Report: Pens’ Malkin seeks $10 million per year

Superstar Evgeni Malkin will reportedly cost the Pittsburgh Penguins around $10 million per season with a new extension.

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REPORT: PENS’ MALKIN SEEKS $10 MILLION RANGE ANNUALLY

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review describes how Penguins majority co-owner Mario Lemieux and general manager Ray Shero met all day Tuesday, with co-owner Ron Burkle in on those discussions too.

During the meeting, Shero made a strong push for approval on an extension for head coach Dan Bylsma, who is set to enter the final season of his contract.

Shero wanted the coaching situation settled — at least Bylsma’s status — so he could start finalizing a long-term contract with center Evgeni Malkin before turning to potential new contracts for winger Pascal Dupuis and defenseman Kris Letang.

Shero also identified parameters of the commitment necessary to keep Malkin — about $10 million annually. Ownership has authorized Shero to keep Malkin at almost any cost.

Shero had a face-to-face meeting with J.P. Barry, Malkin’s agent, Monday. Barry described the meeting as productive.

OILERS’ HALL READY FOR BIGGER LEADERSHIP ROLE

The Edmonton Sun takes the position that if Shawn Horcoff does move on from the Oilers this summer, Taylor Hall would then become a strong candidate to take over Oilers captaincy. Hall has become the de facto leader of the next generation, which includes Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Magnus Paajarvi, Nail Yakupov and Justin Schultz.

“Whether they’re here or not, I’m still looking forward to being more of a leader next year and maturing as a player and a person,” Hall said. “I’m still pretty young and regardless of who’s here, I look forward to becoming an even better player, a more rounded player and a more rounded person. I think all of us young guys relish at being better at leading teams, being better in the last five minutes and doing those things that leaders do.”

Regardless, whatever moves MacTavish manages to pull off this off-season, the focus for Hall remains the same.

“That’s all stuff that MacT is going to address,” Hall said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m going to come into camp in great shape. I know Ebs is, I know Nuge will, I know Schultzy will. We’re going to come to work and whatever Dallas wants us to do and whatever team MacT assembles, that’s what we’re going to go with.”

BLACKHAWKS WANT TO KEEP BICKELL

CSNChicago.com details how Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, keeping pending unrestricted free agent Bryan Bickell is a priority.

“We obviously want him to remain with us. We’re going to do our best to do that,” Bowman said. “I think Bryan likes it here. He’s made comments that way; he enjoys playing on our team. He’s found a nice role. Certainly the coaches have confidence in him. As a player, that’s something they all talk about; finding the right situation for a player is important. He serves a nice role for us and he’s respected by his teammates. There are a lot of positives for him and we want to bring him back.”

The Blackhawks likely won’t be the only team wanting to add Bickell’s size and punch. The Blackhawks hope they’re the ones paying him. His work is paying off for them right now.

“It’s been a process for Brian,” Bowman said. “I look back at his career; it’s taken time for him to realize his potential and I give him credit for sticking with it. We’ve worked hard with him. We spent a lot of time over the years developing him and having conversations with him on ways to improve. He’s done the hard work, we’ve worked with him and now we’re seeing that pay off. It’s certainly rewarding for everybody when he’s been able to contribute this way. He helps us in a lot of ways and there’s a lot to like.”

BLUES TELL TARASENKO TO RAMP UP CONDITIONING

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reflects on how when the Blues broke for the offseason, 21-year-old rookie Vladimir Tarasenko headed back to Russia with a message from the club.

“We’ve given him a clear mandate on what we expect when he gets back here, what we’re going to see from him on a conditioning level, the grind that he’s going to have to do,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said recently.

While training in Russia this summer, he’ll need to be prepare himself for the rigors of a full 82-game campaign.

“We have people in the organization who’s job responsibility it is to monitor that,” Armstrong said. “But we need him to take ownership of his conditioning and his training and his preparation, just as we need (Jaden) Schwartz to take control of it. At 21-22 (years old), they’re still learning the game on the ice. They have to become pros off the ice.

“That was the mandate of (Tarasenko) going back … we’re penciling him into important positions on our team and he’ll never have a chance to fill those if he’s not in shape.”

KINGS’ SUTTER SEEKS IMPROVEMENT FROM MUZZIN, TOFFOLI

LA Kings Insider asserts that similar to that of Tyler Toffoli, this off-season will be an important time in Jake Muzzin’s development.

“They’re going to have to take 100 days of being stronger athletes, the next 100 days. For them to help us next year, they’re going to have to be better athletes, very simple,” head coach Darryl Sutter said of Muzzin and Toffoli.

“They were boys that we could cover up a lot, and what do they take from it? Hopefully as we meet with them the next two or three days we’re going to find out. It’s not something I’m going to generalize. I know for certain though that you have to be physically and mentally as close to 100% as you can to play in the National Hockey League. You can play, but you’ve got to play and be able to help a good team. There’s not much line to draw there. When you have training camp on September 11 and [today] is June 11, count the days. Start getting ready. I started doing it on the plane ride home the other night. There was no de- what do you call it? Decompressing? No. That’s not the way it works.”

PREDS OFFER JOSI SECURITY OF LONG-TERM DEAL

Predators defenseman Roman Josi tells The Nashville Tennessean he committed to the Predators long-term, with his seven-year, $28 million contract extension, for his own precaution. He missed time with a wrist injury in 2010 and a pair of upper body injuries in 2011-12.

“I really like it in Nashville and enjoyed my time the last two years playing for Nashville,” Josi said. “It gives you a lot of security of course. I’ve had some injuries in the past, and you never know what’s going to happen, and a long-term deal gives me a lot of security.”

Josi said he is doing the same offseason program from a year ago — in Switzerland with New York Islanders captain Mark Streit and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Yannick Weber.

“I’m focusing on more muscles this year and keeping my nutrition habits,” he said.

WHAT THEY’RE TWEETING ABOUT

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