The Ottawa Senators are hoping history doesn't repeat itself.
One year after the team took forward Mike Hoffman to arbitration, the club is hoping they won't have to repeat the process with the 26-year-old - who will once again become a restricted free agent on July 1 - general manager Pierre Dorion said, according to Chris Stevenson of TSN 1200.
Both sides continue to work on a deal and Dorion is willing to discuss various terms in order to avoid an arbitrator's decision.
After leading the Senators with 27 goals during the 2014-15 season, Hoffman was awarded a one-year, $2-million deal in arbitration last offseason.
Hoffman would have a stronger case this time around after leading the club for a second-straight season, with 29 goals in 2015-16.
For the second time in less than a year, the Buffalo Sabres are addressing potential legal troubles involving winger Evander Kane.
As the NHL Draft was about to get started at the Sabres' home rink Friday, a report emerged that Kane is being investigated for physically harassing two women at a Buffalo bar. Head coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Tim Murray didn't have all the relevant information as the draft wrapped up Saturday, and will wait to see what emerges from the investigation.
"I've heard the stories," Murray said. "The very first part of it that came out didn't sound very good.
"The police will investigate. There'll be evidence or there won't be evidence, and they'll either go forward or they'll go away."
Kane was the subject of an investigation into a possible sexual assault back in December, but no charges were laid.
Murray alluded to the fact the team will sit down and deal with Kane either way.
"If it's true, then we have to deal with it the way we have to deal with it. If it's false again, then I guess we have to come up with a different plan of attack on how to make sure that these accusations that may not be true, how we stop them."
For a variety of reasons, a few once-prized prospects find themselves squirming in the stands at the NHL draft as teams make selections that have them falling down the board.
Hindsight is indeed 20/20, but shortly after the final picks are made, there are names that jump out as potentially regrettable misses for the clubs that elected not to call them.
Here are three players that teams will regret passing on at the 2016 NHL Draft
Jakob Chychrun
Prior to the 2015-16 season, International Scouting Services listed defenseman Jakob Chychrun as the second-ranked draft-eligible prospect, behind only Auston Matthews.
Possessing all the tools to succeed at both ends of the ice, his stock tumbled after an underwhelming season with the OHL's Sarnia Sting, a failure to be named to Canada's World Junior Championship squad, and questions about his mental makeup.
So when the dust from the opening round of the NHL draft had settled, Chychrun found himself a member of the Arizona Coyotes as the 16th overall pick - the fifth defenseman to be selected.
While Olli Juolevi (selected by the Vancouver Canucks) and Mikhail Sergachev (Montreal Canadiens) distinguished themselves as high-end defensive prospects worthy of going in the top 10, it was the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins who decided to pass on Chychrun in favor of other options on the blue line, namely Jake Bean and Charlie McAvoy.
With the Bruins in need of elite defensive talent as Zdeno Chara nears the end of his career, the decision to go with McAvoy - who plays for Boston University - over Chychrun could very well come back to bite them.
And Boston likely won't be alone in tending that wound.
Alex DeBrincat
Speaking of the Bruins, they had a shot at selecting a skilled and speedy scorer in Alex DeBrincat of the OHL's Erie Otters with the 29th overall pick, a selection acquired by way of the San Jose Sharks in the Martin Jones trade.
Instead of going with the 26th-ranked skater (according to International Scouting's final rankings), who had recorded back-to-back 51-goal and 100-plus-point seasons, they went way - and we mean way - off the board in selecting Trent Frederic from the USA Under-18 team.
DeBrincat fell all the way to 38 and into the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that didn't own a first-round pick and that's not averse to adding skill whenever possible.
CHI takes Alex DeBrincat at No. 39. Was No. 33 on TSN list. One of only two 50-goal scorers in draft. Bellows was the other.
The knock on DeBrincat is his 5-foot-7, 163-pound frame, but a reluctance to draft a diminutive forward demonstrates a short memory on the part of NHL general managers.
Players like Tyler Johnson, Johnny Gaudreau, and Robby Fabbri have soared to great heights over the past couple years, with DeBrincat poised to be the next big/small thing.
Vitali Abramov
The reigning QMJHL rookie of the year entered the draft as International Scouting's 33rd-ranked skater.
Vitali Abramov, who turned 18 on May 8, scored 38 goals and added 55 assists in 63 games for the Gatineau Olympiques in his first season of North American hockey, leading all rookies in scoring and finishing fifth overall in the league.
His 93 points were six fewer in one more game played than Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was drafted third overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In the end, Abramov fell to the third round, plucked at 65th overall by the Blue Jackets. Like Debrincat, questions about his size likely prompted his fall, with concerns over a possible return to Russia perhaps also clouding some judgement.
With time, however, Abramov could help erase some of the Blue Jackets' sting in selecting Dubois over the highly touted Jesse Puljujarvi.
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The NHL Draft is all about filling needs and the Edmonton Oilers stuck to that plan on Saturday.
With a glaring need to add organizational blue-line depth, the Oilers selected a trio of towering defencemen in the third round.
...
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Dallas Stars have traded goaltender Jack Campbell to the Los Angeles Kings for defenceman Nick Ebert in a swap of American-born prospects.
The deal reached on the final day of the NHL draft on Saturday gives Dallas more yo...
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Winnipeg Jets loaded up on some young defence on Day 2 of the NHL draft Saturday.
The Jets selected Saint John defenceman Luke Green (third round, No. 79) and Swedish defenceman Jacob Cederholm (fourth round, No. 97) as we...
However, a trade never came to be - much to the surprise of the blue-liner's agent, Jordan Neumann.
"Based on the conversations we had leading into this weekend with St. Louis, we did expect Kevin to have been traded this weekend," Neumann told ESPN's Craig Custance. "We are a bit surprised to be leaving here without having a deal done."
Shattenkirk is owed $4.25 million in the final year of his contract. The 27-year-old cracked the 40-point mark for a third consecutive season in 2015-16, with 14 goals and 30 assists in 72 games.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired defenceman Scott Harrington and a conditional pick in the 2017 draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs for left wing Kerby Rychel.
Harrington, 23, has played 25 NHL games for the Pittsburgh ...
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Size and skill were the order of the day as the Ottawa Senators closed out the NHL Draft with four selections on Saturday at First Niagara Center.
Ottawa selected Jonathan Dahlen — the son of former NHL player Ulf Dahlen — wit...
NEW YORK, N.Y. - The New York Rangers have acquired defenceman Nick Holden from the Colorado Avalanche for a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft.
The 29-year-old Holden had six goals and 16 assists and 24 penalty minutes this past season.
...
