BHN Daily Links: Kessel Ready To Lead, Sabres Sign Evan Rodrigues

As July comes to a close, the news cycle around the NHL begins to slow. Management teams have stepped away from the summer, off to enjoy the cottages and lakes, as their work slowly hits the finish line. The news cycle isn’t completely dead, it never truly sleeps. On Thursday, news of the third annual Boston Bruins Fan Fest was released, while the Buffalo Sabres re-signed former BU Terrier Evan Rodrigues. More on that in a minute. Here are the top stories from around the NHL on Friday, July 26th.

The Boston Bruins announced their third annual Fan Fest on Thursday. The event will pass through seven cities in six different states all throughout New England as the club continues to try and grow the sport at the grassroots level. (Boston Hockey Now)

The Buffalo Sabres and Evan Rodrigues have agreed to terms on a new one-year deal. Rodrigues will earn $2 million in 2019-20. The deal comes just two days after Rodrigues and the Sabres went through an arbitration hearing. The one-year, $2 million deal was based off of the arbitrator’s ruling. (Die By The Blade)

The Colorado Avalanche re-signed one of their RFA’s on Thursday. No, it wasn’t Mikko Rantanen. The club agreed to terms with forward Sheldon Dries on a one-year, two-way contract. Our collogue Adrian Dater has more. (Colorado Hockey Now)

Phil Kessel is expected to be an offensive leader for the Arizona Coyotes in 2019-20. He won’t be the “rah-rah” guy in the locker room firing everyone up, however. (Sportsnet)

Local product Brian Boyle hasn’t signed a contract yet, but once teams figure out their salary cap situation he’s expecting a deal to happen quickly. (NHL.com)