The Lightning are believed to have made a long-term, low AAV offer to pending unrestricted free agent winger Alex Killorn, notes Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts column. The 33-year-old is coming off a career year that saw him put up 27 goals and 37 assists in 82 games and has the most points of any player set to hit the open market. After playing on a $4.45MM AAV deal that has been team-friendly the last couple of seasons, Killorn will have a chance at a sizable increase in free agency. Tampa Bay would undoubtedly love to keep him in the fold but with minimal cap space to work with this summer, they can’t afford to pay market value. Accordingly, their most realistic chance to keep him is a long-term agreement that would almost certainly be an overpayment by the time it expires but a low enough AAV that they can squeak him in under the Upper Limit. Even so, that will be a tough sell.
Elsewhere in the East:
- While the Bruins would likely want to keep defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the fold if they could free up enough cap space to do so, the veteran told Sport-Express’ Alexey Shevchenko that he’s looking forward to seeing what’s available in free agency. The 31-year-old is coming off another strong season, notching 36 points in 66 games between Washington and Boston while logging 22:33 per night, the second-highest ATOI of his career. Orlov, who also indicated that he’s not planning to sign in the KHL, is coming off a contract that carries a $5.1MM AAV and is likely to get a fair bit more than that on the open market with a long-term agreement.
- The Rangers have not yet interviewed Patrick Roy for their coaching vacancy, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. However, it’s worth noting that Roy is still coaching with his QMJHL team, Quebec, set to play the final game of the Memorial Cup on Sunday so perhaps at that time, GM Chris Drury might reach out to his former teammate. Roy has some NHL experience under his belt having spent three seasons behind the bench in Colorado before abruptly resigning in 2016. Among coaches still available New York has already interviewed Peter Laviolette and Jay Leach and the team is set to do so soon with John Hynes if they haven’t already done so.
Classic Tampa move:
Killorn 4mil x 8 years
Mysterious injury when he’s 38
Makes more than he would if he gets 6×4 and Tampa gets their guy until they don’t need him.
Well … the team would have to pay that money all the same; it’s not that Killorn still wouldn’t be owed the salary. That is, of course, one way they could do it.
And as far as Orlov goes, yeah, Boston would love to keep the guy, no kidding. But it’s brain-damaged to pay the money Orlov will be able to get on the open market to their #3 defenseman, even if the Bruins weren’t cap-crunched.
At least the Bolts gave Killorn a reasonable alternative if he really wants to stay. Only Alex knows what he wants and what his body will stand.