Welch, Fleury, O’Neill, Tanabe, Numminen, and the Senators

According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Florida Panthers are not shopping defenseman Noah Welch.

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Pittsburgh Penguins pending restricted free agent goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury tells Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that it would not surprise him if there was some “movement on a new contract before the start of the regular season.”

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According to Tim Wharnsby of the Globe and Mail there is very little interest in unrestricted free agent forward Jeff O’Neill.

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Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the St. Louis Blues have invited UFA defenseman Dave Tanabe to training camp on a tryout basis.

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Speaking of tryouts, Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald reports that the Boston Bruins have invited UFA forward Glen Metropolit to their training camp.

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Buffalo Sabres defensemen Teppo Numminen tells WGR Sports Radio 550 that he plans on returning to action sometime this season.

The Sabres have suspended Numminen in order to receive some cap relief while the blueliner recovers from heart surgery, reports Tim Graham of The Buffalo News.

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Ottawa Senators head coach John Paddock tells Ken Warren of The Ottawa Citizen that the club still has one spot up for grabs at the forward position.

“I think there’s room for one player,” said new head coach John Paddock.

It remains to be seen if the Senators go outside the organization to fill the void, or if someone impresses at training camp enough to get that 12th forward spot.