Saturday roundup: Voynov, Bernier, awards

VOYNOV CLOSE?

According to a report by R-Sport on Saturday, Slava Voynov is close to signing a contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings despite the efforts of Traktor Chelyabinsk to sign him and bring him back to his hometown.

Said Voynov’s agent Alexander Tyzhnykh:

“Slava is in contract talks with Los Angeles and we should come to an agreement in the very near future.”

At the time of the report, Voynov hadn’t given Traktor a definitive answer.

Tyzhnykh, again:

“But I won’t hide it, Slava is leaning toward Los Angeles. After all, he’s been in the Kings system for five years and everything in the organization suits him.”

Voynov, who becomes a restricted free agent on July 5, will commandeer a cap hit significantly higher than the $816,666 devoted to him for the previous three years. In late May LA Kings Insider placed his cap hit in the 3.5-million to 5-million dollar range, with the actual hit likely gravitating much closer to the latter number than the former.

BYE BYE BERNIE?

A Jonathan Bernier trade appears to be on the horizon, with ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun reporting that the Kings are active in discussions to deal the impending restricted free agent.

LeBrun:

Jonathan Bernier will finally escape Jonathan Quick’s shadow in L.A. A source told ESPN.com Friday that the Los Angeles Kings have spoken with about 10 clubs about Bernier’s availability. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s traded before or at the draft.

The NHL Draft takes place on June 30.

The Philadelphia Flyers, a frequent Los Angeles trading partner, would be a potential target should they buy out the contract of Ilya Bryzgalov, which many observers expect them to do. Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period recently pinpointed a potential trade with Philadelphia that could include 27-year old Flyers forward Matt Read.

@ericsuperfan think Bryzgalov gets bought out and Bernier for Matt Read is made. Was discussed at deadline as I hear.

— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) June 8, 2013

Other potentially interested parties include the New Jersey Devils, the New York Islanders, the Calgary Flames and the Buffalo Sabres, should Ryan Miller be moved.

KOPI-VOTE

Anze Kopitar finished in fourth place in the voting for the Frank J. Selke trophy, awarded annually to the league’s top defensive forward. Jonathan Toews won the award, with Patrice Bergeron and Pavel Datsyuk finishing as finalists. Kopitar, who finished 471 points behind Datsyuk for third place in Selke voting, received four first place votes.

Mike Richards received a fourth-place vote and Jarret Stoll received a fifth-place vote for the Selke.

Kopitar finished in 14th place in voting for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy and received one first place vote. Rob Scuderi also received a first place vote and finished in 17th place for the Lady Byng.

Dean Lombardi received a third place vote for GM of the Year, while Darryl Sutter received a third place vote for the Jack Adams Award. Voters select five players for the Selke and Lady Byng trophies, while only three recipients are selected for the Jack Adams Trophy and General Managers Award.

Though eight of 30 NHL teams hail from the Pacific and Mountain time zones, league awards were presented disproportionately to players on Midwestern and east coast-based teams on the first day of awards announcements. 10 of the top 11 vote-getters for the Selke came from Central Time Zone and Eastern Time Zone teams; 11 of the top 12 vote-getters for the Lady Byng came from CT/ET teams. Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote on both awards.

The NHL Broadcasters Association votes for the Jack Adams Award; nine of the top-10 vote getters came from CT/ET-based teams. The General Manager Award is voted on by the league’s 30 general managers in addition to a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. 10 of the top 11 vote-getters came from CT/ET-based teams.