a Stanley Cup contender.

"The whole organization made a big step by firing George, firing Adam," Ovechkin said Monday during media availability for the 2014 NHL Awards. "The organization wants to make improvements. Thank God they don't fire me yet. I'm still here with a Capitals jersey. We'll see."

COLUMBUS -- After forward Scott Hartnell got over his initial shock last week of being told by Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall that he longer fit in their plans, he hoped to make the best of the situation.

For the 32-year-old Hartnell, that meant waving his no-trade clause to join the Columbus Blue Jackets in a trade Monday that sent forward RJ Umberger back to his former team. The Flyers also received the Blue Jackets' fourth-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Umberger, 32, had requested a trade after the season because his playing time had diminished under coach Todd Richards even as the Blue Jackets moved toward their second Stanley Cup Playoff appearance in franchise history.

On the other hand, Hartnell completed the first year of a six-year, $28.5 million contract, which carries an average annual value of $4.75 million through the 2018-19 season.

"There's no question that I want to be in Colorado next year and try to win [there]," O'Reilly said Monday during Media Day for the 2014 NHL Awards. "My agent knows that."

He needs a new contract if he wants to play for the Avalanche again. It's already shaping up as a testy negotiation, even though coach Patrick Roy said Monday there is no bitterness between the club, including president of hockey operations Joe Sakic, and O'Reilly.

LAS VEGAS -- Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux was absolutely flabbergasted to find out Scott Hartnell was traded Monday morning.

How shocked was Giroux?

He didn't believe it when he woke up to a series of texts from Hartnell saying he had agreed to be traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for R.J. Umberger and a fourth-round pick.

"I woke up this morning to him texting me and saying he was gone," said Giroux, here for the 2014 NHL Awards Show. "I didn't believe him so I started chirping him, and then I found it was true. It's sad; not a fun day."

After his team was ousted from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Second Round, Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli wasn't panicky.

He alluded to the tweaks he might make to his lineup and the organization in the aftermath of the elimination that came two rounds earlier than the previous season, when the Bruins lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Stanley Cup Final.

One month and one Stanley Cup championship by the Los Angeles Kings later, Chiarelli sounds like a man sticking to his initial post-defeat plan.

There were a few key points Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall referred to when asked why he acquired forward R.J. Umberger, along with a 2015 fourth-round draft pick, from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday in exchange for forward Scott Hartnell.

"The number one thing was we wanted to get quicker up front," Hextall said. "Whenever you make a deal there's a lot of considerations that come into the mix, but I guess the one for us was quickness.

"R.J. is also versatile, is a good two-way player capable of playing all three positions and can kill penalties, so he was an attractive guy for us moving forward."

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jonathan Huberdeau blossomed into a top NHL prospect when he played under coach Gerard Gallant with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, so it figured he would welcome to chance to play for him again.

Huberdeau will get that opportunity with the Florida Panthers in the fall now that Gallant has been hired as the Panthers' new coach.

The question becomes whether Huberdeau can recapture his rookie form under Gallant after a disappointing 2013-14 season.

"Of course I was excited to hear that news," Huberdeau said Monday following a press conference Monday at BB&T Center to introduce Gallant. "Gerard has been a great coach for me. He taught me a lot of stuff when I was in juniors. That's good that he's coming here right now and I just need to keep working hard and he's just going to help all the guys on the team."