Maple Leafs pending RFA center Miro Aaltonen will return to the KHL, his agent Todd Diamond told TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link). Aaltonen joined Toronto last offseason but spent all of 2017-18 at the AHL level where he posted 20 goals and 23 assists in 64 regular season games while adding 13 points in Toronto’s run to the Calder Cup. With both Tomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore set to depart via unrestricted free agency this offseason, some believed that the 25-year-old Aaltonen would have had a shot at a fourth line role with the big club but instead, he will head back overseas.
More from the East:
- Canadiens winger Max Pacioretty is seeking a six- to eight-year term if he is going to sign an early extension with the team, reports TSN’s Frank Seravalli. However, Montreal does not appear to be willing to give him that long of a deal which is why his name has come up in trade speculation as of late. Seravalli links the Kings as a possible suitor as they look to add a top-six winger while the Sabres have been linked to him recently as well.
- Hurricanes pending RFA winger Sergey Tolchinsky has signed a tryout contract with CSKA Moscow, the KHL team announced (link in Russian). The 23-year-old spent all of this past year with Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte where he collected 26 points in 43 games. With him eyeing a return home, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team decide to give him a qualifying offer so that they can retain his NHL rights if he decides he wants to come back in the next few years. The deadline to do so is Monday at 4 PM CST.
- Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois provided an update regarding several of their pending free agents to Lindsay Kramer of the Post-Standard. The team will not tender a qualifying offer to winger Alex Gallant while they also will not try to re-sign unrestricted free agent defenseman Mat Bodie and Jamie McBain, nor will they pursue winger Erik Condra. However, they do intend to try to bring back center Matthew Peca, who will hit the open market as a Group VI free agent next month.
Hey Brian, if the Canes do qualify Tolchinsky, does that mean they have to pay him to play in Russia?
No. If we were paying him off a RFA Qualification, he wouldn’t be able to play in Russia unless there’s a lockout. But if we Qualify him and he doesn’t accept, we still have his RFA rights next offseason.
I don’t see anybody giving Pacioretty 8 years, especially coming off of a down year last season. I can see him getting 6, but 8 is a stretch. Trading him to Buffalo for O’Reilly makes sense