Canadiens, Leafs make moves on the weekend before camps begin
The Buffalo Sabres will open training camp with GM Jarmo Kekalainen and head coach Lindy Ruff meeting the media on Wednesday. One of the questions that Kekalainen will undoubtedly field will be why the club did not make any additions to their roster after losing veterans Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram around the NHL Draft in late June.
The Sabres made a proactive move by dealing Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks for a pair of high draft picks (used to select Daxon Rudolph and to trade for Olen Zellweger) and defenseman Louis Crevier, and recouped a third round pick in a sign-and-trade with Washington for Tuch, but the club did not make any acquisitions to fill the leadership or scoring gaps.
While it is still possible that Kekalainen will add a veteran forward on a professional tryout between now and the start of camp, or perhaps pull off the much-rumored trade for Connor Hellebuyck, other teams in the Atlantic Division are not sitting on their hands.
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The Montreal Canadiens added some experience to their forward corps, signing 35-year-old winger Chris Kreider, to a one-year, incentive-laden contract. The veteran forward scored 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists) last season in Anaheim, and agreed to a termination of the final year of his deal last week, in hopes of finding a landing spot out east.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun indicated that three clubs were interested in Kreider, but he chose being reunited with former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and teammate Martin St. Louis in Montreal.
The Toronto Maple Leafs also continued their organizational reshuffle, adding free-agent defenseman Nick Blankenburg on a PTO. The 28-year-old righty played for Nashville and Colorado last season, posting 24 points (8 goals, 16 assists) in 61 games. The Leafs have defensive questions on the right side of the blueline with veteran Chris Tanev coming back from concussion issues and core-muscle surgery.
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