In The Crease

Look for the Penguins to peddle hard-hitting defenseman Darius Kasparaitis this summer. Owner- center Mario Lemieux thinks Kasparaitis too often takes himself out of the play by trying for a crushing open-ice hit. Other members of the Pittsburgh brass concur, pointing out that Kasparaitis pays too much attention to the hits statistics. (He finished with 351 last season, third in the league.)

...The Flyers scored a coup when they acquired 32-year-old center Jiri Dopita from the Panthers last Saturday for a second-round draft pick. Dopita is a world-class talent who has refused to sign with Florida because he wants to play on a team that has a Czech whom he knows. Philadelphia's No. 1 goalie is Roman Cechmanek, not only Dopita's countryman but also his pal. (Their wives are close friends too.)

... Red Wings center Sergei Fedorov has asked for a trade, but don't expect Detroit general manager Ken Holland to accommodate him. At $2 million for each of the next two seasons, Fedorov is a bargain....

The Oilers are trying to trade 26-year-old defenseman Janne Niinimaa (12 goals, 34 assists in 2000-01) because he's eligible for salary arbitration this summer. Edmonton is worried that Niinimaa, who made $1.8 million last season, would be awarded close to $3 million per year, the salary range of Caps blueliner Sergei Gonchar, who has stats similar to Niinimaa's....

Since March, the cash-poor Coyotes have slashed their payroll by more than half, cutting $20 million....

By acquiring forward Andreas Dackell from the Senators on Sunday, the Canadiens have significantly upgraded their penalty killing, in which they ranked 21st last season. While they were together in Ottawa two seasons ago, Dackell and forward Joe Juneau, whom Montreal acquired on June 15 from Phoenix, formed one of the league's top penalty-killing tandems.