NHL Rumor Mill – July 20, 2024
Check out the latest on some of this summer’s notable restricted free agents in today’s NHL Rumor Mill
SPORTSNET: Luke Fox and Rory Boylen recently looked at where things stand with 12 of this summer’s notable remaining restricted free agents. Here are some of the more notable ones:
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman didn’t file for salary arbitration. Some observers wonder why the Bruins didn’t already have a “hush-hush handshake deal” with the Swayman camp in place before trading Linus Ullmark to Ottawa last month.
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Bruins have over $8.6 million in cap space for 2024-25 with the 25-year-old Swayman the only active roster playing to be signed. He’s two years away from UFA eligibility.
Swayman will get signed, it’s just a question of for how long and how much. The two sides could agree to a long-term contract or a two-year deal. The average annual value could be between $6.5 million and $7.5 million.
The Carolina Hurricanes hold the hammer in contract talks with Seth Jarvis. The 22-year-old winger is coming off his entry-level contract and lacks arbitration rights.
General manager Eric Tulsky could go for a short-term bridge deal or attempt to lock up Jarvis to an eight-year deal. His camp could seek a long-term deal worth over 8.35 million annually.
Tulsky isn’t worried about someone signing Jarvis to an offer sheet, pointing out they have the cap space to match.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Terminating Evgeny Kuznetsov’s contract gives the Hurricanes $13.9 million in cap space. That’s more than enough to match an offer sheet for Jarvis.
Speaking of the Hurricanes, Martin Necas has been the subject of trade speculation since their playoff elimination in May. The New Jersey Devils, Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames were believed to be monitoring the 25-year-old winger’s situation.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fox and Boylen considered Necas most likely to be traded when this list was published on July 17. Since then, GM Tulsky said he’s not closing the door on a potential deal but it’s looking more likely Necas will remain with the Hurricanes.
Tulsky pointed out that teams have a lot less flexibility than they did a month ago, making it harder to do deals in the trade market. In other words, the clubs interested in Necas lack sufficient cap space to acquire him.
Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti had an inconsistent 2023-24 performance but still finished fifth among their leading scorers. The departures of Tyler Toffoli and Sean Monahan could lead to a fresh start for the 22-year-old forward under new head coach Scott Arniel.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press observed the Jets tend to sign players like Perfetti to bridge contracts. However, there is precedence for a long-term deal, citing Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers.
In that case, his camp could seek an average annual value between the $5 million AAV that Anton Lundell received from the Florida Panthers and the $6.25 million the Los Angeles Kings are paying Quinton Byfield.
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko filed for arbitration on July 5. With Patrik Laine facing a doubtful future in Columbus, the 23-year-old Marchenko could get a nice raise.
The Rangers and Ryan Lindgren remain in contract negotiations despite the latter filing for arbitration. A one-year deal for the 25-year-old defenseman could cost $3.6 million. A longer deal will cost more due to the cost of his UFA years.
Re; Boston Bruins
Jeremy Swayman I can see them pushing for a bridge deal of 2 years ar $5.5M to $6.M Range
he may start the year un-signed in Boston as it looks like a Cat & Mouse game there again this year…..? JS is a UFA in the next 2 years they may be pushing for a bridge deal more & more
Boston may try Joonas Korpisalo to start but then the dont have a back up unless they use
Brandon Bussi……🤔 then he has to clear wavers to go back down, they may need to sign a UFA goaltender to cover untill a deal gets done
looks likke this one could drag on till Fall time…❓
williew, Boston is one of the 10 teams with cap space in excess of $8 mil – their case $8.64 ml with 22 of 23 signed and their only unsigned RFA being Swayman.
I think he’ll get signed soon – a bridge, as you suggest, quite possible – bu they could obviously go as high as $7 mil and still leave a bit of a cushion .
Among the other 9 teams Anaheim, with 23 of 23 signed,has just over $21.7 mil in cap space and no RFAs to re-up. Look for them to be the most active when it comes to pre-camp summer deals.
Calgary is next with just over $20.8 mil, 22 of 23 signed and, although 4 RFAs still to re-up (Klapka, Okhotyik, Solovyov and Wolf) none of whom should bite deep into that reserve so they coukld also be active on the trade front.
Detroit come in at # 3 with 19 of 23 signed, $19.9 mil in cap space, but two very significant RFAs in Seider and Raymond, neither of whom have arb rights. When that dust settles their reserve will be whittled down considerably – but they should still have enough to bring another key player in through summer trade.
Columbus, with $17 mil in cap space and 19 of 23 signed, only has RFA Marchenko to re-up, and he’s filed for an arb hearing – they, too, could still be a summer trade factor.
So, too, could San Jose with $14.65 mil and 22 of 23 signed and only two RFAs to sign – Thomas Bordeleau and Henry Thrun, neither of whom will cut deeply into that.
The next 4 with cap space in excess of $8 mil are Buffalo ($14.55 mil), Carolina ($13.86 mil), Utah ($9.92 mil) and Montreal $9.43 mil).
Only Utah, with 23 of 23 signed, has no RFAs to re-up, so could be a factor in any summer deals. Montreal could be as well with 20 of 23 signed and only RFAs Barron and Xhekaj to re-sign, neither of whom are looking at big raises.
Carolina, of course, has to finalize Jarvis (no arb rights) and Necas (already filed for arb) and if both are retained there goes the bulk of that reserve. Necas will likely remain as one of the big trade possibilities as the summer goes on.
Buffalo, with 20 of 23 signed, will see a good chunk of their reserve go to Uko-Pekka Luukkonen. who has filed for arb
Of the remaining 22 teams, these 9 are – not counting possible/probable LTIR cap finagling – likely to be the ones seeking to deal away cap during the summer, some of whom could be good serviceable acquisitions by those with healthy cap reserve, as each is either currently over the cap or reserves less than $1 mil
Over The Cap
Washington – $10.27 mil – 0 RFAs
Vegas – $3.64 mil – 0 RFAs
Philadelphia – $830,000 – 0 RFAs
Edmonton – $354,000 – still with RFAs Holloway and Broberg to re-up
Less than $1 mil in cap
NYI – $50,000 – still with RFA Wahlstrom to re-sign
Vancouver – $166,000 – 0 RFAs
Nashville – $596,000 – RFA Spencer Stastny to re-sign
Tampa – $730,000 – 0 RFAs
Florida – $767,000 – 0 RFAs
Detroit may or may not have any cap room. After signing Veleno at 2x$2.75M, and Berggren probably coming at $1M max, the Wings only have room if they sign Seider and Raymond to bridge deals. Long term contracts might cost as much as $8M each, leaving Yzerman with about $1M to play with.
Finishing it off, when it comes to cap space the remaining 13 teams range from a low of $1.53 mil (Minnesota) to a high of $7.45 mil (St. Louis) with 8 of them still needing to re-sign RFAs of varying potential impact:
St. Louis – $7.34 mil 23 of 23 – RFA Nikita Alexandrov to re-up – so they could be in the picture when it comes to a summer trade
Chicago – $6.68 mil 22 of 23 – 0 RFAs – so very much a deal possibility
Seattle – $6.37 mil – 21 of 23 – RFA Matthew Beniers who will likely take up most of that, so Seattle might be dealing someone to clear space
Dallas – $6.24 mil – 20 of 23 – RFA Thomas Harley to re-up
Winnipeg – $5.80 mil – 23 of 23 – Cole Perfetti to re-up – likely $4 to $4.5 mil
NYR – $5.12 mil – 22 of 23 – RFA Ryan Lindgren to re-sign
New Jersey – $4.98 mil – 22 of 23 – RFAs Nolan Foote & Dawson Mercer to re-sign
Colorado – $4.79 mil – 19 of 23 – 0 RFAs
Pittsburgh – $3.52 mil – 23 of 23 – 0 RFAs
Los Angeles – $2.91 mil – 22 of 23 – 0 RFAs
Toronto – $2.46 mil – 20 of 23 – RFAs Connor Dewar and Nick Robertson to re-up
Ottawa – $1.91 mil – 21 of 23 – 0 RFAs
Minnesota – $1.53 mil – 22 of 23 – 0 RFAs
George,
we will see how long it takes Boston likes to drag this stuff out…..
The Ducks, Flames & CBJ and Sharks all have cap space they will be looking at Vegas, The Caps, and the Oilers to do deals for picks…
The oil need to move ether RD/man Ceci or Kane to get enough Cap relief and sign Broberg & Hollywood
Im not sure where buffalo goaltenders salary will go…Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, could be bridge or long term, he has got beter over the last 2 season now he is 25….🤔 and the young d core will be better next season….
Carolina,
i think they will try to keep both there RFA players Jarvis and Necas
williew, I could also see Anaheim take a chance on Laine or even Ceci … doubt they want any part of Kane.
Perfetti has to play top 6. Not effective on 3rd or 4th.
I think Arniel gives him the opportunity Has to be a bridge deal though because he has not earned top 6 money just yet. I say south of $4m
I have a feeling the Jets are going to let McGroarty stew a little bit . Maybe quite a bit
A note about Swayman’s value, it is less obvious than it appears.
He has yet to play a number 1 goalie’s minutes, averaging 30-40 games a year. An increased workload exposes weaknesses and the higher paid goalie play 50-60 games a year.
Korpisalo, playing 30 games a year had decent numbers, bumped up to 58 games he didn’t look too good.