There’s an expectation that one of Canucks RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will have to take a short-term contract this summer in order for Vancouver to be cap-compliant for next season. Speaking with Vancouver Hockey Now’s Rob Simpson, Pat Brisson, the agent for both youngsters, indicated that there’s no indication yet as to which player could wind up with which type of contract. Simpson suggests that Pettersson, who has offer sheet eligibility, could be the likelier player to sign first since Hughes doesn’t have that right although the odds of the center receiving an offer sheet worth signing at this stage is highly unlikely. No discussions are expected over the coming days with GM Jim Benning taking a quick summer break before training camp, something many general managers around the league are likely doing.
More from the Western Conference:
- Blues RFA forward Robert Thomas is believed to be seeking a higher AAV than the $2.8MM that Jordan Kyrou received earlier this season, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link). The 22-year-old is coming off a tough injury-riddled season that saw him post just a dozen points in 33 games but with 75 points in 136 contests over his first two seasons, he has enough of a track record to try to get that on a bridge deal. Louis doesn’t have that much cap space but with Oskar Sundqvist headed for LTIR to start the season, that would give them enough of a buffer to get Thomas under contract although they’d need to get cap-compliant by the time Sundqvist returns.
- Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has been Edmonton’s top goalie prospect basically since they drafted him back in the third round in 2017. However, as Postmedia’s David Staples notes, they’ve never really shown much confidence in him, evidenced by the acquisition of veterans in recent years including Alex Stalock who presently sits ahead of him for the third spot on the depth chart. With some of their other prospects now in the minor pros (Ilya Konovalov and Olivier Rodrigue), time is running out for Skinner to establish himself as a viable option for Edmonton. If that doesn’t happen soon, it’s possible that he’ll become a trade candidate if one of those other prospects is ready for a bigger role in Bakersfield.
Seems to me like the Blues will sign Thomas and have Tarasenko prove he is healthy. Trade tarasenko before Sunny comes off ltir
IMO thomas needs to prove he is worth 2.8, Jordan yes I can see his raise worth it he went out and proved it. I can’t say the same about thomas tbh I haven’t been overly disappointed impressed with him.