American Thanksgiving is normally the line of demarcation for NHL general managers to start making trades, but the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins got a jump start when they shipped forward Lars Eller to Washington for a pair of draft picks.
The Buffalo Sabres are rumored to be looking to shake things up. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last week that GM Kevyn Adams had been on the phones, but had rebuked other teams interest in center Dylan Cozens and defenseman Bowen Byram. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reiterated those rumors of the Sabres discussing possible moves at the GM’s meetings in Toronto this week quoting a rival team executive that Buffalo is “looking to do something big if they can.”
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Scouts from opposing clubs at games are a regular occurrence, but other teams’ GMs being at Key Bank Center in mid-November raises eyebrows. According to Penguins reporter Taylor Haase, Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas and assistants Jason Spezza and Amanda Kessel were at the Buffalo—Montreal game on Monday. The Eller trade could indicate that the Penguins are open for business, but Dubas was heading to Toronto for the GM meetings on Tuesday.
Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon and Dallas GM Jim Nill were observers at the Sabres 4-3 overtime win over St. Louis on Thursday. Both Dubas and Nill are members of Team Canada’s management team for the upcoming Four Nations Face-Off in February, and an announcement of the club’s rosters is slated for early December, so they could be looking at potential candidates like Bowen Byram or Owen Power or others on the Canadiens or Blues.
McCrimmon is not affiliated with any team for the tournament.
There is no guarantee that Adams will be able to consummate the big deal that he is reportedly seeking this early in the season, but where there is smoke, there is usually fire.
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