Murray Shopping For Veteran Wingers https://t.co/8ae7mYCbCm pic.twitter.com/dVZeUyxtuX
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) March 16, 2016
Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray is looking for wingers to play alongside his super centers Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichel. Samson Reinhart and Zemgus Girgensons.
Via the NHL Draft, Murray has built and cultivated quite a power house of young talent in Buffalo. Now, he is looking to take it to the next level by identifying trade partners who can assist him in his procurement of veteran scoring wingers to play with Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, Samson Reinhart, Zemgus Girgensons and others.
Murray has the bones and the foundation of his re-built team intact. Now he is seeking to make trades to add veteran scoring and depth to his exciting young hockey club.
Murray is armed with $35 million in salary cap space and he is not afraid to use it. Dan Bylsma's team is desperate for top six forward scoring. Bylsma also needs a top four, left shot D who can play 20+ minutes pee game I all phases of the game.
Murray recently told Buffalo's WGR radio that he believes that one of Jack Eichel's wingers is not yet on the Buffalo roster.
Might University of Minnesota stud power forward Husdon Fasching be Eichel;s missing link?
Perhaps.
Murray and Dan Bylsma like what they have seen recently from Samson Reinhart as he continues to be productive while riding shotgun for Eichel.
Murray has an itch that he will be using his $35 million to scratch.
Murray will be in much better shape in the recruitment market this summer as opposed to the past two summers. Which NHL veteran wingers would not want to skate 20+ minutes TOI per game alongside great young players at all key positions in Eichel, O'Reilly, Reinhart, Kane, Girgensons, Foligno, Ennis, Deslauriers, Ristolainen, McCabe, Pysyk, Lehner, and Ullmark.
The 28th ranked Sabres will likely end up with another lottery pick in the NHL Draft that will be conducted in Buffalo in late June. Murray could end up winning one of there NHL lotteries this summer. If Murray succeeds, he will add more star talent in the form of slickly skilled forwards Auston Matthews, Patrick Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi, Matthew Tkachuk, and defensemen Jacob Chychryn.
Murray is in Boca Raton, Florida this week at the NHL GMs meetings. On Tuesday, Murray told ESPN's Craig Custance that he will be looking to pluck off veteran wingers from his financially challenged NHL counter parts around the NHL this summer.
Remember when Patrick Sharp was traded from Chicago to Dallas last summer? The Hawks didn't want to trade the three time Stanley Cup champion, however, they had no other choice but to do so. Hawks GM Stan Bowman needed the cap space and had to make the unkindest decisions of his summer by trading Sharp and declining to sign veteran rear guard Johnny Oduya.
Murray says Sabres can be aggressive this summer in adding vets via trade/free agency: https://t.co/Hti0hvuCtG [In] pic.twitter.com/AbacP73Lgg
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) March 15, 2016
Anaheim has pending UFA Jamie McGinn who will be looking for five year contract extension in the $4-$4.5 million AAV range
Chicago is a perennial cap-strapped team. They live in the moment all season long, take deep playoff runs, and win Stanley Cups. After the lift always comes the obligatory let down when their GM Stan Bowman is forced to trade away key contributors in order to become salary cap compliant.
For 2016-17, the Hawks already have $64 million committed to 26 players under contract. The Hawks already have $40.5 million, or 57% of their salary cap, committed to their forward group. Bowman is in win-now mode. He will have to do business with several of his 2016-17 pending RFAs in Artemi Panarin,
Pending 2016-17 UFA Andrew Ladd will be seeking a six year, $36 million contract.
Andrew Shaw, two time Stanley Cup champion, pending RFA, earned $2 million this season. Will he be rewarded with a five year, $4.5-$5 million AAV contract? Or, will he be traded away?
Columbus has $65 million already spoken for next season, of which $42 million (59%) is committed to their forwards.
Captain Nick Foligno, 28, a 30 goal scorer, is a $5.5 million cap hit for the next five seasons.
Edmonton is in good shape salary cap wise. They have $59 million of their $71.4 million already spoken for. The Oilers desperately need to address their blue line. If that means trading awy a veteran forward, then so be it. The Oilers are staring down the gun barrel of yet another NHL lottery pick in 2016. Left winger Taylor Hall, 24, has four years remaining on his current contract at $6 million AAV. Right winger Jordan Eberle, 25, has three seasons remaining at $6 million AAV.
The LA Kings are ripe for the picking right now, They already have $65 million committed for 2016-17 and they still have to extend pending UFA Milan Lucic, who is earning $3.25 million this season. Lucic will easily command $6 million on a five year contract. Keep an eye on 31 year old right wing Dustin Brown. The Kings' captain is finishing year two of his eight year, $47 million contract extension which carries a $5.875 million AAV.
The Minnesota Wild already have $64 million invested in their 2016-17 roster, $44.7 million (62%) of which is committed to its forwards. I think the world of Wild power forward and Boston University alumnus Charlie Coyle and I'm sure that fellow Terrier Jack Eichel feels the same way about Coyle. I'm almost positive that Eichel and Coyle skate together during summer shinny sessions with other NHLers and NCAA players. Coyle is a 20 goal man now and can easily soar to 30+ goals per seaosn. He is earning $3.2 million for the next four seasons.
The NY Islanders are in decent salary cap space. However, they have to make a decision on power winger and 20 goal scorer Kyle Okposo, who is a pending UFA.
Ottawa appears to be ready to skate away from their pending RFA sniper Mike Hoffman who has scored 25+ goals the past two seasons. Hoffman is 26 and has the size, speed and skill to be a difference make in Buffalo's top six forward group. He earned $2 million this season.
The San Jose Sharks now have $60 million committed to their 2016-17 roster. That's 51% of their $71.4 million budget. Patrick Marleau, 36, will earn $6.66 million for the next two seasons. Don't sleep on 26 year old forward Logan Couture who will be a $6 million AAV for the next three seasons. An early exit from the playoffs could spell a radical roster re-shaping for the Blues.
The St. Louis Blues have $57 million committed to their 2016-17 roster, or which $36 million is forwards spending. Blues captain David Backes, 31, will earn $4.5 million in 2016-17 and will become UFA in 2017-18. A first round playoff elimination could set the dominoes in motion in the form of roster shake up and the firing of Ken Hitchcock.
The Blues also have 23 year old pending RFA Jaden Schwartz who might be in play.
The Tampa Lightning have been locked out by their pending UFA captain Steven Stamkos. He will become UFA on July 1. Stamkos has a no movement clause and is in 110% control of his own future. Personally, I don't see Stamkos and the Lightning coming together on a new contract. If the two sides were going to come together they would have done so already. I'm confident that Stamkos will be traded at the NHL draft in exchange for players, premium picks and prospects.
Bolts GM Steve Yzerman has to re-sign five pending RFAs in Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Vlad Namestikov, J.T. Brown, Cedric Paquette, and Jonathon Marchessault. Next summer, Victor Hedman will become UFA, as will Ben Bishop. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Andrej Sustr will be pending RFAs on July 1, 2017.
***
The Montreal Canadiens started the season with a scorching hot 9-0 record.
That will happen when your NHL MVP goaltender Carey Price is standing on his head and willing hi steam to victory.
However, the Habs enter Tuesday night's action in 13th place team in the 15 team Eastern Conference standings right now.
That will happen when Carey Price suffers a serious knee injury and is forced to sit out of games for four months and counting.
As Price goes, so go the Montreal Canadiens.
The Habs are 32-31-6 and have 70 points. They kissed their playoff chances goodbye weeks ago. They are a lottery team now. Their loyalist of loyal, diehard fans have been vocal in their displeasure with all of the losing and inconsistencies in the nightly play of the Canadiens.
Habs fans have grown weary of the coaching tactics (and lack thereof) of Mike Therrien. His detractors say that Price or not, Therrien hasn't pulled his group together in the face of adversity this season. In fact, many would say that Therrien's coaching techniques have caused fractures in the foundation and belief system of his roster.
Early Tuesday morning, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reported in the Journal de Montréal that he had heard that Montreal Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien is "expected to return as head coach next season", however, that GM Marc Bergevin will look at making needed changes to his team's roster.
“Even with all the injuries, I’m not happy with the situation and we’re going to evaluate it at the end of the season,… Bergevin said during a news conference Monday at the NHL GM meetings in Boca Raton, Florida.
“I’m glad to see that our players are putting in the effort every single night because effort is non-negotiable with me,… Bergevin added.
Bergevin sang a much different tune on Tuesday in Boca.
“Don’t believe any reports you read, by the way.…
One minute Bergevin is singing Therrrien's praises. The next minute he back pedals his original complimentary comments.
I'm confused.
Is Bergevin going to keep Therrien behind the Montreal bench, or, is he going to reach out for either Marc Crawford or Guy Boucher?
Montreal fans will recall when three months ago Bergevin branded Therrien as a “foxhole guy… and said he would not be firing the head coach of his struggling team this season “no matter what.…
Bergevin also made sure to add “it’s on me… as far as the team’s future success.
In late January, Bergevin also added:
“Michel Therrien and his coaching staff, I believe extremely in them. The players also do and they’re not going anywhere. We’re going to get through this together. The plan hasn’t changed. I’ve always said the same thing since Day 1 and we’re going to stick through this together and get out of this together as a team.…