Blues-Maroon still not out of the question
Ben Frederickson: St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong said that Joel Edmundson would be signed by afternoon. Patrick Maroon and the Blues are still on each other’s radar. There is no update on Ivan Barbashev yet.
Wild interview two potential GMs
Michael Russo of The Athletic: The Minnesota Wild interviewed Pittsburgh Penguins assistant GM Bill Guerin yesterday. Sources say they interviewed Carolina Hurricanes ‘president and GM’ Don Waddell as well.
Waddell’s contract with the Hurricanes expired on June 30th, and he hasn’t been ‘re-signed’ by the team.
Former GM candidates for the Wild: Ron Hextall, Peter Chiarelli, and Brian Lawton.
Current assistant GMs candidates: Scott Mellanby (MTL), Tom Fitzgerald (NJ), Bill Zito (CBJ), Basil McRae (CBJ), and Mike Futa (LA).
Potential non-NHL candidate: Mark Hunter.
The Sabres need to shed some salary
Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News: The Buffalo Sabres now find themselves over the salary cap ceiling and in need of shedding some salary. They’ll need to create enough space for any in-season callups, any trade deadline deals and they could potentially have up to $3.7 million in performance bonuses.
The Sabres have a buyout window that is now open, with Vladimir Sobotka and Marco Scandella as possible options.
A Sobotka buyout would create a $2 million cap savings this year and adding a $1 million cap hit to 2020-21.
A Scandella buyout would create a $3.166 million cap savings this year and adding a $1.583 million cap hit to 2020-21.
Sabres GM Jason Botterill doesn’t like buyouts, so they could look to make a trade. Scandella and Matt Hunwick ($2.25 million) could get some trade interest. Both are left-handed.
Right-handed Rasmus Ristolainen ($5.4 million) seems to be the most likely player to be traded. They are looking to get a top-six forward for him. They would likely have to take back some salary in a Ristolainen trade.
Zach Bogosian carries a $5.14 million cap hit but is injured. He might draw some interest when he’s healthy. A Bogosian deal may have to wait until the trade deadline and that doesn’t help their current situation.