Chris Kelly and Senators are not close on new deal

From Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen:

The chances of centre Chris Kelly re-signing with the Ottawa Senators appear to becoming slimmer as the opening of unrestricted free agency on July 1 approaches.

Despite negotiations between Pat Morris, Kelly's agent, and Senators general manager Bryan Murray since the end of the regular season, they are not close to reaching an agreement on a new contract.

"We've gone back and forth a bit, but I'm not overly optimistic we'll get a deal done before July 1," Morris said yesterday. "There are still lots of guys who are going back to their teams to talk (before July 1), but it's also the time of year when guys are curious to see what their value is among the other 29 teams."

Read the entire article here.

The Senators are certainly not blessed with a ton of cap room. Add that to the fact that Kelly has a lot more leverage because he has unrestricted free agency on his side, and the Senators may be hard-pressed to re-sign the speedy forward.

Kelly has been a very dependable two-way player for the team for the past couple of seasons and losing a player with his ability to play in all situations would be a bad start to the summer for the Senators organization.

Senators fans can only hope the two sides can come to an agreement prior to July 1. Because if Kelly hits the UFA market on Canada Day, all bets are off as to whether he would re-sign with the Sens.

NHL Morning Papers--Eastern Conference (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• It is a long shot for the Maple Leafs to make the playoffs, but it is a shot nonetheless, writes David Shoalts of the Globe & Mail.
• Gary Thorne, writing a special to USA Today, tells readers which storylines to consider as the playoffs near.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today calls for the NHL to adopt sentencing guidelines.

Here are the Atlantic Division morning papers:

• With a number of injuries up front, it looks like Petr Prucha will get his chance to return to the Rangers' line up.
• Daniel Briere's line was the catalyst for the Flyers' 4-1 win over the Islanders on Sunday. With last night's victory, Martin Biron became the third goalie ever to go 6-0 versus the Islanders in one season.
• Even though the Islanders are in a free-fall, that does not mean the Penguins will take them lightly, writes Dave Molinari. In injury news, the Penguins are hoping to have Gary Roberts back for the playoffs.
• The Islanders played last night's game with a roster that included very few regulars, as they were easily defeated by the Flyers.
• The Devils will be looking for revenge tomorrow night, as they host the Penguins at the Prudential Center.

Here are the Northeast Division morning papers:

• With the team's fortunes falling fast, Bruins coach Claude Julien has been implementing a few line up changes. Meanwhile, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald breaks down what the Bruins need to do to make the playoffs.
• Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has a touching story on Sabres defenseman Mike Weber. On the injury front, Nathan Paetsch has been cleared to play on Tuesday versus the Senators.
• The Habs can clinch a playoff berth tonight if they defeat the Ottawa Senators, writes Pat Hickey. Hickey's colleague Dave Stubbs runs down the main reasons for the Habs' success this season.
• The Senators have lost Chris Kelly to a hairline fracture of his left leg for three weeks. Off the ice, the Senators have come to terms with former collegian Jesse Winchester.
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says that Matt Stajan is ready to be the Leafs' next captain. The Leafs have to defeat the Bruins twice in regulation this week, writes Paul Hunter.

Here are the Southeast Division morning papers:

• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune does not think it will be long before the Lightning are playoff contenders once again.
• Craig Custance lists five Thrashers with something to play for.
• The Panthers need to play a lot better against the Lightning this time around than they did last game, writes Steve Gorten. In roster news, Panthers defenseman Noah Welch is back healthy and waiting for his chance to get into the line up.

**There were no Washington Capitals or Carolina Hurricanes articles this morning**

The Western Conference morning papers will be posted soon...

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Email any thoughts, ideas or suggestions to illegalcurve@gmail.com

NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail has Ryan Getzlaf's reaction to his new five year contract extension.
• The National Post says that with parity like it is in the game today, trades are harder to complete than ever before.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today details the great job done by Islanders' GM Garth Snow this off-season.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Curtis Zupke of the Orange County register provides both management's and Ryan Getzlaf's perspective on yesterday five year contract extension. Both Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider will be game-time decisions for the Ducks tonight.
• The Flames penalty killing was perfect last night as they defeated the Avalanche 4-1 at the Saddledome. David Moss finally got the monkey off his back last night scoring his first goal of the 2007/08 season writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun. Mike Keenan's new line combinations worked well in yesterday's victory writes Scott Cruickshank of the Calgary Herald.
• The Blackhawks have made a big move on the Chicago scene by hiring away Cubs President John McDonough to be their team president. "I have great confidence that we are going to restore and reinvigorate this great franchise," McDonough said.
• The Avalanche held the lead in last night's game for a whole eight seconds before the Flames took over. Peter Forsberg's career may not be over writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Blue Jackets' winger David Vyborny is less concerned with his current struggles because the team is winning and that's all that matters writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Meanwhile, Michael Arace of the Dispatch has an interesting piece on the Blue Jackets' first round draft record.
• Mike Smith will get his third consecutive start between the pipes for the Stars tonight but you won't see his goalie partner Marty Turco complaining because the team is winning.
• Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press has a story on the friendship between Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper. Chris Osgood will start tonight against the Blues, and Dominik Hasek will start tomorrow night versus Nashville.
• The Oilers scored a season high three power play goals on Tuesday versus Vancouver. "It was important that we got a win today based on our mental makeup," said head coach Craig MacTavish.
• If you look closely at the output of the Kings' offensive players, it is easy to see why the team is slumping.
• There have already been a number of heated exchanges between the Wild and Canucks and the teams haven't even stepped on the ice yet for tonight's contest in St. Paul. Mikko Koivu knows that teams have to stand up for each other, but he also wants his teammates to remember that the most important part about tonight's game is getting two points.
• Alexander Radulov's defensive game needs some work writes Jessica Hopp of the Tennessean.
• The Coyotes want to build on their Saturday afternoon victory over the Kings and win two in a row versus Los Angeles who is in Glendale to play the Coyotes tonight.
• A quarter of the way through the season and the Blues own the best penalty killing percentage in the league writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• The Canucks were lucky to even get a point on Tuesday night versus Edmonton writes Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun. The Canucks focus now shifts to the Wild and the trash talking has already begun: "He's not much of a hockey player, so I guess he has to be a tough guy," said Ryan Kesler about Derek Boogard.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• There will be some new line combinations for the Capitals tonight as they try and breakout of their season-long slump.
• It couldn't have gotten much better for Tuukka Rask on Tuesday as the rookie netminder got his first NHL victory against the organization who drafted and then traded him. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star points out that injuries were never the issue with the struggling Maple Leafs who are still looking to find their identity.
• If Jordan Staal wants to breakout of his prolonged slump he has to starting going into the dirty areas says coach Michel Therrien. Meanwhile, Maxime Talbot will be lost to the Penguins' lineup for the next three games with a high ankle sprain.
• Martin Biron has made a point of working on his positioning the past few days in practice in order to get his game back to its top level. The Flyers will have a good idea of where they stand after they play both the Hurricanes and Senators this week.
• Chris Kelly looked comfortable alongside the combination of Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley on the Senators top line writes Alan Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen. The Senators have been impressed with the play of Patrick Eaves so far this season writes Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun.
• The Islanders have shot down any suggestion of a Rangers hangover.
• The Rangers' best player Henrik Lundqvist says his team needs to start generating more scoring chances.
• In some good news, Colin White may suit up for the Devils tonight when they play the Penguins. However, he is on somewhat of a test run to see if he can still play NHL level hockey with blurry vision in one of his eyes. (Writer's note: Please mandate permanent visors on all player coming into the NHL already.)
• Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette reviews the first quarter of the Canadiens season in this morning's paper.
• As much as Olli Jokinen denies that there is a rift between him and Jacques Martin, the more you read about the situation, the more you think one of them won't be in Florida by season's end.
• The Hurricanes will be sporting the league's modified jerseys tonight as they take on the Flyers.
• Sabres' forward Thomas Vanek is hoping he can finally find his scoring touch sometime soon. Meanwhile, Tim Connolly could be in the lineup tonight as the Sabres take on the Senators.
• Tukka Rask stole the Bruins spotlight last night and deservedly so with his first NHL win writes Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe.
• The Thrashers have been dominant in overtime this season, going a perfect 5-0 in the extra frame.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.