The Dallas Stars are still expected to move on from young defenseman Julius Honka at some point, it’s just not clear when that will be. The 23-year old spoke to Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (subscription required) and explained that he is trying to stay positive about the next chapter of his hockey career, despite not knowing exactly where that will be.
Honka is unsigned, one of the large group of restricted free agents still without a contract for the upcoming season. The Stars meanwhile have their defensive group filled out for 2019-20 thanks to the emergence of Miro Heiskanen and solid contributions from depth options like Roman Polak, Jamie Oleksiak and newcomer Andrej Sekera. With a lack of opportunity there have been trade rumors floating around Honka for quite some time, though it’s not clear when a move will actually be made.
- One other young RFA that is expected to sign soon is Brendan Perlini of the Chicago Blackhawks, who continue to discuss a new contract according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. Powers relays news from a source that says a deal will get done “over the next week or so.” Perlini is the final restricted free agent left to sign for GM Stan Bowman, who has rebuilt the Blackhawks roster over the last several months by bringing in names like Andrew Shaw, Zack Smith, Olli Maatta and Calvin de Haan.
- Though a deal for Perlini is imminent, that doesn’t sound like the case for Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser. Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet tweets that Canucks GM Jim Benning won’t have anything new to say about Boeser when he speaks to the media today about his own extension. Boeser is one a dozen high profile restricted free agents waiting for the market to be set by someone else—with most pointing to Mitch Marner or Brayden Point as the flag bearers for the class.
This is a greedy RFA group. Talk about handcuffing your team for several years. Nothing wrong with a bridge deal of 3 years at 5mil or so. The cap will go up, and so will your income as it buys out UFA years.
its not greedy to want what you are worth. nost sports players arent the altruistic type willing to sign for less simply so the team can spend more on other players, and I can’t really balme them.
Never understood why normal folks relate more to owners than the players lol
Get that money boys.
The players have an obligation to the Player’s Association to take as much as they can, because that sets the market for everyone else.
The new collusion — RFAs who are going to cause their teams cap headaches…intentionally. “Want to win?” “Yeah, sure, kinda…I REALLY want to get paid, though!”
I’d rather get paid
Wander if Mr. Treliving in Calgary might look at Julius Honka, as they are looking for Defenseman and Honka is a right handed shot.
Boeser best option is to get out of Vancouver , if he wants to win , Benning not wanting to sign Boeser , is ridiculous and idiotic, Boeser deserves to prove himself elsewhere and I hope someone grabs him up as there are teams that have some cap space and are doing everything in their power to win.
A GM MUST manage the payroll in a way that makes the TEAM strong. Hockey is a team game. Players should be paid what their value dictates. If certain players want more than that- dump them. Unfortunately when they wait so long to accept a contract – usually out of greed – the $ often runs out. Too bad. Lesson learned. Sign early and be reasonable.