The Buffalo Sabres to add a former Flame
Chris Johnston: It’s sounding like the Buffalo Sabres will be signing Curtis Lazar to a one-way contract. The Calgary Flames didn’t qualify him.
GM Botterill won’t comment on Ristolainen and if there was a trade request
Lance Lysowski: Sabres GM Jason Botterill wouldn’t say if defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen had requested a trade. Will keep any conversations with his players private.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking for some low-cost signings
Ian Tulloch of The Athletic: The Toronto Maple Leafs have little room to dip into free agency. They will be looking for some cheap, value players that could be this season’s Tyler Ennis.
Ten players who may fit that bill.
1. Brandon Pirri
2. Kenny Agostino
3. Brendan Leipsic
4. Dmitrij Jaskin
5. Tyler Ennis
6. Sven Andrighetto
7. Ryan Carpenter
8. Marcus Kruger
9. Tim Heed
10. Patrick Marleau
Five potential trade targets for the Pittsburgh Penguins
Rob Rossi of The Athletic: (before the Phil Kessel trade to the Coyotes) Five potential trade targets for the Pittsburgh Penguins: Jason Zucker (MIN), Jonathan Marchessault (VGK), Conor Garland (ARI), Nick Bonino (NSH), and Adam Lowry (WPG).
The Vancouver Canucks are in a bit of cap crunch
Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province: The Vancouver Canucks cap space took a hit with Roberto Luongo‘s cap recapture penalty – $3 million.
The Canucks will buy out Ryan Spooner, giving them $18.5 million in cap space to work with.
Brock Boeser needs a new deal, same with some depth forwards in Tyler Motte, Josh Leivo and Nikolay Goldobin.
Fitting Tyler Myers and $7 million isn’t as easy as it once might have been, and they’ll need to add another defenseman as well.
The Canucks didn’t qualify Ben Hutton as they were afraid he may be awarded $4 million in arbitration.
The Canucks had offered the Nashville Predators a 2nd round pick for P.K. Subban, with the Predators asking for Adam Gaudette in a deal.