Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray will be busy today and tomorrow finalizing new destinations for his pending UFAs Chris Stewart, Michal Neuvirth, Torrey Mitchell, Tyson Strachan, Andre Benoit, and Andre Meszaros.
Murray will be riding the wave of high trade value at the trade deadline. On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks set the compensation market for NHL rentals when they sent a first round draft choice and a prospect to Arizona in exchange for Antoine Vermette.
NHL GMs can't hate Murray for holding out for a higher price for Stewart. They can hate on Bowman for upping the ante to a first rounder in exchange for Vermette.
The market is what the market is. Bowman set the market.
Murray has created a feeding frenzy for Stewart and Neuvirth by resisting the temptation to trade them away weeks ago. There are multiple teams lined up around the corner looking to get a piece of Stewart. Other teams in on Stewart include Calgary, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Dallas, Nashville, Montreal and Winnipeg. Peter Chiarelli may not like having to trade his 2015 first rounder in exchange for Stewart. Too bad. If he doesn't do so then some other GM will. The Bruins may be inclined to pay the price. The Islanders don't have a first rounder this season because the Sabres already own it. Its not likely that they will give Buffalo their 2016 first rounder. The Rangers may be so inclined to pay the price.
The Stars, Predators, Wild, Jets, Rangers, and Canadiens maybe willing to pony up a first rounder for Stewart.
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Murray also has multiple suitors lining up for Michal Neuvirth.
Neuvy's save % past 8 starts, since Enroth trade on 2/11:
FLA- .913 VAN- .903 CBJ- .957 NAS- .974 NYR- .930 PHI- .947 NJ- .971 PHI .933
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) February 28, 2015
Teams interested in Neuvy include Boston, Montreal, San Jose, Dallas and Anaheim.
Are Edmonton sniffing around Neuvirth?
Oilers are looking for goaltenders. They were looking at what the Maple Leafs goalies in the last few weeks. #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) March 1, 2015
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I'm hearing that Torrey Mitchell is being pursued by Detroit, Dallas, Chicago, Winnipeg, Boston, and Tampa.
Tyson Strachan, Andre Benoit, and Andrej Meszaros are all pending UFAs and can add immediate veteran depth to a D corps, even if its as a seventh man option.
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Last week, Tim Murray said that he has been fielding phone calls on all of his pending UFAs.
Murray also said that he got a surprise call from an unidentified NHL GM asking about a unnamed Sabres player who hadn't previously been inquired about in trade talks.
The Washington Capitals are going all-in for their pursuit of a Stanley Cup Finals. Barry Trotz has a winning lineup right now and would like to add a veteran forward to provide primary and secondary scoring.
Washington have been in aggressive pursuit of Chicago left winger Patrick Sharp. The rumors have been persistent for months. Sharp has two years remaining in his deal at a $5.9 million salary cap hit. Problem being, the Hawks are hesitant to trade Sharp now due to the news of Patrick Kane's 12 week recovery from his busted wing. Therefore, Sharp is staying put in the Windy City. It's more likely that Sharp will be moved at the NHL draft in June. He'll likely be a salary cap casualty. The Hawks will have tough decisions to make at season's end due to the shrinking Canadian dollar and its negative impact on the NHL salary cap. The cap is likely to stay flat at a time when the ginormous contracts of Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane will kick in next season. The salary cap number on the Toews and Kane deals in $10.5 million per season.
I've been told that the mystery Sabre likely is Matt Moulson.
The veteran left winger was traded to Minnesota at the 2014 trade deadline, then re-signed in Buffalo as a UFA on July 1. Moulson has four years remaining on his deal at $5 million per season.
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Jack Eichel and the BU Terriers are Hockey East Champs!
Great win at Matthews… Hockey East Regular-Season Champions! #ProudtoBU pic.twitter.com/c1K2XN8Fem
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) March 1, 2015Eichel ends freshman season 18G, 37A in 32 games. Led NCAA #horse
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) March 1, 2015Sabres GM Tim Murray has been patiently trying to close the deal on BU's free agent starting goalie Matt O'Connor. Murray can check off all the boxes on O'Connor's wish list.
Murray can give O'Connor NHL starts immediately this season and can sign the kid to his entry level deal. Murray doesn't care about burning the first year of O'Connor's entry level deal when he starts games for the Sabres this season. Murray and teh Sabres will need a starting goalie after Michal Neuvirth is traded away in the hours to come. The Sabres can start Anders Lindback until such time that O'Connor and the Terriers either lose out of the NCAA hockey playoffs.