As expected Keith Tkachuk will play another season with the St. Louis Blues.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported tonight Tkachuk, 37, agreed to a one-year contract with the Blues. It's believed his new salary will be $2.15 million for next season, a much more affordable total for the club as it is down substantially from last season's salary cap hit of $4 million.

Tkachuk earlier in his career was one of the top power forwards in the league but while he's no longer the force he once was he's proven over the past two seasons to be a vital component to the Blues resurgence, particularly with his experience and leadership.

While no longer capable of posting the numbers he once did in the 1990s and earlier in this decade he still has a good scoring touch. This past season he reached the twenty-goal mark for the 15th time in his career, finishing the season with 25 goals and 49 points in 79 games.

He should once again prove to be a positive influence on this young Blues team as it looks toward building on its success from last season. 

The future of the Phoenix Coyotes remains uncertain but that isn't preventing general manager Don Maloney from getting a start on his off-season roster plan.

Maloney today dealt center Steve Reinprecht to the Florida Panthers in exchange for minor league Stefan Meyer and also re-signed restricted free agent forward Petr Prucha to a two-year contract extension.

According to TSN.ca Reinprecht, who was eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1st, has signed a three-year contract with the Panthers worth $2.050 per season against their cap. His actual salary breaks down as $1.8 million for next season and $2.175 million per season for the following two.

Reinprecht, 33, spent the last 3

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero wasted little time following his club's Stanley Cup championship victory last week getting started on re-signing his free agents.

On Wednesday Shero re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Alex Goligoski to a three-year, $5.5 million contract extension. The cap hit will be $1.833, 333 per season.

Goligoski, 23, split last season between the Penguins and their AHL farm team, playing 45 NHL regular season games and two post-season games.

At 6' and 187 lbs he's a small defenseman but possesses good speed and offensive skills, as his 20 points in those 45 NHL games can attest.

With Ryan Whitney traded away in March and the possibility veterans Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi could be lost to this summer's unrestricted free agent market the Penguins obviously intend to employ Goligoski on a full time basis starting next season.  

The NHL's salary cap for next season is expected to remain close to last season's cap limit of $56.7 million, which could seriously handicap the off-season plans of several clubs that have already committed a lot of coin toward next season's payroll.

Speculation suggests the following teams could attempt to move some high-salaried players to free up that valuable cap space:

-The Ottawa Senators weren't planning on shopping winger Dany Heatley until about a week ago when his trade request forced management now to peddle him and his expensive salary. Heatley, who has a no-movement clause which he's willing to waive, is due to receive $7.5 million per season until 2013-14.

-The Philadelphia Flyers are currently sitting just under $50 million for next season and are rumored shopping Daniel Briere, who has a no-movement clause, an injury history, and a cap hit of $6.5 million per season until the end of the 2014-15 season.

-The Chicago Blackhawks have been rumored (mainly coming from rumor blogs so take with a grain of salt) to be unhappy with defenseman Brian Campbell's performance and would like to move him, his limited no-trade clause and his $7.145 million per season until 2015-16 off their books.

-The Edmonton Oilers are rumored willing to part with defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky ($5.6 million per season against the cap until 2012-13) or Sheldon Souray (cap hit of $5.4 million per season until 2011-12) in hopes of landing offensive depth.

-The NY Rangers are supposedly shopping either Scott Gomez ($7.357 million against the cap until 2013-14) or Chris Drury (cap hit of $7.050 million per season until 2011-12).

- The Tampa Bay Lightning are apparently desperately trying to move Vincent Lecavalier prior to his 11-year, $7.27 million per season contract takes effect on July 1st.

So, say you're the general manager of a team seeking either scoring depth at forward or puck-moving defensemen, and the general managers of those teams came calling offering those players.

With the salary cap expected to stagnate next season and potentially decline for the 2010-11 season, would you really want to take the risk of tying up your valuable cap space on any of these guys? Not just for next season but over the course of several?

Common sense would suggest "no" but as we've seen over the years that quality tends to fly out the window at certain times of the year, which explains how the aforementioned got their whopping big contracts in the first place.

Will any of these guys be moved? Well, Heatley likely will for sure. Lecavalier, maybe, but the rest would be a tough sell during the best of times. Moving them during a summer with a stagnant cap and with fear of a cap decline in the future makes it even tougher. 

A minor sensation was created last Friday when it was erroneously reported the Anaheim Ducks had traded veteran defenseman Chris Pronger to the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Jack Johnson and the fifth overall pick in this year's entry draft.

Ducks general manager Bob Murray and Kings GM Dean Lombardi denied the report within hours of its appearance but not before some in the press analyzed the deal, suggesting it was a good move for both clubs.

Johnson has been rumored seeking a new contract worth over $5 million per season, a considerable boost from the $2million per season he earned on his entry level contract ($850K base plus $1.95 million in bonuses), hence the reason his name has popped up in the rumor mill.

Lombardi however recently told the LA Daily News there was no truth to that rumor but that negotiations were expected to continue. Still, that hasn't stopped some from suggesting Johnson could be shopped given Lombardi's history of moving players whom he's had contract difficulties with in the past.

I digress.

The real question of interest here is whether or not the Ducks will actually trade Pronger during the off-season.

Pronger, 33, has one year at $6.25 million remaining on his current contract, after which he'll be eligible for UFA status on July 1st, 2010.

The status of teammate Scott Niedermayer however will determine if Pronger plays out that contract in Anaheim or elsewhere.

Niedermayer is expected to inform Murray prior to the upcoming entry draft if he intends on re-signing with the Ducks, testing the UFA market or go into retirement.

If he opts for one of the latter two Murray will retain Pronger, who except for Ryan Whitney is the only notable Ducks blueliner under contract for next season.  

If Niedermayer decides to return Murray will need to move Pronger, who lacks a movement clause, in order to free up salary to re-sign Niedermayer and address other areas in his roster.

It makes no sense for Murray to move Pronger now if he hasn't heard anything from Niedermayer yet.

Should Niedermayer opt to return with the Ducks don't be surprised if Pronger is moved quickly, possibly during the entry draft weekend (June 26-27).