from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

And while I’m not saying the star center will get traded before the end of the playoffs, what I’m hearing is that conversations between the Buffalo Sabres and other interested teams are getting more intense and serious.

So read into that what you will. The next few weeks could be intriguing on that front.

And I would imagine Sabres GM Kevyn Adams would be counting on a first-round pick to be used the night of July 23 in this year’s draft in any package so the clock indeed is ticking.

Eichel, 24, has five years and $50 million left on his contract but there’s no question there are teams — at a certain price — who believe a change of scenery will reset his career.

Teams I believe make sense: Los Angeles, Minnesota, Anaheim, Columbus, Philadelphia and the Rangers, among others....

Things still aren’t finalized in Raleigh but sources indicated Wednesday morning that as the Hurricanes went about offering new deals to much of Brind’Amour’s staff, which was important to him, things were looking more and more like the club would be able to get things done with the head coach as well.

I’m not suggesting it’s 100 percent, but I think the club feels confident it will get done, perhaps by the end of the week.

Which would be huge news for the franchise. It took a lot longer than anyone involved would have wanted, but it appears Brind’Amour will stay put.

more (paid) on each