The Sabres are willing to retain half of the contract of defenseman Josh Gorges in an effort to find the veteran a new home before the trade deadline, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported in a segment on WGR 550. Gorges is in the final year of his contract and carries a $3.9MM cap hit. However, he has struggled to stay healthy this season and has also spent time as a healthy scratch. As a result, he has played in just 25 games in 2017-18 while logging a career-low 15:03 per game. Dreger reports that the Jets have checked in on the 33-year-old and suggests the Blues could have some interest as well although their cap constraints could be an issue.
More from the Atlantic:
- Although the Red Wings are expected to try to move winger Gustav Nyquist before the deadline, the team has not yet approached him about the possibility of waiving his no-trade clause, notes MLive’s Ansar Khan. Nyquist sits second on the team in goals with 15 but has underachieved overall on the season with just 25 points in 56 games. He has one year left on his contract after this one with a $4.75MM cap hit and that type of production may scare off some possible suitors.
- The Senators won’t be bringing anyone to replace outgoing team president and CEO Tom Anselmi. Instead, team owner Eugene Melnyk will assume the CEO role and be more active in the day-to-day operations of the team, reports Postmedia’s Don Brennan. Melnyk has come under harsh criticism recently for public comments made about attendance and the potential of the team moving down the road although they have taken some steps towards getting their new downtown arena in place. Brennan notes that Melnyk will officially step into his new role sometime next week.
- The Maple Leafs expect to have defenseman Jake Gardiner in their lineup tonight against Pittsburgh, notes Postmedia’s Terry Koshan. He left Wednesday’s game versus Columbus due to lower-body spasms and did not participate in practice on Friday.