The saga that has been the protracted sale of the Carolina Hurricanes may be reaching an end soon, just in time for the Canes to wish their fans a Merry Christmas.

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, previewing this week’s Board of Governors meetings (paywall) in Palm Beach, Fla., reports that a purchase agreement for the sale of the Hurricanes may be finalized this week. The “clubhouse leader,” according to LeBrun, is Dallas executive Tom Dundon, who was revealed as an interested party last week.

Two other items of interest from LeBrun’s reporting is that current Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos would indeed remain as a minority investor should Dundon become majority owner, and the NHL’s expectation is for the Hurricanes to remain in Raleigh. LeBrun does not go so far as to say that the Canes staying in town is a condition of the sale, but it would stand to reason that the NHL will not approve a sale if it feels Dundon is trying to move the Canes out of North Carolina.

LeBrun’s article also has notes about the Seattle situation, which has taken a significant turn after their city council approved a renovation of KeyArena last night, so it’s well worth a click even without the Canes news contained within.

So, there’s some good news. Now, here’s Bill Peters’ audio from this afternoon’s morning skate (love you, Pacific time), and below are your lines for tonight...

Canes Lineup

Sebastian Aho - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen

Brock McGinn - Victor Rask - Justin Williams

Jeff Skinner - Derek Ryan - Elias Lindholm

Joakim Nordstrom - Marcus Kruger - Josh Jooris

Jaccob Slavin - Brett Pesce

Haydn Fleury - Justin Faulk

Noah Hanifin - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Scott Darling

Cam Ward

Scratches: Phil Di Giuseppe (healthy), Klas Dahlbeck (healthy), Lee Stempniak (IR upper body)

Canucks Lineup

The Canucks held an optional morning skate, so this roster is based on the game notes. Coach Travis Green did confirm that Jacob Markstrom will start tonight, looking to make history.

Nikolay Goldobin - Bo Horvat - Brock Boeser

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Loui Eriksson

Sven Baertschi - Sam Gagner - Thomas Vanek

Brendan Gaunce - Markus Granlund - Jake Virtanen

Alexander Edler - Christopher Tanev

Troy Stecher - Michael Del Zotto

Ben Hutton - Derrick Pouliot

Jacob Markstrom

Anders Nilsson

Injuries and Scratches: Alexander Burmistrov (healthy), Derek Dorsett (IR neck), Brandon Sutter (IR upper body), Alex Biega (healthy), Erik Gudbranson (IR upper body)