It wasn’t that long ago that Drew Stafford was viewed as a quality second line winger. However, a subpar 2016-17 campaign still has him on the market as we hit the three-week mark of free agency.
Stafford entered the season coming off a 21 goal campaign, his best since 2010-11, the year he set career highs in goals and points with Buffalo. If he could have repeated those results, he’d have entered the open market as one of the higher scoring wingers available. However, some extra depth on the wing in Winnipeg, as well as a tough start to the season, set the stage for a year to forget.
The 31-year-old made it through just five full games to start before suffering an upper body injury that kept him out of the lineup until mid-November. He was reinserted into a top six role upon his return but the leash was short. Accordingly, by the time January hit, he was on the fourth line with some regularity.
Stafford wound up being close to an afterthought at the trade deadline although Boston took a flyer on him for a sixth round pick. That wound up being a very beneficial pickup as he rediscovered his scoring touch, picking up eight points in 18 games the rest of the way while adding a pair of goals in six postseason contests. Despite the stronger finish, his overall numbers still left a lot to be desired as he had just 21 points overall, the lowest full-season output of his career.
As a result, instead of landing another contract early on, Stafford now finds himself still on the open market and in somewhat of a waiting game. Many teams are now focused on dealing with their core restricted free agents or assessing whether they want to make any more depth moves which has him on the outside looking in for the time being. Once some of those decisions are made though, his market should start to pick up somewhat.
Potential Suitors
The Bruins are known to still have some interest in him although they want to get through David Pastrnak’s new contract before getting something done here. While they have several intriguing youngsters who they expect to contend for a roster spot, GM Don Sweeney may be wise to add some form of veteran insurance in case not all are ready to contribute right away and Stafford would make some sense in that role.
Stafford’s best fit at this point would be with teams that employ an offensive-minded third line or are simply looking for veteran depth. Washington fits both of those categories but their lack of cap space would make adding him a challenge unless he’s willing to take a contract close to the league minimum, something that doesn’t seem too likely at this time. Other teams that could have a spot in their top nine include the Kings, Flames, Panthers, and the Islanders.
Projected Contract
Stafford was ranked 21st in our Top 50 Free Agent List with a projected contract of two years and $4.5MM in total. While that would still represent a substantial drop-off from the $4.35MM cap hit on his last contract, it doesn’t seem likely at this point that he’ll come close to that on his next deal. A one year deal at $1.5MM is probably close to all he can get at this point but if he’s still on the market a month from now, even that might be a stretch as the calendar gets closer to training camp.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.