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PITTSBURGH -- The NHL's GMs and team presidents congregated Tuesday before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, but it wasn't a day heavy with news.

The GMs once again talked about hits to the head, but they are overwhelmingly opposed to introducing a new penalty that would outlaw any hits to the head regardless of intent or whether they are "clean" hits.

"There's no appetite for a rule change on that," said Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. "We all think the existing penalties make sense, and then when a guy crosses the line, Colie [league disciplinarian Colin Campbell] bangs him; and in the leagues where they've put in an automatic penalty, I think it's drastically reduced hitting, and we have no desire to see a reduction in the amount of contact that takes place on our ice surface.

"I know players seem to think it's important, and you hear [NHL Players' Association executive director] Paul Kelly talk about it, but in our room? No appetite."

But that doesn't mean the GMs aren't concerned about the issue.

"Hitting is a big part of the game," Sharks GM Doug Wilson said. "The question is, was it a good body check that hurt someone, or was it an attempt to injure?"

Wilson talked about "predatorial hits" and how he'd like to see them come with an automatic league review.

Coyotes update
Don Maloney was swarmed by the media after the meeting. Apparently, the Phoenix Coyotes have been in the news of late.

"If you're going through this time, it's probably as good as any," Maloney said. "It's a relatively quiet time, there's not a lot of guys getting signed. We're business as usual right now. We're preparing for the draft and those kind of things. Obviously, a month from now, it might be a different story. … Whatever our marching orders are, we'll march."

Maloney doesn't know yet what his budget is because the team's ownership is in flux, awaiting a bankruptcy court decision next week.

"No, not right yet. We'll have to see how we're going to operate," he said. "The good thing, I think, from the hockey vantage point is that the [court] schedule's been accelerated."

Then, there is free agency July 1.

"As you get into free agency, now you have some questions about signings and things like that," Maloney said. "We certainly plan to be busy. Quite frankly, it's really no different. There's different ways we plan: You can plan if you're spending to the cap or midrange or maybe toward the bottom of the salary scale."

Here are other updates from availability with the GMs on Tuesday:

Ilya Kovalchuk
I told you puckheads a few weeks ago about a meeting between Thrashers GM Don Waddell and star captain Ilya Kovalchuk, the start of a process the team hopes will end with the Russian winger signing an extension. He has one year left on his deal.

"I met with Kovalchuk at his house a few weeks ago," Waddell confirmed to ESPN.com. "It was more of a philosophical conversation. We talked about where the team was headed; we talked about the organization and ownership. We have more meetings planned with him and his representation, but no actual contract talks until July."

Flyers goalie
I caught up with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren as he was hurrying to catch a plane. Simple question: What will he do in goal?

"Looking at a lot of different options," Holmgren said. "Continue to talk to our guys [Martin Biron, an unrestricted free agent July 1], but looking at other options, as well. Nothing imminent right now."

The Capitals
Reports have had Sergei Fedorov, Viktor Kozlov and Donald Brashear all jumping ship to Russia, but Fedorov's agent, Pat Brisson, told ESPN.com this week that his client could still end up in Washington, depending on what GM George McPhee decides to do. So, George, anything new on any of those fronts?

"Not right now -- we hope to have some [updates] by the end of the week," McPhee said. "We expect to get in touch with their representatives by the end of the week. It has been a busy week for us because we were at the combine for six nights, got home for one night and flew here."

McPhee's big problem is what to do with veteran center Michael Nylander, who has $8.5 million and two years left on his contract. He was a healthy scratch for most of the playoffs and clearly isn't part of the plan. But try getting rid of that deal. Perhaps a buyout is the only option.

Tampa and the kids
Lightning majority owner Oren Koules said Tuesday that he was flying the top three-rated prospects -- John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene -- to Tampa on Wednesday night for dinner.

"We're excited about all three players," Koules said.

He wouldn't tip his hand as to which player Tampa Bay would take at No. 1. But then again, no one knows at this point what the Islanders will do with the No. 1 overall pick. It would be a no-brainer for Toronto's Burke if he had that choice: Tavares.

"I wouldn't drop the kid at the end of a tough playoff," Burke said. "You get a 17-year-old, his girlfriend breaks up with him, he can go in the toilet for a month. For a guy to have a tough playoff series or a tough week or two, that wouldn't change my ranking at all. So if other teams have dropped him, good."

Of course, Burke would love to get one of those top-three picks.

"We're very open about it. We're trying to move up, and we're throwing deals at teams. We just haven't had any progress yet," Burke said.

Koules joked about that Tuesday.

"I sat next to Brian Burke for three hours today, and he never said a word to me [laughs]."

Tampa Bay GM Brian Lawton addressed the on-again, off-again, on-again trade rumors regarding Vincent Lecavalier and the need to move the star captain for financial reasons.

"If you're going to ask me if we need to trade any player because of economic reasons, I can tell you that it's absolutely not the case," Lawton said. "And anybody who suggests that is wrong and will probably be embarrassed in this next time frame as they have been from the very start of this ordeal."

OK, then.

Sharks moves?
Doug Wilson might be a busy man the next two months. The first-round upset loss to Anaheim surely can't sit well with the Sharks GM.

"I think we played really well for a long period of time," said Wilson, analyzing his team's season. "Then, whether we lost that edge a little bit, combined with losing eight or nine key players, thinking when we got everyone back you automatically play well. We played a team that was playoff-hardened that won a Cup two years prior; they were playing very well and we weren't on top of our game. Their best players were better than ours.

"So, there's a lot of good things that happened and there's a few bad things; we'll keep the good and address the bad things. There will be some level of changes. … We will listen to every phone call. We're not going to stop pushing until we get to where we want to get to."

Hmm, sounds like a guy who is ready to do something.

The new GM
Chuck Fletcher, like Joe Nieuwendyk, was attending his first meeting as a GM. The Minnesota Wild hired Fletcher during the conference finals. The former assistant GM with the Stanley Cup finalist Penguins finds himself in an interesting situation, returning to the city where he worked and his family still lives.

"It does feel different. My family still lives here," Fletcher said. "Cleaned out my office the other day here in Pittsburgh, so I still obviously have ties, very close ties, to the team and to the area. So it does feel different, but I'm still excited about watching the game tonight.

The Ducks and Niedermayer
Anaheim GM Bob Murray said there was nothing new on the Scott Niedermayer front. The two sides will meet the week of June 14 and hopefully get an answer on the veteran defenseman's future.

Congratulations to …
The NHL announced a couple of awards Tuesday. Longtime broadcaster John Davidson, now the president of the St. Louis Blues, was named the winner of the Foster Hewitt Award given annually for broadcasting excellence.

"It's quite overwhelming. I had a career as a player that ended short," said Davidson, who was an analyst for the New York Rangers as well as being a regular on "Hockey Night in Canada" for years. "I was 29 when I retired because of injuries. And the world of television gave me a chance to stay in it, and I've got about 300 people to thank for it.

"It opened the world up for me. I saw the world through hockey -- five different Olympics, made a lot of friends, got tutored by a lot of people."

Veteran Pittsburgh Penguins beat writer Dave Molinari was named this year's winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in print reporting. Molinari has been covering the Penguins and the NHL for 26 years. Molinari and Davidson will be honored at a luncheon during Hall of Fame weekend in November.

A new award?
The GMs agreed to institute a new award for the GM of the year. There's a Jack Adams Award for NHL coach of the year, so why not GM of the year? It likely won't be in place until next season at the earliest.

"This is something I started pushing for when I worked for the league," Leafs GM Burke said. "When we go to the awards in Vegas, the NHL is hoping to acknowledge excellence at every level. Out of 20 player awards, there's a good guy award, defensive awards, this and that. There's a coach of the year award, but there's no GM award, and I don't think this is right.

"I've raised this since 1994, so sometimes being a hard-headed Irishman pays off. I kept putting it on the agendas, and it was approved."