West Notes: Saros, Sharks, Roadrunners

The Predators are a franchise that rarely hands out trade protection when they sign contracts, even to some of their longer-term veterans.  However, in an appearance on 102.5 The Game today, GM Barry Trotz acknowledged that if he’s able to agree to terms on a long-term extension with goaltender Juuse Saros, he would have to give out some sort of trade protection though it would have to have some sort of limit to it.  Saros will enter the final year of his contract in July making him extension-eligible and Trotz hasn’t hidden his desire to lock up the netminder.  However, Saros is well-positioned for a significant raise on his current $5MM price tag and could push past $8MM on a new agreement.  If a deal is reached, Saros would become just the third Nashville player with trade protection, joining captain Roman Josi and winger Filip Forsberg.

Elsewhere in the West:

• During his pre-draft press conference today, Sharks GM Mike Grier told reporters including Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link) that center Logan Couture is working out and hopes to get back to skating next month. The 35-year-old was limited to just six games this season due to osteitis pubis; he twice tried to come back from it but had to shut those efforts down due to setbacks.  Couture has three years left on his contract which carries an $8MM cap charge.
• Still with the Sharks, they’re expected to be more aggressive in terms of adding some veterans this summer, already picking up Barclay Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea up front. Grier noted (per Peng) that while they could look to add free agents, their internal cap on how long they want to sign a player for would be four years.  We’ve seen plenty of speculation that there may be teams willing to offer a higher AAV in exchange for a shorter-term deal; San Jose would be a potentially viable candidate to offer a contract or two like that.
• Following the news that the land auction the Coyotes are hoping to win to get an NHL team back was canceled due to a lack of a proper zoning permit, the six games that AHL Tucson was set to play at Mullet Arena have now been moved back to Tucson, per a team announcement. The Roadrunners will serve as Utah’s primary affiliate next season.