On the Buffalo Sabres …
John Vogl of the Buffalo News: The Sabres are not sure which direction they will go with pending UFA winger and only consistent scorer Evander Kane.
The Sabres are one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams, so it seems like a bad idea to trade Kane, but they do have multiple needs, and they could end up losing him for nothing to free agency.
On the Edmonton Oilers …
Jim Matheson: The Edmonton Oilers have NOT called any teams about forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins this season. They are not going to trade him now, and they may not be interested in trading him after this season either.
The Fourth Period: If the Oilers are out of it at the trade deadline, they could look to move pending UFAs Patrick Maroon and Mark Letestu.
GM Peter Chiarelli would like to add at least one top-six winger and a top-four defenseman, and possibly a goaltender.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins name has come up in the rumor mill, but the sense is that it may be more of an offseason move. They would listen to offers but would have to be blown away by an in-season deal to move him now.
They may only be willing to move Anton Slepyshev, Drake Caggiula, Jujhar Khaira, and Iiro Pakarinen right now.
On the Vegas Golden Knights …
Rory Boylen of Sportsnet: James Neal, Jonathan Marchessault, and David Perron are all pending unrestricted free agents for the Golden Knights. Entering last night, the Golden Knights were two points out of first place in the Pacific Division with two games in hand. Could they become buyers at the deadline?
“We’ll do the best we can,” McPhee said. “We did the very best we could in the draft to acquire surplus picks and we did and we’re well-stocked for three more years and we’re going to use them to try to build a championship team, whether that’s through the draft or putting a few together to get another player. I hope to be nimble enough to be able to do things based on how the team is performing.”
The Golden Knights could look at re-signing Marchessault or Neal.