NHL Notes: Flames acquire Brian Elliott from Blues

The Calgary Flames addressed their biggest need entering the NHL draft weekend by acquiring goalie Brian Elliott in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for their second-round pick this season.

Flames general manager Brad Treliving said Thursday he was intent on landing a goalie. But he didn't necessarily think the team was close to a deal.

"To handicap it, we're looking at everything and balancing it," Treliving said. "You know we're going to have one come October."

The 31-year-old Elliott has seven seasons of NHL experience and was 23-8-6 last season, plus started and starred most of their playoff run this spring that ended in the Blues' first appearance in the Western Conference final since 2001. Besides acquiring the 35th overall pick in this year's draft, the Blues get a conditional third-round selection in 2018.

"You need a dance partner, that's how it works," Treliving said. "But you'd always like to get that taken care of, and that's sort of our preference right now."

Elliott is due to be an restricted free agent after next season.

Elliott spent the last five seasons with St. Louis and was 104-46-16 with a 2.01 goals-against average. He has 34 career shutouts, including a franchise-record 25 for St. Louis.

Habs acquire Shaw, trade Eller

The Montreal Canadiens acquired forward Andrew Shaw from the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday for a pair of second-round draft picks at the NHL draft.

Montreal also traded forward Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals for second-round draft picks in 2017 and 2018.

The two draft selections acquired from Chicago are the 39th and 45th overall picks at this year's draft.

Shaw, 24, scored 14 goals and 20 assists in 78 regular season games last season for the Blackhawks. The pending restricted free agent added six points in six games in the post-season.

Chicago drafted Shaw in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft.

Eller, 27, had 13 goals and 13 assists in 79 games last year for the Canadiens.

The Dane has two years left on his contract with a salary-cap hit of $3.5 million.

Yzerman finds Stamkos 'sign and trade' idea interesting

With time running out, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman isn't ready to give up on the possibility of re-signing captain Steven Stamkos.

Speaking at the NHL draft Friday night, Yzerman declined to provide an update on contract talks except to say he's not ruling anything out, or "closing any doors." When posed a question of potentially signing and then trading Stamkos, Yzerman called it "an interesting idea."

He added he'd rather gain an asset by trading Stamkos than losing him to free agency.

The Lightning have leverage to at least agree to sign and trade Stamkos. Under NHL rules Tampa Bay can sign Stamkos to an eight-year contract, while others are limited to seven years.

Starting Saturday, pending unrestricted free agents such as Stamkos are allowed to speak with all teams, but can't sign until July 1.

Wild to buy out Thomas Vanek

The Minnesota Wild have decided to buy out the final year of left wing Thomas Vanek's contract.

The move was made Friday, a few hours before the NHL draft and a week before the beginning of free agency.

Vanek's disappointing two-year stint with Minnesota ended with 39 goals and 54 assists in 154 games with a minus-15 rating. His 18 goals last season were a career low, including the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season when he had 20 goals in 38 games in his last full season with the Buffalo Sabres.

The Austrian player signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract on July 1, 2014, with the Wild. Vanek has one year remaining at a cap hit of $6.5 million (all figures US). The buyout cap hit will be $1.5 million this season, and $2.5 million the following year.

According to the website General Fanager, the Wild will have $14.2 million in cap space when the buyout takes effect.

Maple Leafs unveil new uniforms

The Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled their new uniform for next season, the 100th in the franchise's history.

According to a relase from the club: the new uniforms are inspired by the iconic Maple Leaf uniforms of the past and feature a larger version of the team's new logo, unveiled in February, than in past uniforms to place emphasis on the badge. Other distinguishing details include the classic four stripes on the sleeves with a single band across the bottom of the sweater and "Honour. Pride. Courage." stitched inside the collar. 

Report: Sabres' Kane under investigation

A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that Buffalo police are investigating an allegation that Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane physically harassed two women at a downtown Buffalo bar.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity on Friday because police have not revealed any details of their investigation.

The person said Kane allegedly grabbed the woman by the arm or shoulder early Friday morning. The person said no charges have been filed and no one has been arrested.

Buffalo's WIVB-TV first reported the investigation.

This is Kane's second run-in with trouble in six months. In March, a three-month investigation led prosecutors to rule Kane would not face a sexual assault charge because there was no evidence to support the allegation.

Coyotes trade for retired Datsyuk's contract

The Detroit Red Wings gained salary-cap relief by trading veteran star Pavel Datsyuk's contract to the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night at the NHL draft.

The 37-year-old Datsyuk said last week that he will return home to Russia to play in the Kontinental Hockey League next season. He has a year remaining on his contract and will count $7.5 million US against Arizona's salary cap.

The Coyotes obtained the No. 16 pick, used to select defenceman Jakob Chychrun, with Datsyuk in exchange for the No. 20 pick, a second-round pick (No. 53 overall) and forward Joseph Vitale. Detroit selected defenceman Dennis Cholowski at No. 20.

Coyotes select site for new arena

The Arizona Coyotes have selected a site for their new arena but aren't ready to announce its location.

Speaking before the NHL draft on Friday, Coyotes president and CEO Anthony LeBlanc said the team has a deal in place, but attorneys are still working out the details.

"We're not at liberty to disclose the site at this point, but we are moving forward and are actually in the process of trading legal documentation between us and the organizations that we're working with," he said. "We anticipate getting that done over the next several weeks."

LeBlanc said the arena will likely be financed with public and private funds, but the team will cover more than 50 per cent. The Coyotes have a one-year lease to play at Gila River Arena in Glendale next season and the team is working with AEG, which operates the arena, to add a two-year extension before moving.