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AROUND THE BOARDS

Keep an eye on the Colorado Avalanche because there’s lots of talk that GM Joe Sakic has been kicking tires in many different directions. … There was plenty of surprise when Gerard Gallant was fired Wednesday by the Vegas Golden Knights less than 12 hours after a loss to the Sabres. He was summoned to a hotel room in Ottawa and given his walking papers by GM Kelly McCrimmon with the usual excuse that the organization was going in a different direction. So, what happened? There are a couple of theories out there. One is that Gallant’s style with the players had changed over the 30 months and he went from being a players’ coach to taking more of a “my way or the highway” approach. Another making the rounds is the Knights couldn’t get Gallant signed to an extension, saw Peter DeBoer available and decided to move on. Both are just speculation, but the reality is Gallant will be back behind an NHL bench soon.

RUMOURS DU JOUR

If anybody is looking for scoring help, look no further than the Florida Panthers. Yes, winger Mike Hoffman went into Saturday’s action with 18 goals and 36 points in 46 games with the Panthers this season, but his name has been on the market and there’s a strong expectation he’ll be moved before the deadline. The 30-year-old Hoffman, who has a cap hit of $5.1875 million, is a UFA on July 1 and it doesn’t make sense for the Panthers to lose him for nothing. … Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin could be busy. The word is he’s open for business and there’s no shortage of names available. The Wild have winger Marcus Foligno and defenceman Nick Seeler on the market, along with others. Foligno and Seeler both have contracts that run through the 2020-21 campaign, which means they’ll be difficult to move to contenders. While Foligno has a cap hit of $2.875 million, Seeler, 26, has a cap hit $725,000 per season and might be a good fit for a team looking for depth. You also have to wonder about the future of coach Bruce Boudreau beyond this season because he was hired by ex-GM Chuck Fletcher and, at some point, Guerin may decide to bring in his own coach. … Somebody give Nashville GM David Poile a call because he’d like to deal forward Mikael Granlund. A UFA on July 1, he’ll attract some interest, and while those GMs are at they also may want to dial up the Los Angeles Kings about winger Tyler Toffoli.

Have a nice Sunday.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch

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