While the Rangers and center Ryan Strome are content with the two-year, $9MM deal he signed earlier this week, Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty posits that Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk’s asking price likely was negatively affected by this signing. While the two situations are different – one was arbitration-bound and the other just coming off an entry-level deal – Strome’s $4.5MM price tag will be difficult for DeBrusk to eclipse on his next contract after he came off of a career-best 59-point season while DeBrusk had a career-low 35. The 24-year-old is a good candidate for a bridge contract over the coming weeks and doing so would also give Boston a little bit of cap flexibility if GM Don Sweeney has his eyes set on trying to add someone else to their roster.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Flames are considering shifting Elias Lindholm into a full-time center role, notes Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. While he was drafted as a middleman, the 25-year-old has spent considerable time on the wing as well. It’s worth noting that Lindholm and Mikael Backlund (another center) are their two longest-signed players up front with contracts running through 2023-24. If they do go ahead with the transition and it goes well, it could potentially create some questions surrounding the long-term future of Sean Monahan, a player who has already been in trade speculation at times this offseason.
- Kevin Dube of TVA Sports provides some details on a short-term bubble that the QMJHL is trying to put in place for seven teams that have been out of action for a month due to rising COVID-19 cases in Quebec. If it receives the green light, it would last ten days with each team playing in six games. As the other Canadian junior leagues look to resume in 2021, they’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this in case they find themselves in a similar situation at some point.