- John Vogl of the Buffalo News: Sabres owner Tom Pegula on Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek who have let it be known they would accept a trade out of Buffalo:
“I can tell the fans I’m concerned, too,” said Pegula, who has turned down numerous interview requests by The Buffalo News. “Yes, we want them here. They have a say in that decision. What that decision is, no one’s been re-signed yet, so we’re still working. … Don’t forget, they’re part of that decision.”
On recruiting free agents:
“When you go after a free agent, the Buffalo Sabres go after a free agent, I get a kick out of some comments, ‘Why didn’t they get this guy? Why didn’t they get that guy?’’ Pegula said. “Does anyone ever think that maybe that other person has a say in the decision? And maybe he didn’t or doesn’t want to come to Buffalo. You can’t force people to do things.”
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators GM Bryan Murray will be looking to talk trade at the GM meetings. He’s looking to add a top 6 forward and to move up in the draft.
“We have a chance to get a good player this year. The draft, through the first round, is fairly decent,” said Murray. “There’s a variety of types. We know now that we’ve got a core of young players coming with a fair amount of talent.
“There’s a certain type of player that we’ll be looking for in that spot. It’s hard to say at the moment what that is, but a player who is going to fit into our hockey team in the future.”
Murray has spoken with four teams and suggested he’d be willing trade one of their top prospects as part of the package.
“I’ll have the opportunity to talk to a variety of managers for different teams,” said Murray. “Then, we’ll see if anybody is really interested in engaging and trying to do something for their team.
“Where we are right now (at No. 17) I don’t think we’ll get the Top 6 guy, but maybe that’s a possibility if we’re patient enough in three or four years. We might be able to get a better player if we want to move up, but you have to be willing to pay a price for that as well.”