Would it be enough for the Maple Leafs to offer up …..
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: Since the Buffalo Sabres could use help on the blueline, would they be interested in Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev with the Maple Leafs covering a portion of his contract.
Since the Maple Leafs don’t have a first-round pick this year, would a second- and a third-round draft pick, or a draft pick and Connor Brown be enough to land Philadelphia Flyers Wayne Simmonds?
Senators will let teams know about their pending UFAs this week
Emily Sadler of Sportsnet: The Ottawa Senators are letting teams know that if their pending free agents – Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel – will become available on the trade market, it will be 10 days before the deadline according to Elliotte Friedman.
“I think the big one that has to make a decision here is Matt Duchene,” Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston said. “There have been extensive talks this week with his agent, Pat Brisson, and Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. A lot of those discussions, actually, have been about the future of the franchise, what they’re expecting in terms of their window to get back to respectability, and things going on with the arena. And what it really comes down to now is what Matt Duchene wants and he hasn’t been given a firm deadline from the Senators, when he has to make his choice, but with the sides set to talk again on Monday, he knows this is coming to a head.”
Johnston adds that if the Senators were to trade Duchene at the deadline, Duchene may not rule out re-signing with the Senators on July 1st.
Nick Kypreos says there may be an eight-year offer for $64 million from the Senators. If Duchene goes to free agency, he can only get seven years, if he wants that same money ($64 million) that would be over $9 million and that may not happen from anyone.
