Alexis Lafreniere Staying In New York For Now
Arthur Staple of The Athletic: Staple writes the New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury was quietly shopping first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere.
NHL Rumors: New York Rangers – UFAs and backup goalie options
Lafreniere has disappointed since entering the NHL but has not been given the opportunities to succeed with the Rangers bringing in players like Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Lafreniere’s name has been out there for some time now, but the Rangers are finding out like the rest of the league is, the value they get in return will not be what they want. Not to mention his limited ice time and stats, teams were afraid to pull the trigger.
Thus, the Rangers will be keeping Lafreniere as an internal option to fill the right-wing position. They hope with a bridge deal for this season, he is given the opportunity to showcase himself.
Sabres Continue To Look For Top Four Defenseman
Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News: Now that the NHL Draft is done, the Buffalo Sabres turned their attention to Free Agency. The Sabres need a top-four defenceman.
NHL Rumors: Buffalo Sabres, and the Calgary Flames
On the first day of free agency, the Sabres re-signed Tyson Jost and signed Connor Clifton, to a three-year deal, but is he the answer in the top four the Sabres are looking for? The issue is the salary cap continues to wreak havoc on teams including the Sabres as it only went up by a million dollars.
Names continue to fly off the board but two names the Sabres continue to look at are Matt Dumba, Ryan Graves, and Scott Mayfield. However, Mayfield and Graves will want lucrative offers at free agency so they may be too rich for the Sabres.
On the trade market, the Sabres could try to pry away Brett Pesce from Carolina. He will need a new contract after this year, so it will be up to the Sabres on how much they want to sign him and for how much money.
General manager Kevyn Adams will continue to his best to improve the defence.