East Notes: Raymond, Berggren, Voronkov, Capitals

The Red Wings still have three restricted free agents to re-sign, defenseman Moritz Seider along with wingers Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren.  In a recent appearance on the NHL Network (video link), David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period relayed that while there’s no concern on either side yet, talks don’t appear to be progressing between Detroit and Raymond’s camp.  The 22-year-old is coming off his entry-level deal and had a breakout showing last season, recording 31 points and 41 assists in 82 games, leading some to suggest that a long-term agreement between the two sides is likely to push past the $7MM mark per season.

Berggren, meanwhile, was largely a regular for the Red Wings in 2022-23 but spent most of last season with AHL Grand Rapids, tallying 24 goals and 32 assists in 53 games.  The 24-year-old also collected six points in 13 games with Detroit.  Pagnotta reports that a deal between the two sides is expected before training camp and it’s likely to be a short-term agreement.  With a little over $17MM in cap space per PuckPedia, it’s possible that the eventual contracts with Seider and Raymond could dictate how short of a deal Berggren ultimately receives.

More from the Eastern Conference:

• Dating back to last season, there was speculation that Blue Jackets winger Dmitri Voronkov might want to return to the KHL. In an interview with Championat’s Dmitry Storozhev, Ak Bars GM Marat Valiullin acknowledged that he spoke with Voronkov after last season, presumably to gauge his interest in returning to the KHL but no discussions have taken place since then.  The 23-year-old had a solid rookie season last year, notching 18 goals and 16 assists in 75 games and is someone that Columbus will undoubtedly be looking to keep beyond the upcoming season when his current contract expires.
• While the Capitals have already inked a PTO agreement with Jakub Vrana, don’t expect them to be signing any others. GM Chris Patrick recently told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link) that he doesn’t envision bringing in any more players on tryouts for training camp.  Washington has shaken up their roster a fair bit this summer, bringing in Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy, and Logan Thompson (and others) so allowing the newcomers to get some early chemistry may be the focal point at camp.  If that’s the case, bringing in other players with an outside shot of making the team would run counter to that objective.