With fewer and fewer of the top unrestricted free agents still left on the open market, the focus in some markets has shifted from who teams will be bringing in this offseason to what sort of contracts their restricted free agents might receive. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of those teams, and The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported today on Twitter that contract talks with restricted free agent center Morgan Frost “are ’positive’ and progressing.”
Frost, 24, set himself up extremely well for this summer’s negotiations with a breakout 2022-23 campaign. He flew past his career-highs to post 19 goals and 46 points in 81 games, and he could end up a long-term middle-six center for Philadelphia. The Flyers still have more than enough cap space to entertain all possible forms of a Frost extension, whether bridge contract or long-term pact, so the main issue will likely be how the Flyers evaluate Frost’s long-term future and how comfortable they are making a long-term financial commitment to that future.
Some other notes on RFA’s across the NHL:
- Pagnotta reports that the Dallas Stars have “just started discussions” on a new contract for RFA forward Ty Dellandrea. Just 22 years old, Dellandrea is a valued leader in Dallas who took a major step forward this season. The 2018 13th overall pick followed up his strong 2021-22 AHL campaign by establishing himself as a full-time NHL player and scoring 28 points. The Stars’ cap situation might mean that a short-term deal is necessary here, though the Stars are obviously big believers in Dellandrea so a long-term pact wouldn’t be entirely surprising either.
- Finally, Pagnotta reports that the Montreal Canadiens and newly-acquired RFA forward Alex Newhook still “haven’t begun” negotiations on a new contract. Seeing as the Newhook trade was widely cited as mirroring last year’s Kirby Dach deal, it would be no surprise to see Newhook’s contract match the deal Dach signed last offseason, a four-year pact with an AAV a little above $3MM. Newhook has been more productive in the NHL than Dach was to that point, so Newhook’s deal could look a little different, but using that contract as a general guide is likely to be wise.