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Poll: Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Option Next Summer?

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As things currently stand, the 2025 free agent class is set to be headlined by Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche, and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like most years and particularly at the top of the free agent market, all three players are expected to reach extensions with their current clubs in the coming weeks with other potential candidates taking the same approach.

However, even outside of the three-headed monster at the forward position, there will still be quality names available next summer. Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs has seen his name pop up numerous times in trade rumors this summer without anything coming to fruition. The Maple Leafs are expecting head coach Craig Berube to get the most out of Marner (particularly in the playoffs) and may look to extend him during next year’s campaign.

Toronto could also give in to the pressure and allow Marner to walk next offseason especially if the team fails to make waves in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Marner would quickly become one of the premier playmakers to have entered the open market and would certainly get a lucrative offer. Being nearly unstoppable during the regular season over the last six years, Marner has accrued 417 games for the Maple Leafs in that span while scoring 356 assists and 509 points. He is not limited to his offensive prowess either as Marner has earned Selke Trophy votes as the league’s best defensive forward every year since 2018-19.

Dissimilar to Marner, it is almost entirely out of the question that Nikolaj Ehlers will sign an extension with the Winnipeg Jets. Ehlers has been a part of the Jets organization since being drafted by the club with the ninth overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft and has put up 201 goals and 457 points in 605 games in Winnipeg’s uniform. There have been rather public reports out of Winnipeg that Ehlers won’t be re-upping with the organization and immediately became one of the top trade options available this offseason. The native of Aalborg, Denmark excels in passing the puck but also regularly puts up some of the best possession numbers in the game.

Lastly, Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks could be the top goal scorer to enter the free-agent market next summer. His market and projected contract will be more difficult to ascertain however as he averaged between 28-29 goals through the first seven years of his career before rifling off 40 markers this past season. Boeser’s shooting percentage was also up 7.1% last year compared to his career average which may be a sign of regression next year. If he can get anywhere near 40 goals again this season with the Canucks, he may cement himself as one of the top-five options next summer.

The proposed list is not constrained to these three players as the likes of Carter Verhaeghe, Brock Nelson, John Tavares, and Jamie Benn could all be available as well as the three players initially listed. The list will thin considerably over the next calendar year but who do you think will be the top option available once the season turns over to July 1st, 2025?

Summer Synopsis: Calgary Flames

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The Calgary Flames are in a season of transition for the first time in quite some time. The organization is only three years removed from knocking off the stingy Dallas Stars in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs before losing at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers in five games. Since that run in the playoffs, the Flames have traded away the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Jacob Markstrom, and Andrew Mangiapane while also seeing franchise icon Johnny Gaudreau leave the team via unrestricted free agency. Not many teams can sustain that level of talent walk out the door but Calgary is fortunate that they didn’t let many find greener pastures for nothing in return.

Draft

1-9: D Zayne Parekh, Saginaw (OHL)
1-28: F Matvei Gridin, Muskegon (USHL)
2-41: F Andrew Basha, Medicine Hat (WHL)
2-62: F Jacob Battaglia, Kingston (OHL)
3-74: D Henry Mews, Ottawa (OHL)
3-84: G Kirill Zarubin, Tula (MHL)
4-106: C Trevor Hoskin, Cobourg (OJHL)
5-150: C Luke Misa, Mississauga (OHL)
6-170: C Hunter Laing, Prince George (WHL)
6-177: D Eric Jamieson, Everett (WHL)

The Flames picked in the top 10 of the draft for the first time since the 2016 NHL Draft. They used the ninth overall selection on Parekh who was listed in the top five of North American skaters and the third-best North American defenseman. He’s a very talented offensive-minded defenseman coming off a season with the Spirit in which he scored 33 goals and 96 points from the blue line in 66 games. He doesn’t project to have the same defensive awareness as Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche — but his puckhandling skills and ability to create holes in the ice are eerily similar.

Calgary used their second first-round selection on Gridin who shares a similar ability in opening up space in the offensive zone. Playing for the USHL’s Lumberjacks the past two years after coming over from his native Russia, Gridin has scored 46 goals and 104 points in 100 appearances. He may take a bit longer to develop compared to Parekh as the Flames will see how he fares against stiffer competition but he projects to be a solid scoring option to place in the middle-six.

One of the better picks for the Flames after Day One was the selection of Battaglia from the Frontenacs. He’s an impressively quick player from his footspeed to his passing ability and could feature in Calgary’s top six if his development continues upward. He scored 31 goals and 65 points in 67 games for Kingston this past season but his goal-scoring ability may decrease as he climbs to the NHL.

Trade Acquisitions

D Kevin Bahl (New Jersey)

Bahl was the only player acquired by the Flames this summer but the team also added notable draft picks. In the trade that saw Bahl join the Flames organization, the team also acquired New Jersey’s 2025 first-round pick. Furthermore, Calgary traded Mangiapane to the Washington Capitals a few days before the start of free agency with Washington’s second-round pick in 2025 headed to Alberta.

Because of New Jersey’s depth on the blue line, it took Bahl several years to become a regular fixture in the lineup. Last season, he played in all 82 games for the Devils and scored one goal and 11 points while averaging 17:24 of ice time per night. Due to the departures Calgary saw on their blue line last season, it stands to reason that Bahl could crack the top four with the Flames and receive close to 20 minutes a night.

UFA Signings

D Jake Bean (two-year, $3.5MM)
G Devin Cooley (two-year, $1.55MM)*
F Martin Frk (one-year, $775K)*
F Justin Kirkland (one-year, $775K)*
F Ryan Lomberg (two-year, $4MM)
F Anthony Mantha (one-year, $3.5MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

As expected, the Flames were not very involved in the free agent market this summer and did not sign any deal longer than two years. Bean, Lomberg, and Mantha project as the biggest signings of the offseason with the former being an interesting bounceback candidate. Bean skated in 73 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season and scored four goals and 13 points overall but is not far removed from being a top-15 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

Lomberg spent much of the last four years serving as a depth piece for the Florida Panthers but should earn a regular bottom-six role with the Flames. Over the last three years in Florida, Lomberg skated in 212 games while scoring 26 goals and 45 points but the most notable aspect of his game became his physicality. Lomberg amassed  445 hits over those three years with the Panthers and should make Calgary’s bottom six much more annoying to play against.

Mantha is another potential rebound candidate for the Flames and should get regular minutes in the top six and the team’s powerplay. Before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights last year, Mantha scored 20 goals in 56 games for the Washington Capitals but floundered dramatically after being traded. The Golden Knights went as far as to make Mantha a healthy scratch for the playoffs but now has an opportunity to rebuild his value in Alberta.

RFA Re-Signings

D Jonathan Aspirot (one-year, $775K)*
F Adam Klapka (one-year, $775K)*
D Yan Kuznetsov (one-year, $775K)*
F Yegor Sharangovich (five-year, $28.75MM)
G Dustin Wolf (two-year, $1.7MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

As the main piece acquired in the trade that sent Toffoli to the Devils last offseason, Sharangovich greatly impressed with the Flames this year leading to a heavy commitment from the organization. With a bigger opportunity in Calgary, Sharanovich averaged nearly two more minutes of ice time per night as compared to his time in New Jersey and scored 31 goals and 59 points for the Flames in 82 games. The young forward finished second on the team in scoring as well as leading the team in goals. He will have his work cut out for him if he plans on being the leading scorer for Calgary but he is exactly the type of forward they need if they hope to keep their head above water.

The other notable re-signing for the Flames this summer is Wolf who’s contract may already be a bargain. Wolf has struggled in his brief time in the NHL up to this point but he is firmly the goaltender of the future after the team sent Markstrom packing for the East Coast earlier this offseason. His play in the AHL over the last several years has earned him quite the pedigree as a prospect as he’s accrued a record of 97-32-10 in 141 games played while averaging a .926 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average.

Departures

D Dennis Gilbert (Buffalo, one-year, $825K)
F A.J. Greer (Florida, two-year, $1.7MM)
F Ben Jones (Minnesota, two-year, $1.55MM)*
D Oliver Kylington (Colorado, one-year, $1.05MM)
F Andrew Mangiapane (traded to Washington)
G Jacob Markstrom (traded to New Jersey)
D Jordan Oesterle (Boston, two-year, $1.55MM)*
D Colton Poolman (Buffalo, one-year, $755K)*

* denotes a two-way contract

Thanks to their actions on the trade market throughout the 2023-24 NHL season, the Flames didn’t have much in the way of departures on the free-agent market. The most notable departure in free agency came in Kylington who the team had previously expressed a desire to keep around. The Swedish defenseman spent the entirety of his career in the Flames organization since being drafted in the 2015 NHL Draft and chose to leave for a more competitive opportunity in Colorado.

The deal sending Markstrom to the Devils had been in the making for several months as the two teams were close to a deal at last year’s trade deadline. The return for Markstrom seemed underwhelming as the Flames only acquired a first-round pick in 2025 and Bahl as previously mentioned. However, the team already had Wolf waiting in the wings and the team can get out from under Markstrom’s $6MM salary for the next two years.

The departure of Mangiapane was more surprising than the deal sending Markstrom to New Jersey as it fully committed the Flames to a rebuilding year. He has not lived up to his $5.8MM salary but has been a consistent secondary scoring option for Calgary over the last three years. Mangiapane struck as a player the Flames may look to keep through the long haul of the rebuild but the team is opting to give his minutes in the top six to one of their younger options.

Salary Cap Outlook

Now that Calgary has moved out a decent chunk of their salaries over the last two years, the team has the second-most cap space in the NHL with $19.2MM. That leaves the Flames nearly $4MM above the salary cap floor and this is something they should weaponize throughout the 2024-25 NHL season.

For teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, and Florida Panthers, the Flames could serve as a dumping ground for some of their bloated contracts so Calgary can effectively purchase draft and prospect capital. The team shouldn’t be near contention next season in an always difficult Pacific Division so the Flames would do well to utilize their cap space.

Key Questions

Is There More Selling Coming?

Circling back to their salary cap space for the 2024-25 season, the Flames will be limited in their ability to sell again. Depending on the team’s organizational window for getting back to contention, Calgary would do well at looking at the markets for Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, Jonathan Huberdeau, and MacKenzie Weegar. The Huberdeau contract in particular has already become one of the worst in the league so the Flames would have to add some sort of kicker going back the other way.

Because the team has such a narrow window of being above the salary cap floor, they will need to take on a bad contract in return if they want to stay cap-compliant. Since the team projects to be one of the worst in the NHL this season, the Flames should do everything they can to build up their prospect and draft capital while transitioning more veteran players out of the organization.

When Will The Prospects Come Up? 

Calgary has opened up several opportunities on the roster with the amount of trades they’ve made over the last calendar year. However, although training camp has yet to take place, Wolf and Connor Zary project as the only two top-level prospects on the roster heading into next year.

Because of the trades, the Flames have built up a notable farm system and they should see what they have sooner rather than later. Calgary would be doing a disservice to their prospects if they didn’t open up a full-time opportunity for Matthew Coronato at some point during next season and should create the flexibility to get notable 2024 draft picks Parekh and Basha into the lineup once their junior seasons end next year.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Carolina Hurricanes Make Front Office Changes

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General manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Tulsky, continues to organize his front office after former general manager Don Waddell resigned from the team in late May. The organization announced today they have hired Tyler Dellow as assistant general manager and promoted Darren Yorke to associate general manager and GM of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Dellow has been in the NHL for the better part of the last decade as he served as an analytic consultant for the Edmonton Oilers from 2014-16 and as the vice president of hockey analytics for the New Jersey Devils from 2019-24. In his shift over to the Hurricanes organization, Dellow’s analytical background is eerily similar to Tulsky’s with the latter serving as an analyst and director of analytics in Carolina from 2014-20.

Adding to his strong portfolio, Dellow earned a law degree from the University of Toronto and served as a civil litigation lawyer in Toronto before moving to hockey. The Hurricanes are making Dellow responsible for overseeing data analysis and compliance with the salary cap and the current collective bargaining agreement given his strong background.

Yorke has been a longtime fixture in Carolina’s front office with his first role coming in 2010-11 as a video scout. After seven years as a scout, Yorke briefly became the director of scouting in Carolina for one year before becoming the team’s director of player personnel in 2018-19. Tulsky and Yorke were named assistant general managers in 2020-21 and Yorke’s scouting and developmental background should make him an ideal candidate to oversee the AHL operations.

Jeremy Swayman Confident He Will Stay With Boston

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One of the more outwardly difficult negotiations this summer has been between the Boston Bruins and goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Neither Boston nor Swayman opted to go through salary arbitration this offseason but the organization may have gotten a jolt to their system after the hockey world watched the St. Louis Blues make offer sheets to two members of the Edmonton Oilers a few days ago.

It doesn’t appear Swayman is worried about the lack of a contract up to this point with him asserting confidence he will remain with the Bruins in an interview on NESN earlier this week. In the interview, Swayman was quoted, “There’s a lot of confidence. And I say that because I’ve treated it like business as usual this year. I’ve been at Warrior, I’ve been working out with our guys, our staff, our players. And I know that there’s something special building in this locker room this year, and I can’t be more excited about that. I know that it will take care of itself with time, and all I can do is control how I’m going to be a better goalie for the Boston Bruins this year. So, that’s all I’m focused on. And I know, again, it will work out, and I couldn’t be happier to be a Bruin“.

Cap space won’t be an issue for the Bruins with these negotiations as they still own approximately $8.6MM according to PuckPedia. The only reason Swayman’s contract would become a major concern for the salary cap is if a team takes the same approach as St. Louis and signs Swayman to an offer sheet north of their current allotment.

Earlier this week on ’32 Thoughts’, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet argued that Swayman and the Bruins weren’t close on a new contract, and the negotiations have been challenging. The exact reason for the strife is unknown but it’s likely due to Swayman’s camp potentially overestimating the value of the young netminder up to this point.

That’s not to say Swayman hasn’t been an exceptional goaltender up to this point in his career, but he’s largely shared the net with goaltender Linus Ullmark. Once a contract gets done between the two sides, the 2024-25 season will be his first as the undisputed starting netminder. Since sharing the net with Ullmark in the 2021-22 season, Swayman has only started in 46.7% of the regular season games for Boston.

Because of this, Evolving Hockey projects Swayman to land a four-year contract worth an average annual value of $6.25MM. He may land closer to $7MM if the Bruins can get him on a long-term deal. A similar contract would give Boston plenty of cap space to add during the season. As much as Swayman’s camp may be arguing at the moment, he simply has not proven himself to be in the same echelon as Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, or Connor Hellebuyck so far.

West Notes: Broberg, Pospisil, Abbotsford

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There is no clear outline of how the Edmonton Oilers will approach the offer sheets signed by forward Dylan Holloway and defenseman Philip Broberg earlier this week. Still, some pundits in the media are already theorizing about their futures in St. Louis. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reported earlier today that if Broberg were to become a player for the Blues organization eventually, he would supplant Scott Perunovich on the second pairing and play next to Justin Faulk.

The main problem with this hypothesis is that Perunovich has arguably been the better defender over the last two years and has grown as a prospect through the Blues farm system. Perunovich has accrued 23 assists in his first 73 games in the NHL while Broberg has only potted 13 points in total through his first 81 games. Perunovich also appears to be the better defensive player at face value and in the advanced statistics with his 91.2% on-ice save percentage compared to Broberg’s 87.3%. In Broberg’s defense, he has been rarely utilized thus far by Edmonton as he’s only managed to average 12:42 of ice time per game with Perunovich receiving nearly three minutes more on average.

Head coach Drew Bannister should have plenty of flexibility on the blue line even if the Oilers decide to match Broberg’s contract. St. Louis already has nine defensemen signed to one-way contracts for the 2024-25 NHL season; with five being left-handed shots. Broberg would give the Blues a total of 10 one-way contracts on the back end with six left-handed shooting defensemen.

Other West notes:

  • Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil is looking to continue his impressive run with Team Slovakia — this time in the 2026 Winter Olympics (Article Link). Later this month, Slovakia will host a three-game round-robin tournament against Austria, Hungary, and Kazakhstan with the winner receiving an automatic bid for the Olympic Games in Milan. The Slovakian Olympic team will likely rely heavily on Pospisil as he is coming off an impressive international tournament earlier this summer. In the 2024 World Championships, Pospisil scored three goals and seven points in seven games and helped Slovakia reach the playoff round for the first time since 2022.
  • The Abbotsford Canucks, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, made several staff hires today according to a team announcement. The team brought in Harry Mahesh as an assistant coach, Andrew Shaw as a video coach, and Ross MacEluch as an assistant athletic therapist. Mahesh is the most significant hire of the group as he previously served as a development coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs last year.

Gilles Léger Passes Away At Age 83

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The NHL is mourning the passing of Gilles Léger, a long-time executive who spent time with three organizations in a career spanning from 1979-2020. Outside of his work in the NHL, Léger spent time as a coach and a general manager in the CIAU and WHA.

After the World Hockey Association ceased operations at the end of the 1978-79 season, Léger made his way to the Quebec Nordiques as a director of player development in their first year of operations. Advancing to the role of assistant general manager for the team in 1984-85, Léger helped acquire the likes of Peter Forsberg, Guy Lafleur, Joe Sakic, Peter Stastny, and Mats Sundin to the expansion franchise. Unfortunately, with financial hardships leading to a sale of the Nordiques to COMSAT Entertainment Group after the 1994-95 season, Léger was not brought along with the team in their relocation to Denver, CO.

It would take three years for Léger to pick up another opportunity at the NHL level, this time with the Edmonton Oilers as a pro scout. When legendary general manager Glen Sather left the Oilers to take on the GM vacancy with the New York Rangers, Léger came along as a pro scout. The move to New York ended up being Léger’s last stop along his NHL journey. After two decades serving as a pro scout in the Rangers’ organization, Léger retired at the end of the 2019-20 season at 79 years old.

Léger’s story is of tremendous success as he parlayed a head coaching role with St. Francis Xavier University into four decades of work in the NHL. PHR sends our condolences to the Léger family.

Metro Notes: MacKinnon, Nedeljkovic, Rosen

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Although the Edmonton Oilers ultimately decided on Stan Bowman to fill their general manager vacancy, we now know of another candidate who was close to capturing the role. Originally reported by Elliotte Friedman on his ’32 Thoughts’ podcast and later extrapolated by James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now, New Jersey Devils assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon was very close to becoming the next GM for the Oilers.

MacKinnon began his executive career in 2000-01 for the Nashville Predators as the director of scouting before transitioning to the position of pro scout until the 2005-06 season. He would spend one year as a pro scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins before becoming the team’s director of professional scouting and then director of player personnel until 2015-16. Since his first year with the Penguins organization in 2006-07, MacKinnon has followed Devils’ GM Tom Fitzgerald the rest of the way.

He has spent the last four years as AGM in New Jersey with most of his responsibilities focused around the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Coupled with this report, and MacKinnon being one of the finalists for the Penguins’ GM vacancy a year ago, it appears that MacKinnon is looking to detach himself from Fitzgerald and craft his own team.

Other Metro notes:

  • Whatever controversy surrounds the crease for the Penguins this year won’t be generated by either of the respective netminders. After agreeing to a two-year, $5MM extension earlier this summer, Alex Nedeljkovic spoke to local media and said, “[Jarry] was one of the first ones to text me when I re-signed, to say congrats and welcome back and, ‘Looking forward to getting back at it together’”. Nedeljkovic did not indicate if he had his eyes set on the starting job in Pittsburgh. Nevertheless, he’s earned an opportunity for a goaltending battle out of camp with Tristan Jarry after nearly willing the Penguins into the playoffs last year with an 8-1-2 record down the stretch and a .902 save percentage.
  • Longtime play-by-play announcer for the New York Rangers, Sam Rosen, is set to retire after the 2024-25 NHL season according to Dan Rosen of the NHL. Rosen began his career as a backup radio host with the Rangers for the 1977-78 season and saw the organization win their first Stanley Cup in over 50 years. The Rangers will have some big shoes to fill when the current longest-serving, Hall of Fame announcer hangs them up at the end of the year.

Pacific Notes: Gauthier, Smith, Canucks

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The Anaheim Ducks will look to get prospect Cutter Gauthier involved in the top six this year but will it be in his traditional position at center? This was a question recently delved into by Patrick Present of The Hockey News who asserts that the Ducks have plenty of good problems to have up front with their roster flexibility.

For all of his collegiate career with the Boston College Eagles, Gauthier primarily served as a traditional center. Gauthier carries a large frame as a forward who plays well below the goal line and carries a tremendous shot which makes him a great option down the middle. However, Anaheim already has two young solid centers Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson without factoring in Ryan Strome and Trevor Zegras. Carlsson is the most natural fit among the group as the rest could shift to the wing.

According to general manager Pat Verbeek, Gauthier should get some time at center during the preseason but will primarily spend his rookie campaign on the wing if the team can stay healthy. His instincts should make him a force to be reckoned with along the wall, and his insatiable forechecking will not be hindered by the move, either. If he starts on the left wing, Gauthier could slot in nicely next to Carlsson and Troy Terry on the first line which could become one of the sneakier lines this season.

Other Pacific notes:

  •  In an interview with Chelena Goldman of the NHL, San Jose Sharks prospect Will Smith not only has his eyes set on making the lineup out of training camp in September, but also being a huge contributor to the team. Smith is coming off a dominant season in the NCAA with Boston College in which he led the nation in scoring with 25 goals and 71 points in 41 games. Next to number one overall pick Macklin Celebrini, the two are early favorites to land in the top three of Calder Trophy voting next year. General manager Mike Grier does not want Will to assume he’s already been given a spot on the roster, however, as he said, “These older guys aren’t going to be in any rush to give their spots away to a young guy. It should make for a pretty competitive camp. May the best man win“.
  • In an article last week from Thomas Drance of The Athletic (Subscription Required), he opines that the Vancouver Canucks will undoubtedly be looking for a right-handed center at next year’s trade deadline. Depending on how the season plays out, that could put Vancouver in the market for veteran Claude Giroux who is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season. Giroux has a full no-movement clause from the Ottawa Senators on his current contract so he will need to green-light any move out of the organization. If Giroux is unwilling to head out West, the Canucks could look to go after Nick Bjugstad of the Utah Hockey Club or Jake Evans of the Montreal Canadiens.

What Will Brock Boeser’s Next Contract Look Like?

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The looming contract of Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks was recently analyzed by Patrick Johnston of The Province. Johnston argues that Boeser is almost certainly set to get a raise from his current $6.65MM salary but it shouldn’t be an unpalatable one from the Canucks’ perspective.

Like many members of the 2023-24 Canucks, Boeser is coming off one of the best statistical seasons of his career. He cracked the 40-goal mark for the first time while finishing third on the team in scoring among forwards with 73 points. Boeser also finished third among forwards in ice time while averaging 18:36 a game and played the most out of any forwards when Vancouver was tied, or leading by one or two goals.

As much as he’s relied upon by head coach Rick Tocchet, Boeser will have a hard time arguing he is more than the third-most important forward on the roster. Because of this, he will almost certainly not crack J.T. Miller’s salary of $8MM per season in Vancouver, and he must also prove that last season was not a flash in the pan. From 2017-23, Boeser averaged a 12.7% shooting percentage while being a solid secondary scorer, and his 19.6% mark this past season leads to assumptions that regression towards his mean will soon follow.

Compared to his peers around the league, Boeser’s $6.65MM cap hit ranks 30th among wingers in the NHL, and he will once again have difficulty arguing that he is worth more to the Canucks than Jason Robertson is to the Dallas Stars who gave him an AAV of $7.75MM for four years. According to HockeyReference, Boeser shows a near-identical similarity score to Clayton Keller of the Utah Hockey Club who makes a salary of $7.15MM.

A modest $500K salary increase over a presumably longer-term deal may feel like a slap in the face to Boeser which could seriously hinder the extension negotiations. However, especially with all the data available to teams, it’s hard to envision Boeser landing more on the open market. There may be a scenario where he could earn closer to $7.75MM with the cap set to rise considerably over the next few years but that will likely be the cutoff point for many teams.

A contract in the $7.15MM-$7.75MM over the next four to six years shouldn’t be unpalatable to Vancouver either. The team will be laser-like focused on the upcoming contracts for Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko, but a hypothetical contract in that range for Boeser shouldn’t prohibit any long-term plans. This team will only go as far as their core can take them and given Boeser’s importance to the organization’s turnaround last season, he should be a player they envision on the team moving forward.

Penguins Delaying Marcus Pettersson Extension

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The biggest storyline from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization over the last couple of weeks has been the ongoing extension negotiations with captain Sidney Crosby. However, the Penguins have another extension candidate in defenseman Marcus Pettersson who has been a consistently steady defenseman since they acquired him in 2018.

In an article from Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now, he asserts that the organization has delayed extension negotiations with Pettersson until Crosby has signed his new contract. There has been no indication that Pittsburgh is uninterested in extending Pettersson but the delayed negotiations could cause some unfortunate consequences for the team moving forward.

Pettersson is far and away the best left-shot defenseman on the Penguins’ roster entering the 2024-25 NHL season as Ryan Graves and newcomer Matt Grzelcyk will handle the other left-side positions in the defensive core. If Pittsburgh is out of playoff contention by next year’s deadline, they could look to move Pettersson for a quality haul but it would create a massive vacancy in their lineup.

The Penguins’ current roster construction does not allow wiggle room on the left side of the defense. The team could move Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang to the left side on the top pairing but that would significantly weaken the other two defensive lines. Pettersson has never been a top point producer from the blue line but his possession and defensive metrics show him to be a valuable presence in their lineup.

Pittsburgh did not significantly improve this offseason to the point of being considered a surefire playoff contender. Although the team would like to have Pettersson around for the long haul; the situation could become complicated if a defensive needy team is looking to pay a big price at next year’s deadline. Much like the Jake Guentzel situation from last year, the Penguins may be better served by letting Pettersson’s extension candidacy play out and ascertaining his trade market next spring.

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