The NHL's off-season is upon us and teams are already looking to re-shape their rosters for a more successful 2016-17 season. Keep up to date on the latest trade/free agent speculation and rumours from around the league.

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Decisions, decisions

The dust has barely celebrated on the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup celebration and there are already major decisions looming for the champs.

According to Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Penguins are uncertain about the future of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and 39-year-old forward Matt Cullen.

The water is less muddy for Cullen, who with two Stanley Cups (2006 - Carolina, 2016 - Pittsburgh) could retire before the start of next season.

“I don’t know,” he said, as quoted by the Post-Gazette. “It’s hard to top this. … I want to just enjoy it a little bit.”

Fleury, also a two-time champion (2008, 2016 - Pittsburgh), was replaced in net by rookie Matt Murray due to a concussion and he never got the reins back.

With the NHL expected to expand to Las Vegas for the 2017-2018 season, Fleury is looking like a prime candidate to be selected in the expansion draft should the Penguins opt to protect Murray.

“I don’t know,” Fleury said after winning his second Cup. “We’ll talk to management before I leave town, I guess. That’s it.”

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Sharks in the tank

The heartbreak of losing in the Stanley Cup Finals won’t be enough to break the faith of veteran forwards Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau have in the San Jose Sharks.

According to Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, both players have yet to consider leaving the organization with just one year left on their contracts and with no-movement clauses.

“I haven’t thought about that at all, to be honest,” Thornton said, as quoted by the Mercury News.

Rejuvenated by a younger group of up-and-coming Sharks, the 36-year-old Thornton still feels he’s got something left in the tank.

“You need these young guys to push us older guys and make us feel young and they really did,” he said. “They made us feel young.”

In a master class of diplomacy, the 36-year-old Marleau expressed both his excitement for next year and his willingness to honour his contract.

“I have a contract for next year, so looking forward to it,” he said.

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Spend to save

It’s buyout season as of Wednesday at 5pm et until the same time on June 30 and the NHL has no shortage of potential candidates.

ESPN’s Scott Burnside has his favourites, noting that injured players cannot be bought out which eliminates Edmonton Oilers defenceman Andrew Ference and potentially Florida Panthers forward Dave Bolland.

Burnside believes New York Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi is one of the more likely candidates to find himself look for work outside The Big Apple in the coming days. He has four years and a $5.5 million annual cap hit left on his contract.

An interest tandem Burnside highlights as buyout candidates are either Dallas Stars goaltenders Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi. They cost a combined $20.8 million over the next two years and don’t look like they are the answer in the Lone Star State.

Rounding out the list are underachieving forwards Thomas Vanek (Minnesota) and Dustin Brown (Los Angeles), and Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Fedor Tyutin.

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Exploring all options

Fresh off becoming the youngest general manager in NHL history, Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka’s first order of business deals with quite a big fish.

According to Arizona Sports, Chayka is exploring all possible options for forward Martin Hanzal, which includes requesting a list of teams the centre would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for.

“I talked to his representatives about his no-trade list but that’s going to be our standard procedure going forward,” Chayka said, as quoted by Arizona Sports. “I don’t want it to be seen as a leverage point or a bargaining chip. It’s just to say, ‘let’s get it out in the open so we all know our options.’”

Chayka also hasn’t ruled out re-signing Hanzal to an extensions.

“I wouldn’t have been there if I wasn’t willing to sign Marty to an extension,” he said. “When he’s playing well, he’s one of our most, if not the most impactful forward.”