Poll: Who Is The Best UFA Left On The Market?
The unrestricted free agent frenzy dried up extremely quickly this season, and we haven’t seen single contract signed in the first week of August. The last UFA to ink a deal was Matt Read, who signed a two-way contract with the Minnesota Wild to try and compete for some fourth line minutes and continue his NHL career. Though the cap situation for many teams is quite tight and roster spots are more and more valuable every year, it is somewhat shocking to see how much NHL experience is still out there. The talent of the remaining players can be questioned, but the league has always seemed willing to give veteran players a chance on one-year deals in the past.
Last August, we saw older players like Matt Cullen, Francois Beauchemin, Drew Stafford and Matt Hendricks given another chance to extend their careers while several minor league players were brought back on two-way contracts. That is still bound to happen over the next few weeks, but the more surprising part is how many veteran names may be left searching for a professional tryout or heading to Europe to find work. There are dozens of skaters who played in at least one NHL game last season still available on the UFA market, and several goaltenders including three with plenty of previous experience.
So which would you most likely sign if you had control of your favorite franchise? Rick Nash may be the obvious choice, given his relative youth and previous star status, but he’s been kept out of our poll given that he hasn’t even decided whether he wants to play next season. Nash may come back to the game at some point, but right now he should be considered off limits. Among the other names though there are several players who’ve shown real effectiveness in the past, some even as recently as last season.
Cast your vote to decide who is the best free agent left on the market, and make sure to leave a comment down below explaining your choice. We’ve included many of the available options, but speak up if there’s someone you think is being overlooked.
Who is the best unrestricted free agent left on the market?
-
Toby Enstrom 12% (181)
-
Luca Sbisa 10% (158)
-
Mike Cammalleri 7% (104)
-
Scott Hartnell 6% (94)
-
Kris Versteeg 6% (90)
-
Antoine Vermette 6% (89)
-
Joel Ward 5% (78)
-
Tommy Wingels 5% (71)
-
Troy Brouwer 5% (71)
-
Alexei Emelin 4% (67)
-
Kari Lehtonen 4% (66)
-
Steve Mason 4% (59)
-
Drew Stafford 4% (54)
-
Nick Shore 3% (49)
-
Mark Letestu 3% (47)
-
Kevin Bieksa 3% (46)
-
Johnny Oduya 3% (43)
-
Lee Stempniak 3% (42)
-
Benoit Pouliot 2% (31)
-
Dominic Moore 2% (29)
-
Ondrej Pavelec 2% (28)
-
Daniel Winnik 2% (26)
-
Jakub Jerabek 1% (8)
Total votes: 1,531
[Mobile users click here to vote]
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings Inching Closer To Contract
Among the names left on the restricted free agent list, Dylan Larkin stands out as a potential franchise linchpin. Though William Nylander and Sam Reinhart are important forwards, and Noah Hanifin, Darnell Nurse, Shea Theodore and Josh Morrissey are all talented defensmen, it’s Larkin that could be the face of the Detroit Red Wings for quite some time and probably the most important contract to still be worked out. Larkin recently said that he believed something would be done before training camp, and yesterday reiterated that fact to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.
Something’s coming. I’ve told everyone I think it’ll be before training camp. It’s right there. I’m just waiting to iron out the details.
There have been reports that the Red Wings have been working towards a five or six year contract, but Larkin indicated that there are “different offers out there” that could also include a shorter bridge deal. That depends on how much room GM Ken Holland and the Detroit front office can clear up this summer, given that the Red Wings only have $2.83MM in cap space. Larkin would take up more than that even on a bridge deal, meaning there is plenty more work to be done for the club over the next few weeks.
Teams can go over the cap in the offseason (up to 10% or $7.95MM), and the Red Wings still have Johan Franzen‘s cap hit that can be placed on long-term injured reserve for additional cap flexibility. But if Larkin does end up signing a long-term deal, it would take up a considerable amount of space given that he has just four years of restricted free agency remaining.
Even with the crunch that is occurring right now for Detroit, the may rather get Larkin under contract for some of his unrestricted free agent years given that their cap situation starts clearing up as soon as 2019-20. With nearly $18MM scheduled to come off the books in the form of Gustav Nyquist, Jimmy Howard, Thomas Vanek and Niklas Kronwall, the team can certainly afford to give the next wave of talent substantial raises. As a team the Red Wings are getting closer to financial freedom and a real chance at a rebuild, and Larkin’s next deal will set the precedent for all the players that come after him. It might still take a little while to work through, but at this point both sides seem confident something will get done.
Brock Boeser Camp In No Rush For New Contract
The Vancouver Canucks signed several veteran forwards in this summer to insulate their young core, bringing in Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle and Tim Schaller on multi-year deals. While that solidifies the roster for the next few years, everyone is watching to see if the team will lock up Brock Boeser long term before he becomes a restricted free agent next summer. Boeser is eligible to sign an extension already, but his agent Ben Hankinson was on Sportsnet radio today explaining that they’re not in a rush to get something done.
I don’t think there’s any rush. Obviously Brock knows he has another year left and he’s going to go out there and play no matter what. He’ll probably be on the ice the next October in 2019 to start that season with a new contract too. Whenever it happens it happens. There’s no rush on our end.
I’d say, without putting a deadline on it, we’d like to get going once the season rolls and just play hockey. But there’s no deadline on it. [Canucks GM] Jim [Benning’s] a very level-headed guy and we have a really good relationship. So I’m not gonna say we won’t talk during the season if we don’t get something done, but who knows, it’s too early to say.
Boeser has been a star for the Canucks since the day he signed with them, scoring in his first NHL game just a day after being eliminated from the NCAA tournament. The young sniper went on to record 29 goals and 55 points in his first full season, though he was limited to just 62 games due to a scary back injury that put him on the shelf in early March. He’ll be back and ready to go in 2018-19, and could set himself up for a huge extension with another big season.
Though Boeser has just one season under his belt he’ll be 22 in February, meaning that entry-level contract will come to an end next summer at which point he could easily eclipse Loui Eriksson and Bo Horvat as the team’s highest-paid forward. He’ll have five years of restricted free agency left, but as we’ve seen with other young stars teams now like to lock up their future right away. If both sides wait until after this season and he puts up another near point-per-game campaign, you can expect him to be asking for a deal somewhere along the lines of David Pastrnak ($6.67MM AAV) or Nikolaj Ehlers ($6.0MM AAV). Where Dylan Larkin and William Nylander land in their respective contract talks will also likely be a good comparison, though there could be an argument that Boeser is an even more valuable piece than either given his impressive goal scoring ability.
If the two sides can reach an agreement this summer the Canucks may be able to keep that cap hit slightly lower given that Boeser still has just 71 games under his belt in the NHL. Vancouver has plenty of cap space to fit Boeser in going forward, especially given that several other key players should be joining the organization in the next few years on entry-level deals.
Free Agent Profile: Mike Cammalleri
While he isn’t close to the point-per-game mark like he was with the Kings a decade ago, winger Mike Cammalleri has still been a decent secondary scorer in recent years. Despite that, he remains unsigned more than a month into the free agent period.
The 36-year-old signed with Los Angeles last summer after being bought out of the final two years of his deal with New Jersey. While he was fairly productive in limited playing time (seven points in 15 games), the Kings quickly moved him to Edmonton in exchange for Jussi Jokinen in a swap of veteran wingers. (Jokinen went on to be waived, claimed by Columbus, and then dealt to Vancouver at the trade deadline.)
Edmonton, meanwhile, got the better end of the swap. Although he didn’t light the lamp too often, Cammalleri was able to hold down a third line role and chip in on the playmaking side, notching 18 assists in 51 games. Between the two teams, he totalled 29 points in 66 contests which wound up being decent value for a $1MM base salary.
On the downside, this was the fourth straight season that his output dipped going back to 2013-14 when he collected 45 points. That may scare off some potential suitors as Cammalleri is slowing down and doesn’t bring a whole lot defensively to the table. Despite that, there could still be a market for the second highest point getter remaining in free agency.
Potential Suitors
There are two situations where a team could have interest in Cammalleri. The first is a team that’s right up against the salary cap that’s looking to add some depth or competition for a spot at the end of the roster. The other is a younger team that wants some insurance in case their younger talent isn’t quite ready or to serve as a short-term bridge to allow a prospect some more development time in the minors.
In the first group, Minnesota makes some sense. They’ve added some grit to their fourth line over the summer but those players aren’t good fits to move up the lineup when injury strikes. Cammalleri would be a better fit to do so. If Washington wants to add a bit more offense to their depth forwards, he would be a fit there as well. In the second group, the Senators and Rangers could stand to add a veteran buffer to hedge against some of their prospects not being quite ready for the NHL spotlight.
Projected Contract
With there being a limited group of potential suitors, Cammalleri doesn’t have much in the way of leverage. At this point, he’s going to have to settle for a PTO deal or something close to the league minimum $650K in salary. In the right situation though, the veteran could still provide a little bit of value for that contract.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Plenty Of Talent Remains Unsigned Among Restricted Free Agents
Now that all of the arbitration hearings have concluded and any player filings resolved, 21 restricted free agents remain unsigned around the league. These players must have a contract by December 1st in order to play at all this season, otherwise they will have to sit out the whole season. On the list are several players who play a huge role on their respective teams, and are likely in negotiations on long-term contracts.
Dylan Larkin, perhaps the most talented offensive player on the Detroit Red Wings, expects to sign before training camp begins in a little over a month. There have been reports that he’s looking at a five or six year contract, which would take him right to unrestricted free agency. The talented forward scored 62 points last season and is a huge part of the future for the Red Wings, but the team is currently in salary cap trouble and likely needs to make a move of some sort before the start of the year to fit Larkin in.
William Nylander has also been clear in his desire for a long-term deal, but isn’t stressing about the negotiations. The Toronto Maple Leafs will face questions over the next few seasons of how to fit all of their talented forwards under the cap, and the first real step towards that salary structure is getting something done with Nylander. The 22-year old forward finished with 61 points for the second year in a row, but could take another step forward if the Maple Leafs second powerplay unit rebounds in 2018-19.
Among defensemen, Noah Hanifin, Shea Theodore and Josh Morrissey stand out as some of the most important names. Hanifin’s contract is finally on the front burner after a busy arbitration schedule for the Calgary Flames, and things are progressing in a “positive” direction. When the Flames bought out Troy Brouwer‘s contract last week they gave themselves some flexibility for signing Hanifin to a long-term deal, but could always go the bridge route to make sure he fits into their organization properly. Theodore developed into a key piece for the Vegas Golden Knights this season after starting in the minor leagues due to a roster crunch, and should be rewarded accordingly on his new deal. The Golden Knights haven’t been shy about locking up some of their key players recently, and Theodore should likely be no different.
Morrissey is interesting, given the uncertainty around the Jets blue line in general. Jacob Trouba is once again on a short-term deal and could bolt for unrestricted free agency in 2020, while Tyler Myers is scheduled to become a UFA next summer. If the team has plans on retaining either of them they’ll have to be careful with how much money they commit to Morrissey, despite his obvious talent and fit for the club.
The full list of restricted free agents is below:
Ondrej Kase (ANA)
Nick Ritchie (ANA)
Marek Langhamer (ARZ)
Sam Reinhart (BUF)
Noah Hanifin (CGY)
Hunter Shinkaruk (CGY)
Dylan Larkin (DET)
Matt Puempel (DET)
Darnell Nurse (EDM)
Michael McCarron (MTL)
Kerby Rychel (MTL)
Kevin Rooney (NJD)
Steven Santini (NJD)
Miles Wood (NJD)
Jordan Schmaltz (STL)
William Nylander (TOR)
Shea Theodore (VGK)
Eric Comrie (WPG)
Nicolas Kerdiles (WPG)
J.C. Lipon (WPG)
Josh Morrissey (WPG)
Edmonton Fans Still Waiting For Big Changes
The Edmonton Oilers were one of the biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 season. Despite being led by one of the best players in the world in Connor McDavid, the team dropped 25 points in the standings and finished well out of the playoffs. Only three players on the team broke the 15-goal or 40-point thresholds, and goaltender Cam Talbot posted his worst season as a professional. Changes were obviously needed, and big things were expected from GM Peter Chiarelli, who had never been known for his hesitation in the past. Chiarelli has always been willing to trade players who he believed were problems, and acquire assets that could help his team.
In April, just after the Oilers season had come to a close, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal wrote a piece outlining ten changes that could happen in order to get the team back to the playoffs in 2018-19. Among them was a common thread, that basically everyone on the roster outside of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should be considered available. Real additions also needed to be made up front, to help add some secondary scoring to the rest of the lineup. A puck-moving defenseman should be added, and something needs to be done about the left-handed imbalance of the blue line.
This summer though, almost none of those things have happened.
A change in the coaching staff was expected, and the team did bring in several new faces to help head coach Todd McLellan this season. Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney and Manny Viveiros were all hired as assistants, replacing several outgoing names. That should give the team a different look in terms of system, but those asked to perform will be the same. The defense corps remains relatively unchanged, other than the fact that Darnell Nurse is still without a contract and Kevin Gravel was brought in on a two-way contract. No additional puck-movers have been added, meaning as it stands the burden will once again fall on players like Nurse and Oscar Klefbom to really drive the team.
On the topic of secondary scoring, there has been little change. Tobias Rieder and Kyle Brodziak were the Oilers’ big free agent additions, giving the team two more middling offensive talents to plug into the lineup. While Rieder has shown potential at times, he still only recorded 12 goals and 25 points last season. Brodziak is actually coming off one of the better offensive campaigns of his career with 10 goals and 33 points, but shouldn’t be expected at age-34 to be an answer to the team’s problems.
Perhaps the biggest change came in net, where the team opted to avoid signing one of the more proven names in free agency and instead brought in Mikko Koskinen from the KHL. The 30-year old goaltender had an incredible season for SKA St. Petersburg in 2017-18, but hasn’t played in North America on a full-time basis since 2011. If Koskinen can push Talbot back to the level he had previously shown the Oilers will be much more competitive, but there’s no guarantee they’ll have any consistency in the position this year.
No instead of the big changes that were expected, the Oilers have generally sat on their hands this summer and hoped a change could come from within. Even their 10th-overall pick in the draft which they were open about potentially trading, was eventually used to pick Evan Bouchard. There’s clearly a boatload of talent in the London Knights blueliner, but if Bouchard isn’t able to jump right to the NHL this season he can’t help a team that needs to compete immediately. If it’s not Bouchard, then perhaps Jesse Puljujarvi is the key to the offseason in Edmonton. The fourth-overall pick from 2016 is now 20 years old, and needs to become an impact player this season. In 65 NHL games last year he registered 12 goals and 20 points, but those numbers need to improve drastically if the Oilers are to expect a winning season.
There is a chance that the team still makes a big splash to bring in some scoring help, but there financial situation is obviously limiting them. With just $4.98MM in cap space and Nurse still to sign, the team likely couldn’t go after someone like Jeff Skinner. In order to land the talented winger from Carolina, the Hurricanes would have had to accept another contract back in order to even out the salaries. That puts the Oilers in a distinct disadvantage in trade talks, and one that won’t be fixed anytime soon. None of the hefty Oilers contracts come off the books next season outside of Talbot and Koskinen, but there isn’t a brilliant young goaltender ready to step into that void on an inexpensive contract. Without moving a defenseman or Milan Lucic‘s contract, the Oilers will remain in salary trouble as they try to add pieces in the future.
For an offseason that was expected to bring fireworks in Edmonton, and help surround McDavid with a team that could give him a legitimate chance for the Stanley Cup, things have been awfully quiet. Oilers fans will have to hope that change is coming from places they didn’t expect, and someone can step up to alter their fortunes. Otherwise it could be a long season, and another wasted opportunity with one of the game’s premiere talents.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Poll: Ottawa’s Impending Free Agents
The Ottawa Senators are a team in trouble. The Senators finished with a 28-43-11 record last season for a total of 67 points, second-lowest in the NHL. The team also placed close to the bottom in both goals for and goals against, which combined for a the league’s second-worst goal differential of -70. Ottawa dealt with a public relations nightmare this summer surrounding Mike Hoffman and ended up having to deal the dependable scorer away for pennies on the dollar. They have thus far failed to add any difference-makers via trade or free agency this off-season as well. On top of that, owner Eugene Melnyk is reportedly hemorrhaging money and appears to have a singular focus of spending as little as possible this season. That task is made difficult by a roster that features overpaid, ineffective veterans such as Bobby Ryan, Marian Gaborik, and Mikkel Boedker and a 37-year-old goalie coming off the worst season of his career in Craig Anderson. The Senators are the popular pick to be the worst team in the NHL in 2018-19, but even that has no silver lining, as the Colorado Avalanche own Ottawa’s first-round pick, potentially the first overall pick in next year’s draft.
It almost seems like so much is going wrong in Ottawa that things can only get better. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. Early in this off-season, the Senators made a contract extension offer to all-world defenseman Erik Karlsson, who is slated for free agency next summer. When Karlsson dismissed this initial offer, the team made it know that they were open to trading the face of the franchise. Just this week, the team was unable to come to terms on a long-term extension with top scorer Mark Stone, instead signing him to a one-year deal that will make him an unrestricted free agent after the season, where he will potentially be the biggest available name behind Karlsson. Perhaps the biggest bargain on the team, Ryan Dzingel‘s team-friendly contract runs out after next season and the young forward will want a significant raise, even if that means it doesn’t come from the penny-pinching Senators. Finally, Matt Duchene, who Ottawa gave up substantial trade capital to acquire early last season – when their future looked much brighter – is also entering the final year of his contract and may not want to stick around any longer in Ottawa after the team fell apart soon after his acquisition.
With Hoffman and Derick Brassard already gone, the Senators face a very real possibility that they will begin the 2019-20 season without all of their top six scorers from the 2017-18 season (make that top seven if they succeed in trading Ryan). Between the value each would have on the open market prompting them to test the waters and the mounting pressure on the team to trade them during what will almost certainly be another season of struggles, the odds of each of them returning is slim. If the team was second-worst last year, did nothing to improve this off-season, and doesn’t have the pick that could otherwise land them a franchise cornerstone in next year’s draft, it is scary to think about how much worse things could get in Ottawa if all four of these prominent free agents depart.
This begs the question: how many of Karlsson, Stone, Dzingel, and Duchene will still be Senators this time next year?
How Many Impending Senators' Star Free Agents Will Return To Ottawa?
-
None 51% (426)
-
One 27% (224)
-
Two 13% (112)
-
All Four 6% (48)
-
Three 3% (28)
Total votes: 838
Free Agent Profile: Kris Versteeg
Kris Versteeg has been a quietly productive secondary scorer in recent years but has had difficulty securing contracts on the open market for the most part. That happens to be the case again this time around as more than a month into free agency, he’s still looking for a deal.
Interestingly enough, last summer was the lone time he was able to sign early, inking an extension to stay with Calgary. The one-year, $1.75MM deal seemed to make plenty of sense as he was coming off a season that saw him produce 15 goals and 22 assists in just 69 games in 2016-17.
Unfortunately for Versteeg and the Flames, last season didn’t go quite as swimmingly. He picked up a respectable eight points through the first 22 games before suffering a hip injury. He underwent surgery which kept him out of the lineup until mid-March. After that, he got into two games and then was sat down for the remainder of the year as the hip problems continued.
When healthy, Versteeg can help add some production from the middle six and he has been an effective player on the man advantage quite recently. However, questions about his health certainly isn’t helping his cause this offseason.
Potential Suitors
There are a few scenarios that make sense for Versteeg. A contending team that’s tight to the salary cap may have interest in him as extra depth or injury insurance. It also helps that he’s eligible for a one-year deal with performance bonuses as he spent 104 days on IR last season and has over 400 games of NHL experience. Rebuilding teams may also have interest in him as a buffer player to allow a prospect some more time to develop in the minors before trying to flip Versteeg closer to the trade deadline.
In the first group, the Penguins, Lightning, and Capitals fit as teams expected to contend that have limited cap space. Pittsburgh’s depth is at center and it’s likely that at least one of their bottom-six options will go to the wing so they may not be a great fit. Tampa and Washington have several cheap forwards rounding out their roster and a healthy Versteeg could represent an upgrade. As for rebuilding teams that could use him early and flip him later, the Senators and Rangers come to mind if they want some insurance for one of their youngsters (or even simply want some competition in training camp).
Projected Contract
Versteeg was ranked 47th on our Top 50 UFA list with a projected one-year, $1MM contract. There’s still a good chance he gets a deal around that mark although he may have to take some of that in the form of performance bonuses, likely games played related. A training camp PTO could be a reasonable outcome as well as teams may want to wait until they have a better idea if he has fully recovered from his hip troubles.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators Avoid Arbitration
With neither side really wanting to go through the arbitration process today in Toronto, Mark Stone and the Ottawa Senators have settled on a one-year contract. The deal will pay Stone $7.35MM this season, and carry him through to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019. The two sides cannot sign an extension until January. Our Brian La Rose projected this exact contract yesterday when he broke down the Stone arbitration case.
The 26-year old played just 58 games for the Senators last season, but was easily the team’s best forward registering 20 goals and 62 points. That point-per-game pace pushed Stone from a very good player to one of the league’s best, especially when combined with his trademark takeaway ability and solid defensive presence. Even with the limited number of games, he still earned Selke votes for the fourth consecutive year and led all Senators in takeaways.
For all the positive things Stone brings, a one-year contract will lead to immediate speculation about his future in Ottawa. The team is heading for a rebuild, and now all three of their best players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next summer. Stone, Erik Karlsson and Matt Duchene all have just one year remaining on their deals, making them prime trade candidates over the next few months. Even if things go better than expected during the first half of the 2018-19 season, the team still has to consider moving these big assets for whatever they can get, depending on whether they’re willing to sign a long-term extension. Though it’s unclear if Stone would even re-enter negotiations, the fact that the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement this summer only puts creates more pressure down the road.
The Senators will have a two-month window to sign Stone at the beginning of 2019 before facing the trade deadline. If he remains unsigned, you can bet there will be dozens of teams clamoring to get a piece of him as a playoff rental with a chance to re-sign him to a long-term deal. Evander Kane, Paul Stastny and others set the market this season, but Stone is a more effective offensive piece than either of them and could bring back a bigger package should his contributions on the ice continue this season. As one of only a few top-end options in Ottawa, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him receive more than 20 minutes a night once again.
Those first line minutes shouldn’t come as a surprise now that Stone carries such a huge salary. His new contract makes him the 24th-highest paid forward in the league for 2018-19, putting pressure on him to perform as the best player up front for Ottawa. It also means that a long-term extension would be incredibly pricey, something that the Senators may just not have the money for. Remember this was a restricted free agent year still, which usually comes in at a lower price than the player would be demanding on the UFA market. If Stone wanted an even bigger cap hit for seven or eight years, Ottawa might have to back out of negotiations purely from a financial standpoint.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Negotiation Notes: Arbitration Hearings, Nylander, Islanders
Two more players sat down for arbitration hearings today, as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that neither the Ottawa Senators and Cody Ceci nor the Dallas Stars and Gemel Smith were able to come to terms beforehand. Both situations bear watching over the next 48 hours, as they must agree to a deal in that window or else get stuck with the arbitrator’s award. Ceci’s case is similar to that of the Winnipeg Jets’ Jacob Trouba, which went through to a decision earlier this off-season. Both Ceci and Trouba filed at a number that shares few reasonable comparisons – Trouba at $7MM and Ceci at $6MM. While Trouba’s side likely tried to use several recent cases of offensive-minded defenseman who settled for $5.5MM and then argue that he is the superior defensive player, Ceci does not have the comparable offense to make as strong a case. As such, he is unlikely to get the $5.5MM award that Trouba landed, the midpoint of his case. Instead, look for Ceci to get somewhere in the $4-4.5MM range. Smith’s is a much different scenario, similar to another previously decided case this summer, that of Calgary Flames defenseman Brett Kulak. In both cases, the team offered only a minimum, two-way contract while the player filed at a higher value for a one-way deal – Kulak at $1.15MM and Smith at $900K. While Kulak was able to land a $850K one-way deal from the arbitrator, he also played in 71 games in the platform year, while Smith only suited up for 46. Smith faces a far tougher argument that he is a bona fide NHL player at this point in his career.
- Restricted free agent William Nylander continues to negotiate with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the explosive young forward is not interested in a short-term bridge deal. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox suggests that Nylander is only talking about a long-term deal right now. While the Leafs might be trying to play it safe, with both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner also in need of extensions next summer (along with the majority of their roster), Nylander doesn’t seem willing to take a bridge deal only to watch his fellow budding stars sign long-term contracts instead. Nylander may have hit restricted free agency earlier than Matthews and Marner, but the trio all have similar games played and points since Nylander only played in 22 games with Toronto in his first season before the other two joined the squad. All three have been remarkably consistent early on and, given their similarities, it is hard to blame Nylander for wanting a long-term deal when he knows that Matthews and Marner are likely to get them.
- While it makes sense that the New York Islanders have focused on adding forwards and a new goaltender this season, after losing superstar center John Tavares and starting goalie Jaroslav Halak to free agency, Newsday’s Andrew Gross thinks it’s strange that the team has not added to the blue line at all. The team re-signed Thomas Hickey and Ryan Pulock, but have added no one else while losing Calvin de Haan and opting not to bring back Brandon Davidson and Dennis Seidenberg. Gross notes that recently re-signed center Brock Nelson, an impending free agent, could be used as a trade chip to add to a blue line that struggled greatly last season. There are certainly teams out there with a plethora of defensemen who could use Nelson up front. The Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, and Winnipeg Jets are clubs that fit the bill, but Nelson would not be nearly enough to land a Justin Faulk, Torey Krug, or Jacob Trouba and an expendable piece that he might fetch, like a Trevor van Riemsdyk, Adam McQuaid, or Tucker Poolman might not be enough to fix the Islanders blue line. New York may have to up the ante beyond Nelson to land a difference-maker on the back end.