Trotz happy Bellows wasn’t traded
Andrew Gross: New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz on forward Kieffer Bellows on being in the trade rumors as a potential trade piece: “Thank god we’ve still got him.”
Benning coming back with his contract guaranteed?
Sportsnet 650: Elliotte Friedman on Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning: “I’ve believed that Benning is coming back for some time now, and I believe the contract is guaranteed. I know there are a lot of rumours about option year, but I don’t believe that’s the case.”
Was Gaudette’s process sped up?
Iain MacIntyre: Elliotte Friedman said that Adam Gaudette wanted out of Vancouver. The Canucks were looking to move him but Friedman notes that Gaudette’s role in their COVID situation may have sped up things.
“It’s hard to believe the past couple of weeks didn’t accelerate an already-unhappy player’s departure.”
Sabres were basically dealing with only one team with regards to Hall
Pierre LeBrun: Believe that the Buffalo Sabres had a better offer from a team in the Western Conference for Taylor Hall but he really wanted to play for the Boston Bruins.
Hall was given a full no-movement clause so he had the right to decide where he wanted to go.
John Vogl: Sabres GM Kevyn Adams admits that he really only had just one trade partner.
“Yeah, that’s fair to say,” general manager Kevyn Adams said. “The reality of the situation is back in the offseason when we signed Taylor, we felt strongly that we needed to have a one-year deal to make sure that we were being disciplined and remain flexible moving forward. Part of the agreement was to be able to offer him a no-move clause.
“Taylor felt that Boston was the team that he wanted to go to. That was where he felt was the best fit, and contractually he had earned that right to make that call. So, we focused our attention there and obviously were able to get a deal done.”
The Sabres got a second-round pick and Anders Bjork for Hall and Curtis Lazar.
“We did the best we could possibly do in the short term and in terms of the longer term with the draft pick.”
WGR 550: Sabre GM Adams on not being able to get a first-round pick for Hall: “We were talking to as many teams as we could, but that became limited, and ultimately it was up to the player.”