Late July and early August have traditionally meant bargain bin shopping for NHL teams as unrestricted free agency drags on, and this season is no different – especially with a tight salary cap situation for most clubs. With roughly $2.25MM in projected cap space to spare and a new contract still needed for winger Alexis Lafreniere, Larry Brooks of the New York Post wonders about the Rangers dipping into the professional tryout market as training camps draw closer to round out the bottom of their lineup. With the team’s fourth line (and projected scratches) made up mainly of defensive specialists, Brooks surmises the likes of Max Comtois or Colin White as being fit for a tryout or a league-minimum deal. If the team is still looking to add grit and replace the fourth-line presence of Ryan Reaves, Zack Kassian is still on the market after getting bought out by the Arizona Coyotes, as well as former Ottawa Senator Austin Watson.
Some other potential offseason moves bandied about this morning:
- Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards thinks the Florida Panthers may not be done after a busy free agency period and believes they could be in the conversation for top UFA winger Vladimir Tarasenko if he’s willing to take a short-term deal in the $4MM range. It’s been a disappointing offseason for the 31-year-old, who failed to secure a long-term commitment when free agency opened on July 1 and changed his representation less than a week later. Per CapFriendly, the Panthers still have nearly $10MM of LTIR relief from Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour to dip into. However, they’ll need to figure out how to maintain cap compliance once the pair of defenders get healthy throughout next season.
- Another cap-strapped team looking to add depth is the Edmonton Oilers, and The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell thinks Tomas Tatar or Paul Stastny could be potential fits at the bottom of their forward lineup. Adding to the roster will be incredibly tough for the Oilers, though, who will likely dry up their remaining $6MM in cap space on new deals for forward Ryan McLeod and defenseman Evan Bouchard and will only be able to carry one (or potentially zero) healthy scratch(es) when the season starts. Stastny, 37, would be the likelier option out of the two to take a sub-$1MM deal after taking a $1.5MM contract with the Carolina Hurricanes last season and recording 22 points in 73 games.
Unless I’m reading him wrong, 4 mil for Tarasenko would be a massive bargain and not something he’s gonna take. I don’t think Zito is THAT good of a negotiator
I’d certainly roll the dice on Comtois.
In dire need of a fresh start
Yikes, not good news for Max Comtois.
I am somewhat surprised with Watson not being signed at this point. Not only does he provide a legitimate physical presence, but he has decent hands and has been known to bag a few timely goals. He still has plenty of hockey in the tank and would be a formidable fourth liner for a whole host of trans.
LOL, that should have read ‘ teams’ at the end.
I see the Panthers signing one of either Tarasenko or Tatar before too long.
At the 2021 draft, EDM made the single dumbest and most short sighted decision in recent hockey history.
They had the #20 pick and the best goaltending prospect in a long time was available and they…traded down.
Insane.
Their fans and defenders said that they couldn’t wait for a goalie to develop when they had McDavid and the skater (s) they drafted would be able to help the team sooner.
Jesper Wallstedt is likely to graduate from the AHL this year as an absolute stud G prospect.
Meanwhile, I haven’t heard the name Xavier Bourgault since that draft day and never heard the name (as amusing as it is) Luca Munzenberger, who they took with the 3rd rounder they got for handing the Wild the goalie they need so desperately need, until I looked it up today.
Passing on the best player available at the position they needed the most…to add…Luca Munzenberger.
There you go.
Edmonton had a couple well regarded G prospects at that time including Skinner who just played his 1st full season in the NHL and took over the starter role over a goalie they expected and paid to be their #1. Is further along in development than Wallstedt is, and could be a true number 1 as soon as next season. And goalies are voodoo as far as they develop. Bourgault was a well regarded prospect and is still considered a prospect who should become a top 6 fw. Münzenberger is about what he was projected to be. A solid 4-5 dman in the making. Still a couple years out going thru the college route, but still on track to become that.
Wallstedt was projected to be a good goalie, but still a few years out at his time of drafting. He has probably climbed the ladder about a year in development, but that is part of the voodoo in drafting a goalie. Most projections have him being another year out from being NHL ready and ready to start seeing some regular time in the 24-25 season.
All in all I don’t see that being as epic of a decision as you suggest. At this point Skinner could turn out to be a superior G to Wallstedt and if not he was producing NHL stats 2-3 years before Wallstedt might. At the same time Jesse may become the next Vasilevski and it looks bad on the Oilers part for passing on him. Everyone in Edmonton kind of knew they were going for Cossa or a player of different position in that position. Either way, I don’t think it’s as big of a blunder as you make it sound.