Anders Lee Reportedly Headed To Free Agency
According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Islanders are set to lose a longtime member of the team.
Captain Anders Lee has informed the New York Islanders that he will head to free agency. This comes after scoring 42 points in 82 games on Long Island in 2025-26, the final season of a seven-year contract inked in 2018-19, when he was named captain of the organization, that paid him $7MM annually. If he doesn’t return to the Islanders, his 923 games would stall at 77 away from being the fourth member of the team to reach 1000 games.
The 35-year-old forward has been an Islander since 2009, when he was drafted 152nd overall in the sixth-round of the NHL Draft out of Edina High School in Minnesota, before he went on to score 308 goals, the most by an Islander since 2012, and 549 points in his career, second most to Brock Nelson in that same timeframe. 
In that span, Lee has signed four separate contracts in the NHL to remain in New York, a two-year entry-level contract that paid him $3.5MM annually, followed by a one-year deal in 2014-15, making $851K. That year, he scored 41 points in 76 games, earning him a four-year, $15MM extension at $3.75MM a year, which would take him to his first UFA expiration. Before his currently expiring $49MM deal, he peaked with multiple 50+ point campaigns, including a 40-goal season for a career-high 62 points in 2017-18.
Earlier this month, LeBrun reported that Lee’s agent, Neil Sheehy, met with Islanders GM Mathieu Darche to discuss an extension. The result was a “far apart” status on the idea of a new deal. While the organization reportedly had intended to keep negotiating and wanted to retain their locker room presence and net-front presence veteran, it will now be a massive hole in the lineup for Darche to patch up.
The majority of Lee’s 2025-26 was in a middle-six role, with his leadership qualities and ability to still produce decently, a contending team would benefit from that presence heavily. The NHL free agent market has dwindled with all the movement seen around the league, including the sign-and-trade moves of Alex Tuch to Washington and Darren Raddysh to Toronto. This could play into Lee’s favor if he wanted to take a decent chunk of money for what he provides. Then again, a July 3 birthday, which will make him 36 after he signs also opens the door where a contending team could convince him to take a 35+ contract that provides performance bonuses in compensation.
Is This The Year Jack Roslovic Finally Gets Paid?
If any player has ever been forced to earn a multi-year contract, it is forward Jack Roslovic. The 29-year-old has had to sign one-year “prove it” contracts in back-to-back summers and hopes this will be the summer he finally lands a lucrative multi-year contract in free agency. No one will feel sorry for Roslovic, as he’s made $14.7MM (as per PuckPedia) in the past five seasons, nor will they feel sorry for him as he enters this market, which is absolutely a players’ market with a rising cap and so few impact free agents available. Roslovic might be hitting the UFA market at exactly the right time, having rebuilt his value after betting on himself again.
We’ve seen this movie before. However, after entering last summer coming off a solid season, he couldn’t find a long-term deal to his liking and settled for a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers in October. His overall numbers dipped this season, but he played in just 69 games, tallying 21 goals and 15 assists, along with solid underlying numbers. Roslovic doesn’t play much on the power play and hasn’t killed penalties regularly for a few seasons, but his speed and puck handling, along with his age (29), make him an intriguing player in free agency. He clearly isn’t a star, but he is a useful middle-six forward who can be a good fill-in for the top six and can comfortably play on an impact third line.
On the negative side, there is a need for a team to shelter Roslovic at times by giving him offensive zone starts, though he can use his speed to make defensive recoveries if needed. There is also the knock on Roslovic: his inconsistency from year to year. But after a 36-point season this year and a very productive season in Carolina during 2024-25 (22 goals and 39 points in 81 games), those concerns should be set aside. Roslovic also has multiple 20+ goal seasons, which might be enough offensive output to lead general managers to overlook his deficiencies if they are looking for help in their middle six, especially for teams that are looking for speed.
On the contract front, a three- or four-year deal for Roslovic would take him through what should be the rest of his prime seasons, minimizing risk for any interested parties. But it is fair to wonder why he hasn’t received that big contract in free agency thus far. The tools are there, and some of the numbers bear this out, but for whatever reason, Roslovic has bounced around to four teams in four seasons and has not found a long-term home. That is certainly a concern for teams, along with the financial commitment to a player approaching 30 who has warts in his game.
Roslovic can fill any number of roles for an NHL team, and the league often rewards players who consistently do so, even if they never become stars. That adds another weird dynamic to the Roslovic story, but at the moment, it appears that Roslovic has reached the point in his career where he will finally get paid. After twice betting on himself with short-term contracts, Roslovic may finally be positioned to cash in on the multi-year deal that has remained just out of reach. Much of it isn’t due to some incredible level of play, but rather to market forces tied to the salary cap and the lack of accomplished UFAs. The quickly escalating salary cap has changed the marketplace, and giving a guy like Roslovic $4MM or more annually isn’t the cap hindrance it was a few years ago.
So, what exactly can one expect Roslovic to get? AFP Analytics has him tabbed for a three-year contract at $4.7MM annually, which seems plausible given the deals handed out thus far to pending UFAs and RFAs. Jack Drury just received five years and $4.5MM from the Nashville Predators as an RFA, and it’s not crazy to think Roslovic could top that in AAV. Drury is much more of a defensive forward, having never topped 27 points in any one NHL season, whereas Roslovic is more offensive-minded and has a bit of a goal-scoring touch.
The projection for AFP could be close to correct, but it could also fall well short, depending on how desperate NHL teams are for forward help. Many of the contracts have been handed out thus far, and quite a few have dramatically topped AFP’s projections, including Drury’s, which came in about $1.6MM above the projection per season. For what it’s worth, Tony DeAngelo doubled his projection a few days ago as well, and forward Pavel Dorofeyev was projected at $9MM annually and finished signing with the New York Rangers for $11MM annually. Now this isn’t to suggest Roslovic will magically get $7MM or more per year, but it’s certainly possible that he surpasses the AFP projection, which would make all the gambles in previous summers worth it.
Lightning’s Corey Perry, Oliver Bjorkstrand To Reach Free Agency
The Tampa Bay Lightning should have the bulk of their projected $13.17MM in cap space available when free agency kicks off. Tampa Bay is planning to let wingers Oliver Bjorkstrand and Corey Perry hit the open market, general manager Julien BriseBois shared with reporters including NHL.com’s Benjamin Pierce following the 2026 NHL Draft. BriseBois added that the Lightning remain in negotiations with defenseman Declan Carlile – the only Group-Six UFA on the NHL roster.
This news will, most notably, face the 41-year-old Perry with the question of retirement once again. The veteran winger has survived on year-by-year contracts since 2023. A trio of deals led him through tenures with the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings before a return to Tampa Bay at the 2026 Trade Deadline. He remains a productive scorer, finishing the 2025-26 season with 17 goals and 37 points in 72 games – his highest scoring since a 40-point campaign in 2021-22.
Then again, Perry is also reaching his golden years as one of just three players age-40 or older still active in the NHL. His peers are split on their future – with defenseman Brent Burns re-signing with the Colorado Avalanche while legendary scorer Alex Ovechkin is weighing retirement. Perry sits between the two, likely still capable of playing out another contract but faced with the task of finding it on the open market. He would be a depth addition wherever he ends up, capable of rivaling 20 goals and playing chippy hockey. Perry’s last contract carried a $2MM cap hit, a mark he could continue to hover on his next deal.
While Perry weighs retirement, the Lightning will face much tougher questions in how to replace Bjorkstrand. The 30 year old remained a productive piece of the Lightning offense last season. He finished the year with 12 goals and 32 points, scored while in a third-line role in the lineup. That scoring stretched out what seemed to be a shaky fit in the Tampa Bay lineup since the Lightning acquired Bjorkstrand at the 2025 Trade Deadline. Prior to his Florida move, Bjorkstrand had posted four consecutive seasons of at least 40 points, including a career-high 59 points in 2023-24.
With that scoring streak coming to an end, a change of scenery only seems right as Bjorkstrand considers a deal that could carry him through the rest of his career. He will offer a nice bit of depth scoring and power-play upside on the open market – having averaged 21 goals and 48 points per 82 games played across his 11 seasons in the NHL. Coming off an annual $5.4MM cap hit, Bjorkstrand could find his way into the $6MM mark as part of a shallow free agent class. That number would eat up nearly half of Tampa Bay’s available cap space and should come with a promotion to second-line minutes, something the Bolts can’t provide.
How Tampa Bay responds to Bjorkstrand’s move could be telling. Young forward Conor Geekie played admirably through a demotion to the AHL early into the season. That perseverance could be rewarded with a full-time, third-line role similar to the one Geekie filled in his rookie 2024-25 season. Tampa Bay could also use their savings to seek out one of the many big fish on the trade market. They may be priced out of Jason Robertson‘s desired contract but could fit the deal of a veteran like Dylan Larkin or Rickard Rakell. Tampa Bay could also try to land a franchise-altering move by acquiring a young star like Matthew Knies. Any major addition would force a shakeup of the lineup – though it’d be one Tampa Bay could weather thanks to the depth provided by Geekie, Dominic James, and Gage Goncalves.
While the offense is in flux, defenseman Carlile should be nicely rewarded for standing up to NHL minutes this season. Carlile was able to appear in 42 games with the Lightning, amid a string of injured defenders. He scored three points and 40 penalty minutes in those appearances, often from a third-pair and defense-oriented role. Carlile has also posted 27 points in 71 AHL games over the last two seasons. His next deal is not likely to shift Tampa Bay’s summer budgeting – but it should reward the 26 year old with a chance to compete for the seventh-defenseman role after a smooth break into the NHL.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports.
East Notes: Jenner, Kampf, Giroux
Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner may be headed to another team in the Metropolitan Division. On last night’s U.S. broadcast of the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, Kevin Weekes of ESPN linked Jenner to sign as a free agent with the Washington Capitals, saying he has “been hearing [Jenner] linked to Washington for a while now.” Washington has been extremely aggressive in this offseason so far as they look to rebound after a disappointing 2025-26 season. They have already added Buffalo Sabres star Alex Tuch and St. Louis Blues scorer Jordan Kyrou, and could add even more to their forward group.
That Jenner is expected to depart the Blue Jackets does not come as a major surprise. It has been previously reported that Jenner and Columbus are likely headed for a divorce, in part because of Jenner’s decline in role last season and how that has made it more difficult for the team to reach an agreement with him on a contract extension. The 33-year-old has spent the entirety of his 808-game NHL career with the Blue Jackets, and is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played. While his role did decline somewhat under Rick Bowness, Jenner still finished the season with 13 goals and 38 points, and could be a valuable part of Washington’s bottom-six in the event he signs there.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- The Capitals dealt pending UFA center David Kampf to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the Tuch trade, but that should not be seen as an indication that the veteran center will play for the Sabres next season. According to Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic, Kampf’s inclusion in the trade was only to balance the number of contracts going each way, and the Sabres do not “have any intent to sign [Kampf].” The 31-year-old pivot is set to hit free agency after a difficult 2025-26 season that saw him begin the season in the AHL, join the Canucks as part of a mutual contract termination, and then play in just two games after being traded to Washington.
- Ottawa Senators veteran forward Claude Giroux will test the waters of unrestricted free agency next week – though he is not closing the door to a return to Ottawa as well, reports Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. It has been generally believed that the 38-year-old veteran, who is a native of the Ottawa area, would likely want to remain with his hometown team for as long as his NHL career goes, so LeBrun’s report contradicts that line of thinking. The veteran of 1,345 games showed he could still be a capable middle-six scorer last season, finishing with 14 goals and 49 points. Seeing as Giroux has not reached the conference finals since 2010, he may be testing free agency in order to see if he can sign with one of the NHL’s top contending teams, a classification Ottawa has not yet earned.
Afternoon Notes: Robertson, Bruins, Byram
The Dallas Stars are weighing all options with their leading scorer in need of a new contract. Dallas remains in contract negotiations with star winger Jason Robertson, but are also continuing to explore his trade market, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Robertson led Dallas with 45 goals and 96 points this season. The 2025-26 season marked his second time cresting both 45 goals and 50 assists in the same season, joining his career-best 109-point season in 2022-23.
Robertson will enter restricted free agency if he does not sign a new deal by July 1st. At 26 years old, he could rival the 100-point mark through the bulk of his next contract, though its price tag would eat up more than the projected $10.14MM cap space that Dallas wields, per PuckPedia. The Stars would need a cap-clearing move to bring Robertson back on a deal comparable to Mikko Rantanen (eight-years, $96MM). Signing such a deal would solidify the Stars’ core – with Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, and Thomas Harley all signed through at least 2029. In such high-pressure talks, the Stars are doing their due diligence to vet all options.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Boston Bruins are hoping to re-sign both winger Viktor Arvidsson and defender Andrew Peeke this summer, general manager Don Sweeney told reporters including Bridgette Proulx of WEEI 93.7. The pair represent Boston’s top unrestricted free agents with free agency set to begin soon. Sweeney specified that there is interest from all sides on finding an agreeable extension. Peeke appeared in a shutdown, second-pair role for much of the year. He was a reliable hard-worker and finished the season with 14 points, 105 hits, and 135 shot blocks in 77 games played. Arvidsson also made an impact from the middle of the lineup. He scored 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games, an encouraging rise after Arvidsson failed to crack 30 points with the Edmonton Oilers last year. Both players should have spots in the lineup carved out for them should they return to Boston.
- Re-signing new acquisition Bowen Byram will be a top priority for the Chicago Blackhawks before free agency opens per Scott Powers of The Athletic. The two sides will target a long-term deal, which should solidify Byram’s standing as one of Chicago’s top defensemen for the foreseeable future. The 25 year old has a career-year with the Buffalo Sabres this season, marked by 11 goals and 42 points, both career-highs. He notched that scoring while spending much of the year next to former first-overall picks Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin. Despite strong company, Byram was not interested in signing a new deal with the Sabres per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. Instead, he sought a path to a number-one role on a blue-line. That is an opportunity he should have in full with a Blackhawks team that tried, and failed, to stick Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Alex Vlasic into their starring role last season.
Free Agency Notes: Marchment, Mikheyev, Bobrovsky, Glendening
Back in February, a few months after acquiring him, the Columbus Blue Jackets pivoted toward signing Mason Marchment to an extension, rather than trading him at the deadline. However, an extension was never agreed to, and Marchment is expected to reach free agency in one week, where he will likely have a very robust market.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, several teams will be interested in signing Marchment should he reach free agency on July 1st. However, LeBrun added that the Blue Jackets are still holding out hope they can sign him to an extension, with an 11th-hour final push on the horizon.
It was a tale of two seasons for Marchment. The 31-year-old winger struggled with the Seattle Kraken, scoring four goals and 13 points in 29 games. However, after the Kraken traded him to the Blue Jackets, he went on a tear, registering 15 goals and 32 points in 39 contests to close out the regular season. There’s little expectation that Marchment will continue to be a point-per-game player, but he has proven to be a quality secondary scorer for the past five years, and would be one of the better forward options on the free agent market.
Additional free agency notes:
- It’s been known for the last few weeks that winger Ilya Mikheyev would not be signing an extension with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks pivoted toward shopping Mikheyev’s signing rights to interested parties, but it turns out they didn’t get much traction there, either. According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago is preparing to lose Mikheyev on the market for nothing next Wednesday. The middle-six forward has spent the past two years with the Blackhawks, scoring 38 goals and 70 points in 157 games with a +6 rating, averaging 16:32 of ice time per game.
- According to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, General Manager Bill Zito hasn’t closed the door on signing netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to one last contract. Florida is in a similar situation to last offseason, when they were set to lose one of three key players in Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, or Aaron Ekblad. Somehow, the Panthers managed to keep all three. However, the situation is far different with Bobrovsky, who is nearly 38 years old, coming off the worst season of his professional career, and is reportedly seeking a six- to seven-year deal in the $42MM range.
- Although he’s not a huge priority for the Philadelphia Flyers, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported that the team is interested in retaining veteran center Luke Glendening for the 2026-27 season. Glendening, 37, played admirably for the Flyers after they claimed him off waivers at last year’s deadline, scoring two goals and five points in 18 regular-season contests, with another goal through 10 games in the postseason.
Free Agent Focus: Toronto Maple Leafs
Free agency is now less than two weeks away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Maple Leafs.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Nick Robertson – A perennial subject of trade chatter, Robertson finally delivered the offensive season Toronto had long hoped for, even as the team cratered around him. The 24-year-old winger, a second-round pick in 2019 and the younger brother of Stars star Jason Robertson, set career highs with 16 goals and 32 points in 78 games, settling in as a useful secondary scorer in a middle-six role despite averaging under 13 minutes a night. His expiring $1.825MM contract makes him an obvious qualifying-offer candidate, with reporting pegging his next deal in the $2-3MM range on a short term. The wrinkle is the new front office: with John Chayka looking to reshape the roster, Robertson is exactly the kind of cost-controlled scorer who could either stick as a cheap middle-six piece or be folded into a larger trade.
F Matias Maccelli – Acquired from Utah a year ago to help soften the loss of Mitch Marner, Maccelli endured a bumpy first season in Toronto but quietly proved he belongs. The 25-year-old Finnish winger posted 14 goals and 39 points in 71 games and, notably, led all Maple Leafs forwards in expected-goals share despite the club’s woeful possession numbers, a sign his underlying game was better than either the box score or a lengthy December healthy-scratch streak suggested. He has been open about wanting to stay, and the playmaking he brings on the wing fills a genuine need. The complication is money: coming off a $3.425MM cap hit, his qualifying number could become awkward if Chayka lands another pricier top-six forward, leaving him both a re-sign candidate and a potential trade or offer-sheet target.
D Emil Andrae – One of two pieces coming back in the June 16 deal with Philadelphia, alongside goaltender Samuel Ersson, Andrae is the kind of young, cost-controlled defenseman a quckly retooling team can find a role for. The 24-year-old Swede, a second-round pick in 2020, locked down a regular spot on the Flyers’ blue line after an early-season shuttle to the minors, finishing with two goals and 13 points, a plus-15 rating, 68 hits, and 58 blocked shots across 61 games. Undersized at 5-foot-9 but a creative, mobile puck-mover with some power-play utility, he is exactly the type of young defenseman the new front office can try to grow into an everyday player, with a path to a third-pairing job and second-unit power-play time in Toronto. Coming off an expiring $903K cap hit and arbitration-eligible, he is a straightforward qualifying-offer candidate the Leafs should be glad to keep.
Other RFAs: G Samuel Ersson, F Jacob Quillan
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Calle Jarnkrok – A useful veteran in better times, Jarnkrok’s four-year run in Toronto appears to be ending on a sour note. The 34-year-old, who turns 35 early next season, managed just eight points in 56 games after a sports hernia limited him to 19 games the prior year, and he was often ineffective while absorbing minutes that might have gone to younger players. Reporting from David Pagnotta indicated he is unlikely to be back, and with Chayka explicitly aiming to get younger and faster, the expiring $2.1MM forward looks all but certain to move on, whether to another NHL club or back to Sweden.
D Troy Stecher – Claimed off waivers from Edmonton in mid-November, Stecher became one of the few feel-good stories of Toronto’s season, stabilizing an injury-ravaged blue line with the tenacity and shot-blocking that have defined his career. The 32-year-old right-shot defenseman skated in 58 games and chipped in three goals and 14 points, his best offensive output since 2019-20, while logging dependable minutes for next to nothing against the cap at $787.5K. He has made clear he hopes to re-sign, though he has also acknowledged that a return to Vancouver, where his career began, holds appeal if he reaches July 1 unsigned. For a rebuilding team that still needs bodies on the right side, another cheap deal to bring him back would be sensible business.
Other UFAs: F Travis Boyd, F Vinni Lettieri, D Matt Benning
Projected Cap Space
The Maple Leafs enter the summer with more flexibility than they have had in years and a brand-new management group eager to use it. After a disappointing 32-36-14 season that finished last in the Atlantic and out of the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, Toronto fired GM Brad Treliving and coach Craig Berube, handed the front office to former Coyotes GM John Chayka alongside senior adviser Mats Sundin, and hired Jim Hiller as head coach. The roster teardown is already underway: the June 16 trade of Woll and Benoit to Philadelphia cleared roughly $5MM, and Chayka moved quickly to add the offseason’s top available defenseman, Darren Raddysh, on a June 19 sign-and-trade. The Leafs have ample room for Chayka to chase top-six help on the wing and possibly down the middle, with a projected $18.8MM in cap space. The bigger swings figure to come on the trade market: Morgan Rielly and his full no-trade clause sit at the center of trade speculation, and power forward Matthew Knies, under contract for five more years with no trade protection until the final year of the deal, looms as the team’s most coveted chip. Add the No. 1 overall pick at this month’s draft, where Penn State’s Gavin McKenna is the consensus top selection, and Chayka has no shortage of avenues to reshape a roster and get back into the playoffs.
Salary cap information via PuckPedia.
Free Agency Notes: Senators, Trouba, Gudas
The Ottawa Senators lost one of the franchise’s most important players yesterday, trading captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers after he made a request to be dealt. In the aftermath of the deal, the Senators appear focused on making sure they don’t face the exit of other core players; GM Steve Staios told the media today (via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch) that he is having preliminary discussions on potential contract extensions with winger Drake Batherson and defenseman Artem Zub. Batherson is repped by Paul Capizzano of Quartexx, while Zub is represented by Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Both players are one season away from reaching unrestricted free agency.
While it’s unclear what the asking price is for either player to remain in Ottawa, it is clear that extending either player won’t come cheap. Batherson, 28, is entering year six of a six-year, $4.975MM AAV extension he signed in September 2021. The deal has been quite the bargain for the Senators, as Batherson has developed into a legitimate first-line winger. He scored 33 goals and 71 points in 79 games last season, and is likely to seek a significant raise on his next deal, perhaps even around double his current cap hit. Zub, who will turn 31 in October, is Ottawa’s most important right-shot defenseman. He scored a career-high 30 points last season and averaged 20:47 time on ice per game, including deployment on the team’s top penalty-kill unit. Zub costs $4.6MM against the cap and is also likely to be seeking a significant raise, though perhaps not to the same magnitude as Batherson.
Other notes in advance of free agency:
- Anaheim Ducks veteran defenseman Jacob Trouba is likely to test the unrestricted free agent market, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast. The 32-year-old’s first complete campaign as a Duck was a massively successful bounce-back season. After he was unceremoniously traded from the New York Rangers last season, ending his tenure with the team he once captained, Trouba became a crucial veteran presence on the blueline of an ascendant Ducks team. Trouba managed 10 goals and 35 points, his most in a single season since 2021-22. He was Anaheim’s No. 3 defenseman in terms of ice time, playing 22:49 per game and leading all Ducks defensemen in short-handed time on ice per game. Trouba’s 3:04 per game on the penalty kill ranked No. 8 in the NHL. While he’s unlikely to match the $8MM cap hit he’s played on since the start of the decade, Trouba should still command substantial interest on the open market.
- Friedman also said on 32 Thoughts that it “looks like” Radko Gudas will also hit the UFA market like Trouba and trade deadline addition John Carlson. The 36-year-old is the Ducks’ captain and is coming up on the end of the three-year, $4MM AAV contract he signed as a free agent on July 1, 2023. Gudas took a real step back in terms of role this past season, skating in just 16:10 time on ice per game, and just 1:36 per game on the penalty kill. In 2024-25, Gudas averaged 19:51 per game and 2:28 on the penalty kill. Gudas was limited to just 56 games played last season as a result of lower-body injuries and a hefty five-game suspension, and but his reputation as one of the game’s most physical, ferocious defensemen is likely to garner him some real interest from around the league next week.
Vladimir Tarasenko Changes Agents Ahead Of Likely Free Agency
Veteran scorer Vladimir Tarasenko has changed agents, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast. According to Friedman, Tarasenko’s change of representation is “obviously a sign” that he will not sign an extension to remain with the Minnesota Wild, and will instead test the market as an unrestricted free agent.
Tarasenko was previously repped by both Pat Brisson of CAA and Paul Theofanous of TMI, part of a formal collaboration agreement signed by Theofanous and CAA.
He will now be represented by Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, another one of the game’s biggest agents whose top active clients include Tampa Bay Lightning stars Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy, as well as top defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
Just under one month ago, we covered reports coming out of Minnesota that indicated that Tarasenko was unlikely to re-sign with the Wild. At that time, The Athletic’s Joe Smith actually pointed to Tarasenko being repped by Theofanous as a factor contributing to the likelihood of the player’s exit as a free agent.
According to Smith, the Wild are “unlikely [to] play ball” with Theofanous this summer due to the lingering complications from the two parties’ negotiation of a $17MM AAV extension for superstar Kirill Kaprizov.
Although Tarasenko is no longer repped by Theofanous, therefore removing that kind of complication in the player’s relationship with the Wild, it still appears almost certain that Tarasenko will be signing elsewhere next month.
Minnesota has already dipped into some of their cap space to re-sign veteran Michael McCarron ($3.33MM AAV) and the team is likely hoping to keep the rest of their powder dry in case an opportunity to acquire a star forward presents itself. The Wild were on the list of preferred trade destinations for Brady Tkachuk, though he was ultimately dealt to the Florida Panthers.
Tkachuk is unlikely to be the final star who considers landing in the Twin Cities this summer, but the cost of re-signing Tarasenko could push the Wild out of those conversations. As a result, he’ll likely be headed elsewhere.
Although his future is not in Minnesota, Tarasenko is still likely to garner substantial interest on the open market. For teams looking for solid middle-six scoring available without the need for a massive long-term financial commitment, Tarasenko could be a top option. He scored 23 goals and 47 points in 75 games for the Wild last season. Since Tarasenko is set to turn 35 in December, teams interested in signing him won’t need to commit to the kind of term other comparable scorers (such as 31-year-old Mason Marchment) will require.
Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Free Agent Focus: St. Louis Blues
Free agency is now less than a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Blues.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Jonatan Berggren – Quietly one of the more useful depth additions of St. Louis’ season, Berggren arrived as a waiver-wire claim from the Detroit Red Wings and turned into a serviceable NHL contributor. The 25-year-old winger, a second-round pick of Detroit back in 2018, posted six goals and 16 points in 36 games with the Blues, impressive enough to profile as a capable bottom-six option on a team that will be entering a rebuild. Berggren more than justified the waiver claim, and re-signing him is an easy win: he’s a cheap, controllable scoring depth piece, and there’s every reason to think a bigger opportunity could bring out more from him.
D Matthew Kessel – A steady, no-frills right-shot defenseman, Kessel spent the year as St. Louis’ seventh blueliner, drawing in when injuries thinned the group and posting just three points across 29 games. The 25-year-old Arizona native, a fifth-round pick of the Blues in 2020, brings good size and reliable defensive habits without much offensive upside, and notably didn’t play a single game in the AHL this season, sticking on the NHL roster purely as depth insurance. Coming off an expiring $800K cap hit, he’s an easy, inexpensive qualifying-offer candidate to round out the organization’s defensive depth chart.
Other RFAs: F Mikhail Abramov, F Thomas Bordeleau, D Leo Loof
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Oskar Sundqvist – A familiar and respected face in St. Louis, Sundqvist returned for a second stint with the franchise he won the 2019 Stanley Cup alongside, but this season looked like the year the aging curve finally caught up. The 32-year-old put up a modest five goals and 17 points in 52 games while sliding down to a fourth-line, penalty-killing role, and the underlying numbers were rougher still; his shot-share and expected-goals metrics ranked at the very bottom among Blues regulars. He remains a willing, physical veteran who can play center or wing, but for a team committed to getting younger, it will be interesting to see how the Blues handle this.
D Justin Holl – Holl landed in St. Louis almost as an afterthought, arriving from Detroit at the trade deadline as a secondary piece in the deal that sent Justin Faulk to the Red Wings and brought back a prospect and a pair of draft picks. The veteran right-shot defenseman had spent the entire season to that point in the AHL for the first time in nearly a decade, then dressed for just nine games down the stretch with the Blues, chipping in two points while logging steady shutdown minutes. At 34 and a pending UFA, the 6-foot-4 blueliner is purely organizational depth at this point; a cheap re-sign isn’t out of the question, but there’s no urgency for a rebuilding club to bring him back.
Other UFAs: F Julien Gauthier, F Akil Thomas(Group-6), F Hugh McGing, D Hunter Skinner(Group-6), G Vadim Zherenko (Group-6)
Projected Cap Space
The Blues’ cap situation is one of the healthier ones in the league this summer. After falling out of the playoff race and selling at the deadline; trading captain Brayden Schenn to New York and shipping veteran defenseman Justin Faulk to Detroit for futures, St. Louis enters the offseason with the bulk of its young core already signed and a notably thin free-agent ledger, having handled its one RFA of consequence by re-signing Dylan Holloway to a five-year deal. With the salary cap set at $104MM and most of the roster locked in, the Blues project to carry roughly $15MM in space before accounting for their handful of qualifying offers, a figure that only climbs if veteran Torey Krug‘s $6.5MM hit lands on season-ending LTIR as expected. The bigger story, though, isn’t free agency at all: with a sell-and-rebuild mandate, Steen’s defining decisions will come on the trade market; most notably around winger Jordan Kyrou, whose future has dominated speculation even with a no-trade clause now in play. Goaltender Jordan Binnington, the subject of heavy deadline chatter before ultimately staying put in March, remains a possible secondary chip, and the Blues will also lean on a draft in which they hold three first-round picks (Nos. 11, 15 and 29).
Salary cap information via PuckPedia.