The Chicago Blackhawks seem to have put their offseason wheeling and dealing on hold for the time being.

Following a trade with the Arizona Coyotes last week that shipped out Marian Hossa's contract and brought back forward Marcus Kruger, general manager Stan Bowman admitted Tuesday that the team is likely to wait until closer to training camp before potentially making more moves.

"That's probably the way it's going to be," Bowman said, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers. "Each year teams have surprises, good and bad, in camp. I think our team's the same way. You have ideas on how your lines are going to look or how your players are going to be ready. There'll be some adjustments around the League, but probably not a lot of activity. If you look back the last couple of seasons, late July and August are quieter as far as transactions. There's the possibility of moves, but probably closer to training camp is more when changes may happen."

The Blackhawks have $5.49 million in cap space heading into next season, giving them some wiggle room to bring in a player via trade or free agency if they so choose. However, with the potential for players to surprise in camp and challenge for roster spots, Bowman isn't feeling pressure to make a move for the sake of it.

"Having cap space is an asset in and of itself, so things will come along maybe in the summer, maybe in the beginning part of the (season) where teams have a couple players that make their team unexpectedly that makes some other players more expendable," Bowman said.

"In the past, we probably haven't really been a good match for those types of situations because we didn't have the cap room at that time. So now we're going to be in the mix for those types of things. Whether we use it right away or whether we use it during the season, I think the nice thing is we have the flexibility now going into the coming years where we're going to need cap room, all that and more, to sign the young players."

Chicago is coming off its worst finish (76 points) in a full 82-game season since 2006-07, when the club finished with just 31 wins.

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The Winnipeg Jets and defenseman Jacob Trouba are reportedly $3 million apart in their contract talks, with an arbitration hearing just two days away.

The Jets have offered $4 million while Trouba is asking for $7 million heading into arbitration, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Related: After signing Hellebuyck, can the Jets afford to keep the rest of their core?

The 24-year-old is a restricted free agent, coming out of the final season of a two-year, $6-million contract. Trouba signed the deal after a contract dispute to begin the 2016-17 season, which saw him hold out before signing on Nov. 7, 13 games into the regular season.

Trouba tallied three goals and 24 points in 55 games last season while averaging 21:54 of ice time, the second-most among all Jets players.

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The San Jose Sharks settled on a two-year contract with forward Chris Tierney on Wednesday, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, avoiding arbitration. The new deal carries an annual average value of $2.9375 million.

Tierney is coming off a strong year for the Sharks. The two-way forward registered career highs in goals (17), assists (23), and points (40) while playing in the full slate of 82 games. He added two assists in 10 playoff games.

The 24-year-old Keswick, Ontario, native was selected 55th overall by San Jose in the 2012 NHL Draft. Tierney was scheduled to have an arbitration hearing Friday.

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It happens in sports every year: athletes produce a magical season, but then quickly fall back to earth despite heightened expectations. Predicting that regression is far from an exact science, but when it comes to fantasy - and more specifically, to fantasy hockey - the ability to peg a player who's set for a decline can be the difference between winning and losing.

With that in mind, here are four players to be wary of this fall:

William Karlsson, C/LW, Vegas Golden Knights

Let's not over complicate things here, Karlsson came out of nowhere to take the league by storm in 2017-18 with a ridiculous offensive campaign highlighted by a slightly shocking 43 goals and 35 assists for Vegas.

All props to Karlsson and the Knights for a sensational inaugural season on the strip, but the likelihood of the speedy Swede even cracking 30 goals next year is relatively low. Especially when you consider that his highest output previous to last season was a lowly nine with the Columbus Blue Jackets three years ago.

Don't forget, Vegas has already lost the scoring punch of veteran snipers James Neal and David Perron, so opposing teams will focus their attention on shutting down Karlsson and linemates Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith.

The addition of Paul Stastny alleviates some of the offense lost with Perron and Neal, but the book is out on both the Knights and Karlsson, so the diminutive forward will be in tough to repeat last season's improbable offensive showing.

Dustin Brown, LW/RW, Los Angeles Kings

Speaking of guys who came out of nowhere last year, Brown had a resurgent 2017-18 that saw him surpass the 40-point mark for the first time in five seasons. While Brown's 28 goals and 33 assists were huge fantasy assets, his recent track record leaves some cause for concern.

It should also be noted Brown had the benefit of playing alongside a red-hot Anze Kopitar for a majority of last season, so his offensive numbers clearly benefited from the Hart Trophy-type campaign from his All-Star centerman.

Brown will likely have the same opportunity to play on Kopitar's wing next season, but expecting both players to repeat their production, especially Brown, is a risky bet. After all, the Kings are a team which perennially finishes in the bottom half of the league in team scoring.

Banking on a soon-to-be 34-year-old with rapidly diminishing foot speed to post back-to-back 40-plus point seasons for the first time in seven years would be a foolish move. Brown regresses next season, book it.

Josh Bailey, LW/RW, New York Islanders

Bailey's proven he can hang in the NHL over the last two seasons after posting 127 points over 158 games while holding down a spot on the Islanders' top line. However, that No. 1 line had been anchored by superstar pivot John Tavares over recent years, so Bailey's numbers are set for a significant decline with Johnny T now cemented in Toronto for the foreseeable future.

Tavares converted 29 of Bailey's 96 assists since the start of the 2016 campaign, meaning just over 30 percent of Bailey's apples came on JT's goals. Moreover, Tavares assisted on 14 of Bailey's 31 goals over the last two years, so, to expect Bailey to post another All-star-worthy season would be a bold prediction.

Now, Bailey will still have the benefit of playing with up-and-coming stars like 40-goal man Anders Lee and reigning Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal, so he still holds fantasy value, especially in deeper leagues. But without his talisman up the middle, Bailey will be hard-pressed to repeat last season's 71-point performance.

Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins

No one likes to crush hot dogs and put up solid offensive seasons as much as Kessel does. But in all fairness to Phil, the impressive 92-point showing from last year won't be replicated in 2018-19.

Sure, he's coming off the most productive campaign of his 11-year career (34 goals and 58 assists), but Kessel will be turning 31 in October and it's not exactly like he's been the most committed player off the ice, either. Not to mention the rumored rift between Kessel and team management, which led to reports indicating Kessel was so unhappy with the Penguins that he would accept a trade out of Pittsburgh.

Related: - Report: Kessel not opposed to trade, would play for Tocchet's Coyotes

There is no denying the stellar season Kessel had in 2017-18, a career year is a career year no matter how you slice it. But Phil managed only one goal in 12 playoff games, and was clearly uncomfortable with how head coach Mike Sullivan was utilizing him in the postseason.

Kessel can still bring it, but given the potentially sticky off-ice situation and the growing notion that the veteran is getting tired of the day-to-day grind that comes with being an everyday NHLer, and it becomes quite evident that Kessel won't be posting another 90-point season.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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Forward Tomas Nosek has agreed to a new one-year contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, reports Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.

The deal is reportedly worth $962,500, per CapFriendly. Nosek is coming off a two-year contract that carried a $612,500 annual cap hit.

In signing with the Golden Knights, Nosek avoids an arbitration hearing that was set for July 30. He will be a restricted free agent once his new agreement expires.

In 67 games with the Golden Knights last season, Nosek notched seven goals and eight assists. The 25-year-old then upped his production in the postseason, tallying six points across 17 appearances, including the game-winning goal in the opening match of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Golden Knights claimed Nosek from the Detroit Red Wings in last summer's expansion draft.

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The New York Rangers have agreed to terms with forward Jimmy Vesey on a new two-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.

The deal comes with an average annual value of $2.275 million, according to the New York Post's Larry Brooks.

The 6-foot-3 winger first signed with the Rangers following his stellar NCAA career at Harvard, but his time in the NHL has been slightly underwhelming thus far. In 159 games with New York over the past two seasons, the 25-year-old amassed 33 goals and 55 points.

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