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Erik Karlsson Not Likely To Get Moved To Vegas

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With their season wrapping up much more quietly than the Washington Capitals, the Vegas Golden Knights will now look to continue their success next season. Due to the failed trade deadline move to acquire Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson many months ago, many people believe that Vegas general manager George McPhee will try to rekindle those trade talks.

The move would make quite a bit of sense since Vegas’ defense struggled against Washington during their Stanley Cup run as the Capitals dominated the neutral zone throughout the finals. And while the Golden Knights have many quality top-four defensemen, what the team is truly lacking is a No. 1 defenseman, which showed against Washington. However, Elliotte Friedman suggests a deal for Karlsson might be unlikely this offseason in his 31 Thoughts segment.

Friedman writes the main reason the original Karlsson trade collapsed was Ottawa’s insistence on Vegas including 2017 first-round pick Cody Glass, the team’s top prospect. The 19-year-old center, who was the sixth-overall pick in last year’s draft, potted 37 goals and 102 points for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. Vegas didn’t want to include him, despite the fact that 13th overall pick Nick Suzuki, also a center, tallied 42 goals and 100 points for the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.

The team isn’t ready to deplete it’s prospect pool. They would rather move picks such as when they traded their 2018 first-rounder, a 2019 second rounder and a 2021 third-rounder to get a player like Tomas Tatar. They already know what they have in Glass and Suzuki even if it takes another year for them to step into their lineup. However, despite having six picks in the first three rounds last year (three first-rounders), the team is still building its prospect pool for the future and with just one pick in the first three rounds this year (not in the first round), the team isn’t going to build it up a whole lot this year.

Friedman suggests that a better move for the Golden Knights would be to steal away John Carlson from Washington (McPhee drafted him back in 2008). Considering the amount of cap space Vegas has, that would be the best way to bring in veteran talent.

While many people believe that bringing in Karlsson, who has been unhappy with Ottawa’s ownership, is the better course of action, trading one (or more) of their top prospects and likely taking on the bloated contract of winger Bobby Ryan for another four years at $7.25MM will quickly destroy both their cap flexibility and cut into their small, but solid prospect pool. Vegas will have at least $28MM in cap room, so why not just spend some of it on Carlson and keep their prospects?

Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche

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Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Colorado’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Matthew Nieto — The 25-year-old, who was picked up off of waivers from the San Jose Sharks has found a home in Colorado after the team rewarded him a year ago with a $1MM contract as a restricted free agent, posting a career high in goals with 15 and forcing his way to some second-line action. Primarily used as a fourth-line defensive option, Nieto has started to show his potential.

One key to Nieto’s success has been getting regular playing time. After playing in a career-low 59 games between two teams last year, he got into 74 games and averaged almost 15 minutes a game. Now with his game improving and the potential to earn a second or third-line role with the team next year, Nieto looks to get a raise from his deal a year ago.

D Patrik Nemeth — After years of not being able to find a full-time role with the Dallas Stars, Nemeth, like Nieto, seems to have found a home with the Avalanche. The 26-year-old blueliner was claimed off waivers at the beginning of the season and immediately made an impact on the Avalanche’s defense. Often teamed with Tyson Barrie on the first line, Nemeth has developed into a solid shutdown defender, although he doesn’t provide much offense (3 goals, 15 points in 68 games). After signing at $945K last season, Nemeth should get himself a significant raise as well.

Other RFA’s: D Mason Geersten, F Felix Girard, D Jesse Graham, D Ryan Graves, G Spencer Martin, F Reid Petryk, D Duncan Siemens, F Nail Yakupov.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: G Jonathan Bernier — The Avalanche goaltending combination of Semyon Varlamov and Bernier was just OK, but the combination was good enough to vault the team to the playoff for the first time in years. Bernier, who finished the season with a 19-13-3 record with a 2.85 GAA and a .913 save percentage in 37 starts, had moments where he dazzled, including a stretch of nine consecutive wins between Dec. 31 and Jan. 22. Due to a Varlamov injury, Bernier was forced to start in all playoff games and struggled against a good Nashville team, allowing 14 goals in four games as well as being pulled once.

The team must decide whether Bernier is the answer to their goaltending problems as the team needs a backup who can fill in long-term for the injury-prone Varlamov. The team could opt to look at a Carter Hutton, but that might cost the team too much, while the team’s top goaltending prospects are still a year or two away, although the team could turn to streaky UFA Andrew Hammond, who performed well in the playoffs against Nashville in three appearances.

F Blake Comeau — The 32-year-old veteran continues to produce in a bottom-line role for the Avalanche and after another solid season which puts him at 13 goals and 34 points, Comeau is another key veteran who provides a young Colorado team with that leadership the team needs. He has had quite an effect on players like Nieto and J.T. Compher and after finishing up a three-year, $7.2MM deal at $2.4MM AAV, he may want a similar deal to finish out his career.

Other UFA’s: G Joe Cannata, F Joe Colborne, F Rocco Grimaldi, G Andrew Hammond, F Trent Vogelhuber.

Projected Cap Space: With more than $22MM in cap space to work with, depending where the upper limit lands. That should give the team the possibility of going after a free agent or two, but with the team still developing its team through youth, Colorado hasn’t been a major talking point, yet anyway, for unrestricted free agents. However, the idea of the team going after James van Riemsdyk and placing him next to Nathan MacKinnon wouldn’t be a bad look either.

Regardless, the team also must use some of that cap space toward possible extension as the team may want to lock up promising star Mikko Rantanen as soon as possible, which he can do on July 1.

Western Notes: Canucks Defense, Blues, Voynov

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The Vancouver Canucks will have two big holes on offense with the losses of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. Having been with the club since 1999, the Sedins have always been a source of offense and even though their skills had begun to deteriorate over the past few years, the two still combined for 105 points this past year at age 37. However, offense may not be the Canucks’ biggest need this season as the team has its biggest troubles on their blueline and might need to focus on that this offseason, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

The team has a lot of question marks about the blueline with only Erik Gudbranson locked up for any length of time (three years at $4MM AAV). Top defenseman Alexander Edler is on his last season with the team and is already 32. With the team considering possibly trading veteran Chris Tanev who one of their biggest trade chips, there is little to look forward to on defense.

That isn’t the case on offense. The team might have lost the Sedins, but they have a group of prospects who are ready or close to ready to move into the lineup, including Elias Pettersson, Adam Gaudette, Kole Lind, Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin. However, defensive prospects are few and far between in Vancouver. The team has high hopes that 2015 fifth-overall pick Olli Juolevi might be ready to take on a major role with Vancouver next season. Taken ahead of both Mikhail Sergachev and Charlie McAvoy that year, the team has high expectations for him. The team also has the seventh overall pick in this year’s defensive-heavy draft, which should bring aboard another top defenseman to help the team out, although there is talk of the team moving that pick for a more developed pro-prospect instead, such as the rumors of the team wanting to acquire Carolina’s Noah Hanifin.

One possibility that MacIntyre suggests is instead of Hanifin would be to go out and trade for Colorado’s Tyson Barrie, who could find himself on the trade market with the team’s influx of youth on the blueline.

  • After a recent report in which St. Louis Blues general manager spoke about how the team wants to acquire a top center this offseason, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon writes that offers for John Tavares are likely unrealistic, the free agent pool is few and likely to become too high-priced and prospect Robert Thomas would be better off starting as a third-line center to get his feet wet. Despite that, he writes there are several potential trade options for the team if they really wants a realistic option for a second-line center. He suggests that both Tampa Bay Lightning’s Tyler Johnson and Montreal Canadiens’ Alex Galchenyuk would make for good options, especially the latter as Montreal is in need of defense, which St. Louis has plenty of.
  • Former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who has expressed interest in returning to the NHL after his contract with the Kings was terminated after pleading no contest to a charge stemming from a domestic dispute, supposedly had gained permission to cross the border to the U.S., according to KHL insider Aivis Kalnins, and look for a job in the NHL this offseason. While he is still looking for work in the NHL, NHL.com’s Igor Eronko reports that Voynov received that permission more than a year ago and traveled to the U.S. last summer. No word on whether any team is considering the former King, who played four seasons for them and the past three with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. Eronko adds that July 2 is the first day that Voynov can apply for a U.S. work visa.

Poll: Should the Boston Bruins Break Up Their Top Line?

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The Boston Bruins have improved quite a bit in the last few years. After two years of not making the playoffs between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, the Bruins reached the playoffs a year ago, falling in the first round to the Ottawa Senators. This year, they took it another step, advancing past the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs before being eliminated in the second round at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

What stopped them from a deeper playoff run was the Lightning’s ability to shutdown the Bruins’ top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. Considered to be one of the best lines in the NHL, if not the best, that first line combined for 16 goals and 53 points in 12 postseason games. However, among the seven losses they sustained, that top line managed just four goals, 11 points and a minus-23, suggesting the team is too reliant on that top line. Regardless, Marchand had his second-best season of his career last year with 34 goals and 85 points. Bergeron had a high-quality year with 30 goals and 63 points, while Pastrnak had a career-season with 35 goals and 80 points. The three work real well together, when things are going well.

Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston writes that the team might need to look at breaking up its top line and spread the wealth throughout multiple lines. While he admits there is no reason to break up Marchand and Bergeron as the two have been together too long, the scribe believes it better if Pastrnak moves to his own line and stars on a more potent second line, possibly with David Krejci, who has shown good chemistry with Pastrnak in the past and most recently at the World Championships this year.

General manager Don Sweeney said recently that the team is considering that as a possibility, but it’s too early to decide.

“It’s a prolific line, it’s very difficult to stop, and the chemistry that they have created [is special]. We had three people at the World Championships come back and said ‘Boy, [David] Krejci and [David] Pastrnak played really well together’…so those things filter back to the coaches,” said GM Don Sweeney. “I don’t think anything is set in stone. It’s certainly a coach’s decision, but we’ll have some conversations.”

With a number of young, talented players such as Jake Debrusk, Anders Bjork, Danton Heinen and Ryan Donato on the team, perhaps one of them might develop better next to Marchand and Bergeron. It certainly worked for Pastrnak. Bjork, in fact, started the season off on the first line before injuries derailed his season.

Do you think the Bruins should break up their top line?

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Eastern Notes: Matthews, Werenski, Skinner

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After Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews changed agencies last week, the Maple Leafs are suddenly wondering what that means for them? After a turbulent offseason so far with their star player, which includes a poor playoff showing, two meetings with head coach Mike Babcock and an impending extension either this summer of next, there are suddenly more questions than ever, according to Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons.

Matthews switched from CAA to Orr Hockey Group, leaving behind super-agent Pat Brisson, who the Toronto franchise has had a great relationship with. While most franchises wouldn’t bat an eye when a player changes agencies, Matthews situation is different. Among those questions is whether the 20-year-old plans to stay loyal to the franchise. There have been plenty of questions raised about his rocky relationship with Babcock, which forced the coach to make two trips to Arizona to see Matthews this offseason. There are still questions about his future role as captain of the team and of course, how much money will his extension eventually get him? Will he demand the same money as Connor McDavid’s eight year, $100MM deal?

  • Brian Hedger of NHL.com interviewed Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen about the shoulder injury and subsequent surgery that defenseman Zach Werenski went through this season. Evidently, Werenski suffered the shoulder injury on Oct. 30 and played through the pain all season. The 20-year-old blueliner played with a brace that seriously affected his movement all season and affected his season significantly. “When your arm moves, like, this much, it’s pretty hard, battling for loose pucks in the corner,” Kekalainen said. “It affects everything, and he didn’t ever complain or use it as an excuse. He just kept playing through it and playing through it, and now he’ll be healthy for next year.” Despite the injury, Werenski still had a career high 16 goals, although his total points dropped by 10 from his rookie campaign. After undergoing surgery in early May, Werenski is expected to be ready for the regular season, but could miss all or part of training camp.
  • While there has been quite a bit of speculation surrounding Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner this offseason already, don’t expect a trade too quickly, according to The News & Observer’s Chip Alexander. General manager Don Waddell said neither Skinner, nor his agent Don Meehan, has been asked to waive Skinner’s no-movement clause, nor have they been asked to tell them what team he would be willing to accept a trade to. Skinner, who is entering his final year of his six-year, $34.4MM deal he signed back in 2012 with a no-movement clause that kicked in last season, has tallied 204 goals for Carolina in eight seasons, but hasn’t taken them to the playoffs yet.

Snapshots: O’Connell, Meyer, Vermette, Rust

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A pair of NHL draft picks have committed to Ohio State for the 2018-19 season.  The Buckeyes announced (Twitter links) that defenseman Ryan O’Connell and winger Carson Meyer will be joining them next year.  O’Connell, a seventh-rounder of Toronto last June, had previously committed to join Boston University next year and spent this past season with Penticton of the BCHL.  Meyer’s case is more intriguing.  The Columbus prospect (selected in the sixth round last year) has spent the past two years at Miami-Ohio.  After a strong rookie campaign where he posted 26 points in 34 games, his output dipped to just ten points in 34 contests as he dealt with season-long fatigue issues.  Typically, a player who transfers is forced to sit for a year but it is expected that Meyer will petition the NCAA for a waiver to allow him to play next season.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Ducks pending UFA center Antoine Vermette acknowledged to TVA Sports’ Mario Morrisette that he may have played his final game. While he’s hopeful to land another contract for next season, he wants to be closer to his family and has already ruled out the idea of going overseas.  The soon-to-be 36-year-old had just 16 points in 64 games with Anaheim and got into just a pair of playoff contests where he played just over six minutes per game.  However, he won 60% of his faceoffs which could still help him garner some interest in free agency next month.
  • Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is well-known for being aggressive when it comes to shaping his roster and after they fell in the second round this postseason, many expect changes are coming. One player that could be on the move is winger Bryan Rust, suggests Mark Madden of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  The pending RFA is due a sizable raise after posting 38 points in 69 games but Pittsburgh has good depth on the right side and plans to have Daniel Sprong (also a right winger) in the lineup regularly in 2018-19 which could make Rust expendable.  The 26-year-old is arbitration eligible and is one year away from qualifying for unrestricted free agency.

Offseason Keys: Toronto Maple Leafs

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With the Stanley Cup now awarded, the offseason is now in full swing.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in the weeks to come?  Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Last summer, Toronto added a pair of key veterans in free agency in Patrick Marleau and Ron Hainsey with the hopes that they would help lead a young team armed with another year of experience to bigger and better things.  They had a strong regular season but were still ousted in the first round.  This summer, the Leafs have plenty of cap space to work with (well over $20MM) but with some young stars in need of new contracts in the near future, they will have to spend wisely.  Getting those stars signed highlight Toronto’s offseason keys.

Extension Talks

Two members of Toronto’s ‘big three’ are still signed for 2018-19 in center Auston Matthews and winger Mitch Marner.  They’re both locked up on entry-level deals at $925K and $894K respectively (plus some performance bonuses) and both are well-positioned to vastly surpass that on their next deals which could impact how they spend their money this offseason.

Matthews, the first-overall selection back in 2016, has lived up to the hype and has quickly established himself as one of the top centers in the league.  Last summer, Buffalo’s Jack Eichel (the second pick in 2015) inked an eight-year, $10MM extension and that’s viewed as the benchmark for Matthews to surpass on this contract.  If he signs this summer instead of waiting for next offseason, he should rival John Tavares for the richest deal signed in the months to come.

While Matthews has received the bulk of the limelight, Marner has quickly established himself as a productive player as well; he actually led the Leafs in scoring in both the regular season and playoffs.  He’s not going to come close to what Matthews gets on his next deal but a max-term deal (or close to it) could check in between $6MM and $7MM, even factoring in the fact that four of the years on that deal are restricted free agency seasons.

Those two pending contracts could add $15MM or more (after bonuses) to Toronto’s payroll for 2019-20 and beyond.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see new GM Kyle Dubas look at signing some one-year deals this summer to use their cap room for next season without cutting into their space for the following year.

New Deal For Nylander

The other member of the ‘big three’ is in need of a new contract this summer in winger William Nylander.  He’s also coming off a strong season that saw him amass 61 points for the second straight year; those are his only full NHL campaigns.  He isn’t expected to get quite as much as Marner but he’s still going to get a substantial raise from the $894K AAV (plus $850K in performance bonuses) he made in 2017-18 although he isn’t eligible for arbitration just yet.

There is another interesting decision to be made when it comes to the 22-year-old.  While he has played center in the past, he has spent the bulk of his NHL time on the right wing.  Tyler Bozak is a candidate to depart in unrestricted free agency so there is an opening to be filled down the middle.  Toronto has good prospect depth on the wing but none of their prospects are ready to take Bozak’s spot so they’ll have to decide whether they would like to shift Nylander into that role.  (Rookies Miro Aaltonen and Par Lindholm should battle for the fourth line job but won’t be ready to start on the third line.)  However, given Nylander’s smaller stature, there is a little bit of risk involved in doing so but at the same time, his playmaking skills would be even better utilized at center.  It’s certainly an interesting call for them to make that may wind up being dictated by what they do (or don’t do) in the coming months.

Add A Right-Shooting Top-Four Defenseman

In Morgan Reilly, Toronto has a quality top-pairing defender on the left side.  However, finding a partner for him has been a challenge in recent years and as a result, it should be near the top of the to-do list again this offseason as they won’t be able to fill that spot internally.

Hainsey did a nice job overall playing alongside Reilly this past season.  However, as a lefty, that’s not his natural side to play and there will certainly be some risk in asking a 37-year-old to play upwards of 22 minutes a game again.  Nikita Zaitsev is a better fit on the second pairing and no matter how many times Mike Babcock can get Roman Polak re-signed, he clearly isn’t the answer either.

In terms of their prospects, Travis Dermott is the most NHL-ready and he is also a lefty.  Timothy Liljegren is the ideal long-term fit but he’s not ready to make the jump yet.  (Igor Ozhiganov, who signed back in May, is also right-shooting defender but asking him to jump onto the top pairing right away isn’t realistic.)

In free agency, only Washington’s John Carlson really fits the bill as a top-pairing player and with the pending contracts for their top young forwards, they may have some difficulty fitting in the type of contract that he will undoubtedly command (at least beyond the 2018-19 season).  As a result, Toronto may have to go the trade route to find that fit.  Fortunately for them, the Leafs have a deep prospect pool to work with which should give Dubas some options to work with as he looks to give their back end a much-needed boost.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Metropolitan Notes: Carlson, Kunitz, Islanders

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A strong showing in the playoffs could push Capitals defenseman John Carlson’s asking price to or above $8MM per season, TSN’s Bob McKenzie suggested during an appearance on TSN 1260 (audio link).  That would put his next deal in line with the reported extension offer that the Coyotes have given Oliver Ekman-Larsson (eight years and $66MM).

While that would more than double Carlson’s previous cap hit, he has certainly made a case for that type of money.  He led all NHL defenders in points with 68 during the regular season while averaging a career-high 24:47 per night.  He followed that up with a near-identical showing in the playoffs, averaging the same points-per-game rate (0.83) and logged even more ice time at 25:38 per game.  That type of performance puts him in the discussion as a legitimate number one defender and with a weak free agent market, the Capitals will have to find a way to fit in another sizable contract if they want to bring him back for 2018-19 and beyond.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Penguins may have wanted to keep winger Chris Kunitz around last summer but expected to bring back center Matt Cullen instead and didn’t want two veterans on their fourth line, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh focused on getting Cullen locked up so Kunitz instead went to Tampa Bay.  (Cullen, meanwhile, wound up in Minnesota.)  One summer later, the scribe believes that Kunitz could be back on their radar as a fit on the fourth line.  The 38-year-old saw his ice time reduced considerably this past season but he still managed to put up 13 goals and 16 assists in his diminished role and the Pens would certainly welcome production like that on their bottom trio.
  • With the Islanders likely to be active in looking for help between the pipes, Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard is someone they may go after. Washington’s Phillip Grubauer is the better fit long-term but he’ll also cost a lot more to acquire.  Howard would give New York a little more stability as they look to try to retain John Tavares and get back into a playoff spot next season.  However, he’s entering the final year of his contract so if they were to trade for him, it would only be a short-term fix unless they could agree on a contract extension.

Ilya Kovalchuk Visiting With Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks

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While John Tavares remains the top potential free agent this summer, Ilya Kovalchuk is still an intriguing name for many teams around the league. The 35-year old Russian sniper was once a devastating force in the NHL, and is trying to make a comeback after several years in the KHL. Though Kovalchuk had previously indicated he would favor New York or Florida as possible destinations, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the free agent forward was in California today meeting with the Los Angeles Kings, and has a meeting scheduled for tomorrow with the San Jose Sharks.

Kovalchuk can agree to terms with any team in the NHL, though no contract can be officially signed until July 1st.

The Kings have struggled for several years to create offense with the group they have, relying heavily on Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter. While Kovalchuk would present an opportunity to improve that offense, he also comes with a fair amount of risk.

Though eligible for performance bonuses if he signs a one-year deal, Kovalchuk is expected to be seeking a multi-year pact to return and compete for the Stanley Cup. After already “retiring” from the league once, many teams may be hesitant to commit to him for that long, especially since his contract would count against the cap regardless of what he decides to do in the future. As a 35+ player, even retirement doesn’t remove the cap hit from the books.

The Sharks lost Patrick Marleau last offseason and couldn’t quite replicate his production from the wing. They risk losing Joe Thornton this summer and have both Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski scheduled for free agency in 2019. Though Kovalchuk doesn’t offer a long-term fix, he could help crack open their window of competition in the short-term ad help them get over the hump.

Free Agent Focus: St. Louis Blues

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Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of St. Louis’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Robby Fabbri – Things haven’t gone smoothly for Fabbri over the past few years, as he’s faced multiple injuries that have robbed him of all but 51 games since the end of the 2015-16 season. After scoring 18 goals and 37 points as a rookie, and starting his sophomore season on an even better pace, the Blues had big plans for their 2014 first-round pick.

Now, after two straight major knee surgeries and more than a year away from NHL action, it’s not clear where he sits in their future. It was obvious that if he was healthy he could help the team offensively, but negotiations this summer are not leaning in his favor. A short-term deal seems likely for a player that is both an injury risk and hopes to prove himself again in 2018-19.

D Joel Edmundson – The 2011 second-round pick has turned into quite the player for the Blues, and found himself logging more than 20 minutes a night this season while they dealt with injuries to Jay Bouwmeester and inconsistent play from Carl Gunnarsson and Robert Bortuzzo. The Blues have young Vince Dunn expected to make an even bigger contribution next season, but Edmundson could take another step forward as he enters his mid-twenties.

The 24-year old defenseman is coming off a two-year $2.1MM contract, and should earn more than that in just a single year on his next deal. If St. Louis believes he can be a core piece of their blue line for the coming years, there could be a long-term deal in order. He’ll turn 25 before July 1st, meaning a two-year contract takes him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020.

Other RFAs: F Dmitrij Jaskin, F Oskar Sundqvist, F Nikita Soshnikov, D Jordan Schmaltz, F Justin Selman, F Beau Bennett, F Mackenzie MacEachern, D Thomas Vannelli, G Jordan Binnington, D Petteri Lindbohm

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: G Carter Hutton – The Blues moved out their most intriguing free agent at the deadline when they traded Paul Stastny to Winnipeg, but Hutton could prove to have an even bigger market. The 32-year old goaltender led the league with a .931 save percentage this season among netminders with at least 20 starts, and could be looking for an opportunity to play an even bigger role with a team.

Jake Allen didn’t do much this season to prove that he can handle a full-time starter workload, meaning the Blues will likely make every effort to re-sign Hutton this summer. For a player who has never earned more than $1.13MM in a single season though, you can bet he’s intrigued by the opportunity free agency presents.

Other UFAs: F Scottie Upshall, F Kyle Brodziak, F Wade Megan

Projected Cap Space: The Blues, like many teams this summer have plenty of room to work with under the cap. With Stastny and others coming off the books they’ll have somewhere around $18MM in cap space depending on where the upper limit lands and could be big players in the market.

The team has recently admitted that they’re on the lookout for an upgrade at center, and many have speculated that they could enter the John Tavares sweepstakes should the superstar center reach unrestricted free agency. With plenty of young talent coming through the system on cheap contracts, landing a big fish like Tavares is a reasonable target for GM Doug Armstrong to aim at—whether he’ll get there is a different story.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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