Michael Russo: The Minnesota Wild didn’t end up meeting with Ron Hextall yesterday about their general manager opening. Sources did say that they are close to setting up an initial interview though.
Dave Schwartz: Other potential GM candidates for the Wild include Tom Fitzgerald, Dean Lombardi, Dave Nonis, Bill Zito and Peter Chiarelli. It’s not known who has been contacted yet.
Sabres mailbag on Nikia Gusev, second-line center, Jake Gardiner and Rasmus Ristolainen
Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News: (mailbag) The Buffalo Sabres should have been in on the Nikita Gusev trade talks with the Vegas Golden Knights, but can’t confirm if they did or did not.