NHL Rumors: Coyotes, Blue Jackets, Panthers, Blackhawks and Sabres

The Coyotes are operating within the rules

Craig Morgan: Arizona Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong on the perceptions that they are circumventing the cap with all the dead money they have on the books with Bryan Little, Shea Weber and Jakub Voracek: “We do business in here. Those are the rules and we operate within the rules… we are not going to apologize for that.”

NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and the Arizona Coyotes

Alexandre Texier is expected to return to the Blue Jackets next year

Jeff Svoboda: Columbus Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier is playing in Europe this season but GM Jarmo Kekalainen expects him to return to the team next season.

Zito on a Radko Gudas extension

Jameson Olive: Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito on a potential Radko Gudas extension: “We started talking to Radko a little bit, and we’ll continue. We’d like to keep him if we can.”

Could Max Domi return to the Chicago Blackhawks?

Charlie Roumeliotis: Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said he’d definitely be okay with them trying to re-sign Max Domi this offseason: “I told him I’d love him to come back. But we have to see what we end up with. … He’s shown he’s fit in here really well and that’s always a good option for sure.”

Sabres top prospects were non-starers

Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News: Some teams were asking Buffalo Sabres  GM Kevyn Adams about top prospects Matt Savoie and Jiri Kulich.

“They were nonstarters in conversations.”

The Sabres weren’t interested in rentals and they were looking for young players with some upside and NHL experience.

Jakob Chychrun was one player who fit what they were looking for. Adams without saying who he was referring to, said on Friday.

NHL Rumors: Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres and the Winnipeg Jets

“You have to be careful whether it’s, you know, as a fan, or anyone just saying, ‘Well, if this team traded for this, then we should have done it,'” Adams said. “That’s not the way it typically works. … But there is a line that we would draw in a situation like that, as we got to that spot that we are not going over. We’re not in a situation where we feel that we had our backs against the wall, desperate.”