On the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers …
Jimmy Murphy: Hearing talk that the Oilers and Bruins have held exploratory talks about center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Asked another source and he confirmed. The Oilers are interested in rookies Danton Heinen and Peter Cehlarik.
On the Vegas Golden Knights …
Jesse Granger of the Las Vegas Sun: Vegas GM George McPhee still needs to do what is best for his team, so despite being in a playoff spot, they could trade some pending UFA for draft picks.
Bob McKenzie has said teams are calling about James Neal and David Perron, but continued success could mean McPhee is forced to keep them.
“We know what kind of team we have,” Perron said. “We have to keep winning if we want to maybe force a few decisions from George (McPhee) to maybe keep a few guys around.”
On Buffalo Sabres and Evander Kane …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 talking about the Buffalo Sabres and some potential destinations for pending free agent Evander Kane if the Sabres look to move him. There are some teams that may wait to see what happens with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and John Tavares.
“But yes, I do think Kane will likely be traded,” continued Friedman. “I think L.A. was a team that was interested in him in the summer. I could see him being a fit there. Columbus is looking for more of a center, but potentially I could see something like that. 5-on-5 scoring he’s up there with Auston Matthews as one of the best in the last 12 months, and teams are going to find room for that. Heck, I wonder even if you guys would consider something like that.”
Friedman adds that he could see Lightning GM Steve Yzerman wanting to bring in one more piece and it wouldn’t be surprised if they looked at Kane.