The final hours for Max Pacioretty in Montreal?
Eric Engels of Sportsnet ponders is this really the end of Pacioretty’s days in Montreal. The Canadiens forward is involved in several rumors and a variety of destinations. Also, he has an attractive cap hit of$4.5 million for just one year left on his contract.
The fact Pacioretty signed an undervalued contract means he will want a good bit more on his next deal. That number could be $7 million.
Teams will give that number to the left winger, even at 31 at contract’s end. The question is who pulls the trigger on a trade. Rumors rampantly are everywhere but so far it is all just talk. Do not be surprised if the Buffalo Sabres make a swap to acquire the captain.
A Hurricanes splashdown?
Luke DeCock of The News & Observer: Andrei Svechnikov likely goes number two to Carolina, but what happens after that? That remains the greatest unknown. This is all about moving Carolina forward.
“Look, I want to do something desperately that makes us better, that gets us fair value, but I wouldn’t say because it’s Dallas or because it’s my first time, that it’s any more or less,” Dundon said Thursday. “We just want to make good decisions. I don’t think there’s any impetus on today as opposed to any other day, but because of the draft, it just feels like people will make a decision now.”
Also, this includes interest in players like Philipp Grubauer from Washington and other targets.
Finally, players like Jeff Skinner, Noah Hanifin, and Elias Lindholm are still rumored about.
Minnesota still open to making deals
Michael Russo of The Athletic thinks Paul Fenton could be very active this weekend. What may be considered normal talk still creates a buzz and this is all about value.
Sources are saying that Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, and Nino Niederreiter could be available and are in the rumors. Zucker is a pending UFA coming off a 33 goal season.
With Fenton dangling Tyler Ennis around attached to any deal, that does make a trade a hair more challenging. That includes talking to Matt Dumba as well.
Before the Coyotes sent Max Domi to the Canadiens for Alex Galchenuk, the Wild and Coyotes had talked about a framework that involved Niederreiter and Zucker – Domi and possibly Christian Dvorak. Tyler Ennis and his $4.6 million may have been discussed.