Morning Hits: Sabres Pay Salary Difference, Entry-Level Deals, Rinne, Perreault, Yakupov and Bolland
  • Corey Masisak: The Sabres now have 18 first and second round picks from the 2012 to 2015 drafts. No team in the past two decades have had more than 15. There is still the chance that they could get 20 to 22 before the deadline.
  • Bob McKenzie: The Sabres will pick up the difference between Ryan Miller’s and Jaroslav Halak’s salaries. The $1.75 million difference is actually $288,000 for the remainder of the season.
  • CapGeek: Today is the first day that teams are able to sign entry-level contracts to start in 2014-15. Meaning: a bunch of entry-level deals will be signed in the next couple weeks.
  • Josh Cooper: Pekka Rinne: “I had a blast tonight, and feel even better now, since I don’t have any symptoms and my body is feeling good and I’m feeling fine.” … “I think that was the main goal, just get that game conditioning. It was quite an easy game for myself.”

vEric Stephens: Ducks Mathieu Perreault left last night’s game with an upper-body injury.

  • Joanne Ireland: Oilers Nail Yakupov said there was no cracked bone in his foot. He left practice in a walking boot, but didn’t rule out playing tonight.
  • Paul Hendrick: Maple Leafs Dave Bolland is day-to-day and won’t play tonight against the Canadiens.