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Matt Moulson

Atlantic Notes: Moulson, Moore, Buffalo Coaching Search

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While many teams are hoping to strike an agreement with Vegas to get them to take a bad contract off their hands, John Vogl of the Buffalo News highlights a unique situation when it comes to the Sabres.  Winger Matt Moulson, who has two years left on his contract with a $5MM cap hit, is someone the team would like to get off their payroll and Golden Knights GM George McPhee has a close relationship with Moulson’s family as he happens to be the godfather to his wife.  Accordingly, Vogl speculates if there could be a fit between the two teams in a trade.

McPhee has already stated that he expects to take on some onerous contracts in exchange for other assets.  Buffalo is already armed with a fair amount of cap space this summer as they have a little more than $50MM in committed payroll so it’s safe to wonder if other teams may be more desperate to unload an underachieving contract than they are.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Pending unrestricted free agent center Dominic Moore is hopeful to re-sign in Boston this offseason, he told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. He adds that he expects contract talks to begin in the next couple of weeks.  The 36 year old had a good first season in a bottom six role with the Bruins, chipping in 25 points (11-14-25) in 81 games while once again being well above average at the faceoff dot, coming in with a success rate of 54.6%.  He earned $1MM after bonuses this past season and should land a contract around that mark on the open market this summer.
  • With the Panthers closing in on an agreement with Bob Boughner to be their new head coach, that leaves the Sabres as the lone team looking for a new bench boss. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that they will wait until after the Stanley Cup Final to interview Nashville assistant coach Phil Housley.  Penguins assistant Rick Tocchet has also been expected to interview for the position while McKenzie adds that Jacques Martin, also an assistant with Pittsburgh, may also sit down with GM Jason Botterill.  The new general manager would certainly be familiar with the two Pittsburgh coaches having been hired away from the Penguins himself last month.  Botterill is on record saying he’d like to have a new coach in place for the NHL Entry Draft which starts on June 23rd.

Las Vegas Notes: Big Contracts, Ovechkin, Beleskey, Moulson

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Expect the Las Vegas Golden Knights trading to start within the next few days or that’s what general manager George McPhee said yesterday at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo. The veteran GM of the new expansion franchise said he expects to pick up some big contracts over the next few weeks leading up to the expansion draft as the market to unload expensive contracts is booming.

“We’ll take a few of those, for the right price,” said McPhee, who was constantly being stopped at the combine by other general managers to discuss possible trades.

The Las Vegas Review Journal’s Steve Carp writes that McPhee is looking for draft picks as he still believes the best way to build a dominant franchise is through the draft, despite the fact that his team should benefit greatly from the upcoming expansion draft. And with so many teams in need of salary cap relief, the Golden Knights might be able to not only get a quality player from that team via the expansion draft, they might also be able to bring in plenty of picks to get the franchise off the ground. After all, the team must add salary to their own team as well. So why not get some assets for doing that?

McPhee said the team is already far along in discussions with several teams and some trades may get announced soon. One trade that has already been discussed is that the Chicago Blackhawks are willing to offer Trevor van Riemsdyk to the Golden Knights to unload the contract of Marcus Kruger ($3.08MM over next two years). Another report by Gavin Lee on June 2, had the Columbus Blue Jackets trying to unload the contract of injury-retired David Clarkson ($5.25MM over three years).

  • McPhee did say the team will not look to acquire any marquee names as the general manager wants the face of the Golden Knights’ franchise to be the logo, not a particular player as he shot down the suggestion of trading for Washington Capitals’ star Alex Ovechkin, who McPhee drafted in 2004as the GM in Washington. “We’ll try to get as many good players as we can. But it’s all about building the right team, about chemistry and all those cliches. But that’s real,” McPhee added.
  • Speaking of unloading salary, Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy suggests the Boston Bruins clear some cap space and says the Bruins should offer up veteran Matt Beleskey to Las Vegas along with a third-round pick to take on the winger’s $3.8MM contract over the next three years. Beleskey, who suffered through an injury-plagued season, only put up three goals and five assists over 49 games this past season. The 28-year-old is coming off a 15-goal season in 2015-16 and a 22-goal season with the Anaheim Ducks in 2014-15. Conroy even suggested it might be worth tossing in a second-rounder if the Golden Knights balk at a third-round offer.
  • Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News suggests the Sabres should offer draft picks to the Golden Knights to convince the team to select Matt Moulson and his $5MM contract over the next two years. Moulson has scored just scored 22 goals over the past two seasons with the Sabres and a trade to unload the 33-year-veteran could help improve Buffalo’s cap situation quickly.

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