While center Derek Ryan won’t be returning to Carolina, he will have quite a few teams to choose from. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that he has a pair of multi-year offers on the table, one from Calgary and another from an unidentified Central Division team. He adds that Detroit, Columbus, and Toronto have all expressed interest as well. Meanwhile, Michael Russo of The Athletic notes (subscription required) that the Wild are also interested but doesn’t specify if they have an offer on the table for him just yet.
The 31-year-old is coming off of his best NHL season, one that saw him post a respectable 38 points (15-23-38) in 80 games while winning an impressive 56.5% of his faceoffs. He’s still a relatively unknown player with just 153 career NHL games under his belt but he should slot in nicely as a third line pivot with his new team. Ryan ranks 22nd on our Top 50 Free Agents list with a projected contract of two years and $4.8MM.
More free agent notes with the market set to officially open less than 24 hours from now:
- Winger Austin Czarnik has largely flown under the radar but he has received interest from 24 different teams, reports Craig Custance of The Athletic (via Twitter). He adds that a two-year deal with a Western Conference team appears to be the likeliest outcome at this time. The 25-year-old lit up the AHL this past season with 25 goals and 44 assists in 69 games which ranked third overall in league scoring. He also added four assists in ten games with the Bruins. NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty tweets that the Oilers are among the teams making a push.
- It doesn’t appear that there is a big gap to bridge between the Bruins and goaltender Anton Khudobin. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports (Twitter link) that the two sides were only $150K per year apart on talks. However, it appears that Khudobin, barring a change in the next little while, will go to the open market. TSN’s Darren Dreger tweets that Dallas could make sense as a landing spot.
- The Blue Jackets have expressed a desire to keep defenseman Ian Cole in the fold, GM Jarmo Kekalainen told reporters, including George Richards of the Columbus Dispatch (Twitter link). However, based on Kekalainen’s comments, it appears that Cole has his sights set elsewhere. The blueliner ranks 16th on our Top 50 Free Agents list but is the number three rearguard behind only Mike Green and Calvin de Haan.
Should be fun on opening day. My guess is a goalie pulls the “Franson” and waits too long for too much to sign.
I think it might be Anton. 2nd guess is Halak
I think it will be Halak. Khudobin should know he’s basically a backup at this point, and him negotiating with Boston basically shows that (as Rask, when healthy, will be the number 1). Maybe Khudobin gets 20-30 starts in his backup role but that’s basically his ceiling. Halak, on the other hand, is coming off a timeshare. I don’t see him signing quickly unless the Islanders choose to resign him for whatever reason.
I wonder how Sweeney would feel when he reads the headline that Czarnik has received interest from 24 other teams.