Free Agent Frenzy is one month away and TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours as the NHL off-season heats up.
Sens Eyeing Top-Six Boost
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports the Ottawa Senators are again searching for a top-six winger to play alongside Tim Stutzle next season.
Garrioch points to Anaheim Ducks centre Mason McTavish and Jordan Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues as two potential targets for the team. He notes that McTavish has a connection to the Senators as his father serves as a pro scout for the club under general manager Steve Staios.
McTavish, 23, had 17 goals and 41 points in 75 games with the Ducks this past season, adding a goal and six points in 10 playoff games before his team was eliminated in the second round.
The 6-foot-1 centre is entering the second season of a six-year, $42 million contract that carries an annual cap hit of $7 million. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2030-31 campaign.
Garrioch writes that the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens are also likely suitors for McTavish, but warns the Ducks will be looking for a significant package back, including a first-round pick.
Drafted third overall by the Ducks in 2021, McTavish has 77 goals and 181 points in 304 career games.
Kyrou had 18 goals and 46 points in 72 games with the Blues this season.
He is entering the fourth season of an eight-year, $65 million contract that carries an annual cap hit of $8.125 million.
The 28-year-old winger saw his name floating in trade rumours around the NHL draft last June, but ultimately stayed put in St. Louis. Garrioch writes that the Blues want “a high-end player, a top prospect and a first-round pick” back in a deal for Kyrou.
Drafted 35th overall by the Blues in 2016, Kyrou has 168 goals and 378 points in 488 career games.
Kyrou represented the Blues at the 2022 All-Star Game in Las Vegas and put up 27 goals and a career-high 75 points during that season.
After exiting in the first round of the playoffs in each of the past two springs, the Senators are looking to take a step forward this summer. The team currently has a projected $16.9 million in cap space with 19 players already under contract for next season.
Veterans Claude Giroux, Nick Cousins, Lars Eller, Nick Jensen and James Reimer are among the team’s pending unrestricted free agents, with Arthur Kaliyev, Jordan Spence and Leevi Merilainen slated for restricted free agency.
Rielly’s future remains in question
Trade rumours continue to swirl around Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly as the team begins a new era under general manager John Chayka.
Rielly is the longest-tenured member of the Maple Leafs and just finished fourth with Team Canada at the World Hockey Championship, posting three assists in 10 games.
The 32-year-old blueliner remains signed through the 2029-30 season at a cap hit of $7.5 million, but declining production has put his future in the spotlight.
Bryan Hayes, Jeff O’Neill and Jamie McLennan discussed Rielly’s future in Toronto on OverDrive, debating whether it is time for his Maple Leafs career to come to an end.
“I’ve always wanted to stay. I still want to stay,” Rielly told reporters last month.
While it has been suggested that the new front office, once in place, could ask Rielly to waive his full no-move clause, the defenceman was not willing to comment on speculation.
“Hard to comment when that conversation hasn’t happened,” Rielly said at the time.
Selected fifth overall in the 2012 NHL draft, Rielly has appeared in 951 career games for the Maples, sitting seventh all-time in games played.
He posted 11 goals and 36 points in 78 games this season for his lowest total since the NHL returned to an 82-game schedule in 2021-22. At minus-18, he posted the worst plus-minus since 2016-17 this season.
TSN’s Top Free Agents
The wait is over and TSN will reveal the first top free agents list ahead of July 1 on Monday.
Come back later for a recap of who made the list as the list as Free Agent Frenzy draws closer.
