- Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: The Blackhawks will be looking to move salary and Patrick Sharp is a likely candidate with his $5.9 million cap hit for two more years. Simmons thinks he could land in Buffalo. His salary insistent an issue. The Sabres have the 21st and 31st picks in the draft, and could be willing to part with 21st pick. Getting the 21st or even the 31st overall pick might be good enough for both side.
- Adam Kimelman of NHL.com: The Sharks have been looking ahead to this draft for the past couple seasons.
“Our staff, led by Tim Burke told us this would be a strong draft and that’s why we acquired all the picks we did the last few years,” Wilson said. “We see it as a very good draft. It was forecast as a good draft and it’s playing out that way.”
The Sharks own the No. 9 pick.
“The strength of this draft year, it impacted some of our decisions this season,” Wilson said. “We were not going to move our first-round pick regardless. The chance to add a high-end quality player was not something we were going to compromise on.”
The Sharks usually select the best player available. If they look at selecting a forward, they could look at Pavel Zacha, Timo Meier, Mathew Barzal and Kyle Connor. If they look at selecting a defenseman, options could include Zach Werenski, Jakub Zboril and Thomas Chabot.
- Craig Custance: Three teams have showing interest in the Coyotes No. 3 pick in the draft. The Coyotes have a variety of needs and will listen.
- Joe Haggerty of CSNNE: One of the prominent draft names that has been associated with the Bruins with Jakub Zboril – a rugged, physical defenseman. He also put up 33 points in 44 games.
- Sam Carchidi: The Flyers didn’t interview Mathew Barzal, Timo Meier or Paul Bittner at the draft combine. Seems unlikely now that they would draft one of them.
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Pavel Zacha and Daniel Vladar are high on the Flyers radar. Zacha could be available to them at No. 7. Vladar will likely be available in the second or third round. Vladar is rated as the second best European goalie according to the NHL’s Central Scouting Service. Chase Pearson should draw the Flyers interest in the middle rounds.
