NHL Summer Buzz: Tavares meets with Lightning, Stars

Welcome to the NHL Summer Buzz. With the 2018 NHL Draft over and the beginning of free agency on July 1, the 31 NHL teams are making moves to shape their rosters for the 2018-19 season.
Here's a look around the NHL at the latest doings for Wednesday:

Red Wings planning if Zetterberg can't play: report

Valtteri Filppula is drawing interest from the Detroit Red Wings, who see the pending free agent center as possible insurance if Henrik Zetterberg is unable to play next season, The Athletic reported Wednesday.
Zetterberg said in April he planned to return for a 16th NHL season, but lingering back problems could change that. Detroit is expecting him to play next season, the report said.
The 37-year-old had 56 points (11 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games this season. He has played every game the past three seasons.
The Red Wings also have interest in signing forward Thomas Vanek, who had 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) in 48 games for Detroit two seasons ago. The 34-year-old had 56 points (24 goals, 32 assists) in 80 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets (19) and Vancouver Canucks (61) this season.
Filppula, 34, had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 81 games for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tavares meeting with Lightning, Stars: report

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars made their pitches to John Tavares in person in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the last two of six teams to meet with the pending unrestricted free agent center and his agent, Sportsnet and The Athletic reported.
Tavares can become a UFA on July 1 after nine seasons with the New York Islanders, who took him No. 1 in the 2009 NHL Draft. He reportedly met with the Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, and with the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
Earlier in the process, reports said Tavares might take calls from other teams.

The Islanders are the only team that can sign Tavares before he becomes a free agent. They can offer him an eight-year contract. The other teams can offer seven years.

Sabres get Sheary, Hunwick in trade with Penguins

Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick were traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Buffalo Sabres for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Sheary, a 26-year-old forward, had 30 points (18 goals, 12 assists) in 79 regular-season games this season and two assists in 12 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has two seasons remaining on a three-year, $9 million contract (average annual value $3 million).
The Penguins signed Sheary as a free agent on July 1, 2015. He has 93 points (48 goals, 45 assists) in 184 regular-season games and 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 57 playoff games. He won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
"He was part of our Cup team. He was here for two Stanley Cups," general manager Jim Rutherford said. "He's a good player. This is just part of the system now, you know? With the cap system, it makes it hard to keep all the players. If you're going to free up cap space, these are the kind of things you have to do. But we thank him for what he's done. We do have a lot of good NHL wingers, so we can afford to move somebody out. That was part of this deal."
Hunwick, a 33-year-old defenseman, had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 42 games with the Penguins after signing a three-year contract (average annual value $2.25 million) with Pittsburgh on July 1, 2017. He has 117 points (25 goals, 92 assists) in 521 NHL games with the Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Penguins.
The trade frees up $5.25 million in salary cap space for the Penguins before the start of free agency on July 1.

Kuhnhackl rejected offer from Penguins: report

Forward Tom Kuhnhackl rejected a two-year contract from the Penguins minutes before the 5 p.m. ET deadline on Monday for teams to make qualifying offers for their restricted free agents, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Kuhnhackl, who helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 and was eligible for salary arbitration, became an unrestricted free agent when he did not receive a qualifying offer.

"He's been a good player for us," Rutherford told the Post-Gazette. "By qualifying him, we probably would've gone to arbitration. With us being as tight to the cap as we are, we couldn't risk that. Just prior to sending the qualifying offers in, we made one last call to his agent. Offered a two-year deal. It got rejected. That's where it is."
The other NHL-level player not to receive a qualifying offer from the Penguins was center Riley Sheahan, but Rutherford said Wednesday that, "We're getting closer on a Sheahan deal."

Oilers shopping for depth, not stars

The Edmonton Oilers will pursue depth players, not stars, when free agency begins on July 1, general manager Peter Chiarelli said.
"I don't expect we'll be active from the star player perspective," Chiarelli said Wednesday. "That would require trades, too, if we did that, so not much has changed."
The Oilers are looking to add depth to their roster and will seek third and fourth-line forwards or third-pairing defensemen, according to Chiarelli.
"We've had a number of interviews with players," he said. "The level of players varies. We've had discussions with a number of players on opportunities. There's depth players, there's bottom-six players [on the market], and we're looking at those."
Center Connor McDavid will be Edmonton's highest-paid player next season with a salary cap charge of $12.5 million in the first of an eight-year, $100 million contract he signed on July 5, 2017. Center Leon Draisaitl is Edmonton's second-highest paid player with a contract that carries a cap charge of $8.5 million next season. -- Derek Van Diest, NHL.com correspondent

Sabres getting calls but not looking to trade O'Reilly

Ryan O'Reilly is generating interest from teams looking for help at center, but the Buffalo Sabres aren't looking to trade him, general manager Jason Botterill said.
"You have a ton of rumors right now on Ryan, and I think a lot of them are very creative," Botterill said at Buffalo's development camp. "I would just say, from Day One, we've been very happy with Ryan being a part of our group and we've said before that it's no surprise that teams are calling [on] him. He has a great reputation throughout the National Hockey League, and especially [with] what he's accomplished in international hockey.
"So I understand why people call on it, but the validity of a lot of the rumors are simply untrue."
O'Reilly, 27, was second on the Sabres this season with 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 81 games. He has 422 points (155 goals, 267 assists) in 651 NHL games with the Sabres and Colorado Avalanche, who traded him to Buffalo on June 26, 2015.

Morrow re-signs with Jets

Joe Morrow, a restricted free agent defenseman, signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets, who didn't make him a qualifying offer Monday.
Morrow, 25, had four assists and was plus-7 in 18 games with the Jets this season after he was acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 26. He had one goal in six Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Morrow had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 38 games with the Canadiens before the trade. He has 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 121 NHL games with the Jets, Canadiens and Boston Bruins.

Senators to buy out Burrows: report

Alexandre Burrows was placed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday and will be bought out of the final year of his contract after clearing waivers Wednesday, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Burrows, a 37-year-old forward, was acquired by the Senators in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 27, 2017, and agreed to a two-year contract extension. He had 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 71 games for the Senators this season.

https://twitter.com/SunGarrioch/status/1011931477519544320
In 913 NHL games with the Canucks and Senators, Burrows has 409 points (205 goals, 204 assists). He had NHL career highs of 35 goals, 32 assists and 67 points with the Canucks in 2009-10. Burrows also has 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in 85 playoff games, including 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in Vancouver's run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011.