Sabres haven’t considered not qualifying Montour
Paul Hamilton: Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams on the speculation that they may not give restricted free agent defenseman Brandon Montour a qualifying offer: “That’s news to me. We have not even considered that. All of our conversations about Brandon have been very positive, so not sure where that’s coming from.”
John Vogl: Montour is owed a $3,525 million qualifying offer and he’ll be looking for a raise.
The Wild will be searching for a top centerman this offseason
Michael Russo of The Athletic: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin has already said he’d like to improve down the middle and in net. Finding an No. 1 center is never easy, nor cheap. The chances of the Wild acquiring a No. 1 center this offseason are slim.
Would the Wild be able to convince the Los Angeles Kings to trade the No. 2 pick in the draft? They could then select Quinton Byfield.
Would they be able to trade Jonas Brodin or Matt Dumba in a deal for a top center? Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon have to be protected in the expansion draft, so Brodin or Dumba could potentially be exposed if they go the 7-3-1 route.
Brodin is a pending RFA and if they feel he’ll be too expensive, they could trade him this offseason or before the trade deadline.
There are some decent free agent and trade options likely available this offseason, but none are of No. 1 center quality. Guerin has noted that if you have one player on the line that can drive a line, you may be able to get away with not having an elite center.
Pipedream trade options – Mitch Marner, Jack Eichel, Aleksander Barkov and Dylan Larkin.
Trade possibilities – William Nylander, Max Domi, Anthony Cirelli, Tyler Johnson, Dylan Strome, Ryan Strome, Alexander Kerfoot, Adam Henrique, Jared McCann and Adam Gaudette.
Free agent options – Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Alex Galchenyuk and Derick Brassard.
Through the draft, moving up to No. 2 for Byfield. Cole Perfetti or Marco Rossi could be picked before the Wild draft at No. 9, so they could attempt to move up. At the No. 9 slot, potentially available centermen include Anton Lundell, Connor Zary, Dawson Mercer or Seth Jarvis.