NHL Rumors: Utah Hockey Club, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Pittsburgh Penguins

Utah not making progress with one of their RFAs

Craig Morgan: Source said that there has been no progress yet between Utah and RFA defenseman Victor Soderstrom. Newly acquired Igor Sokolov is their other RFA.

Leading candidates for the Columbus Blue Jackets coaching vacancy, and they’re not in a rush with RFAs

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic: The Columbus Blue Jackets could name their new head coach early this week. Leading candidates are believed to be Todd McLellan, Dean Evason and Jay Woodcroft.

Columbus Hopes Sean Monahan Can Find Magic Again with Johnny Gaudreau

Kirill Marchenko, Jake Christiansen and Jet Greaves filed for salary arbitration last week. The Blue Jackets weren’t in a rush to sign them, but talks could start this week.

Aaron Portzline: Joel Quenneville is not a candidate for the Blue Jackets.

A Sidney Crosby extension could be coming soon

Rob Rossi of The Athletic: Team and league sources are saying that a Sidney Crosby contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins could be done soon.

GM Kyle Dubas and agent Pat Brisson have done a good job of keeping things quiet.

Crosby turns 37 years old in August and has said he wants to be a Penguin for life. Back in April, it was reported that they could possibly be looking at a three-year deal in the $10 million per season range. He carries an $8.7 million cap hit this season.

The Penguins could use another top-six winger and only have about $3.5 million in cap space.

NHL Rumors: Do the Maple Leafs Owe it to Craig Berube to Give it a Shot with Mitch Marner?

“The on-ice direction is simply we’re not looking to simply squeak into the playoffs,” Dubas said. “It’s to return the team to become a contender as soon as possible.

“Can we do that this season? Can we do that next season? It’s hard to put a time frame on it. But this is obviously not a strip-it-down-to-the-studs situation here; the people in the room are too good for that.”