Predators may want to bring Boyle back
Paul Skrbina of the Nashville Tennessean: (mailbag) Can see Brian Boyle returning to the Nashville Predators next season. He shouldn’t cost them too much as he’ll be 35 next year. He fits a need for them.
Wayne Simmonds will likely cost too much and likely just a rental for the Preds.
The Predators will likely want to sign Mikael Granlund to an extension. He has a year left on his deal.
The Senators weren’t going to get a better prospect that Brannstrom in any Stone offer
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: One executive after the Vegas Golden Knight put Erik Brannstrom on the table Sunday to the Ottawa Senators during Mark Stone trade talks.
“Ottawa was not getting any prospect better than him,” another exec said. “Even if you think they should have gotten a first-rounder (from Vegas), they still weren’t getting a better young player than that. No one was going to beat it.”
The Senators wanted a first rounder, but the Golden Knights held firm.
The Senators had asked the Calgary Flames for Juuso Valimaki again and the Flames rejected that idea.
The Florida Panthers were interested in Stone but they wouldn’t get a long-term commitment from him.
The Nashville Predators, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins were also in on Stone talks.
If the Golden Knights deal fell through, the Islanders may have been a fallback option with a guess of an offer including Anthony Beauvillier and a first-round pick.
Don’t think the Winnipeg Jets made a big push for Stone in the days leading up to the deadline.
The Senators had offered Stone somewhere in the neighborhood of five years and $10.5 million per, and may have have been somewhat close on an eight-year deal. Sources said the Senators may have been unsure about a full no-movement clause.
Friedman thinks it may have more been about the teams’ direction and not contract.