During his weekly appearance on "The Instigators" with Andrew Peters and Martin Biron on Friday, TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger provided some clarity on two of the biggest storylines Buffalo Sabres fans have been monitoring this offseason - the head coaching search and the trade rumors surrounding center Jack Eichel.
While a majority of people have been engaged in conversation about the idea of trading Eichel, Dreger said Friday he expects the Sabres to hire a head coach, specifically interim head coach Don Granato, before the team trades their captain. Dreger said an announcement from the team, saying Granato's interim tag has been removed, could come as soon as early next week.
"I still believe that Granato is the strong front running candidate," Dreger said. "I actually thought that we might be lucky enough to have the announcement this week. I'm not sure what's holding it up. I was told [Thursday] that it won't be this week, hopeful it's early next week. ... I think that a coach is named before Eichel gets traded."
As for the latest on Eichel, Dreger reaffirmed this week that Eichel is going to be traded this offseason.
"It's a foregone conclusion he's getting traded," Dreger said. "Now it's a question of what are you getting back in return. ... I also feel like there's value in change for certain players and for certain teams. It is time to cut bait and move on."
As for where Eichel may be traded, it was reported on Thursday that the Columbus Blue Jackets have bowed out of trade talks for Eichel. Dreger hesitated to agree with the report.
"The reason I don't buy is it's so early [in the process]," Dreger explained. "That's not the main objective of Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. He may not like what Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams is telling him, but he needs a center."
You can listen to Dreger's entire interview below: