The Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers spent much of last season vying for the bottom spot in the NHL standings and therefore the top spot in the 2015 NHL Draft.
While the Sabres eventually won the derby to the dungeon, the Oilers eventually emerged with the first-overall pick and once-in-a-generation prospect Connor McDavid.
With the season dead and gone for both franchises, there seems little left for the two to spar over - unless you count Ottawa Senators netminder Robin Lehner.
"Is Buffalo interested? I believe Buffalo is interested. I know Edmonton is interested. And there'll be a market," said TSN's NHL insider Darren Dreger while appearing on Ottawa's TSN 1200 on Monday, via TodaysSlapshot.com.
The Sabres, after dealing the uber-expensive Ryan Miller in 2013, focused their rebuilding efforts between the pipes prior to the trade deadline this year, sending Jhonas Enroth to the Stars in exchange for Anders Lindback in February and shipping Michal Neuvirth to the Islanders for Chad Johnson in March.
The Oilers struggled through a truly brutal season behind the tandem of Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth.
Both teams will be breaking in new bench bosses next season - Dan Bylsma in Buffalo and Todd McLellan in Edmonton - and likely looking to significantly upgrade at what is arguably the game's most important position.
Senators GM Bryan Murray has two goaltenders potentially available for trade; Lehner and the veteran Craig Anderson. While Anderson is undoubtedly the better goalie at this point, Lehner brings immense potential and an upside that likely makes him much more attractive to teams like the Sabres and Oilers.
It's also more attractive for Murray to move Lehner considering it'll bring back a better bounty.
"I mean, we know that Robin Lehner is the carrot that's being dangled and the Ottawa Senators believe that they're going to get the most for him," said Dreger. "That's not being disrespectful of Craig Anderson. That's just the reality of where Robin Lehner is at in his career."
Considering Lehner was a high second-round pick in 2009, Dreger believes Murray's asking price likely won't be cheap, indicating that, from what he's been hearing, the aging GM is likely looking to get a healthy draft pick along with a forward.
"Could it be a draft pick and a young forward who is destined to become a top-6 in the National Hockey League? Well, that sounds like what Ottawa is looking for, or a proven top-6 forward at this stage."
Still, per Dreger, while negotiations are likely fluid and asking prices and offers now are set to change as the deadline of the draft draws nearer, Murray is more likely than not to get his price for Lehner, as avenues for upgrade dry up and deals become progressively more expensive and therefore scarcer.
"So the asking price is high, from Bryan Murray's perspective, but this time of year - certainly on the draft floor - there's a looseness and an appetite from other teams to pay it if they have the need," said Dreger. "And there are teams put there, as we know, that definitely need a goalie."
