Free Agent Frenzy on July 1 continues to draw closer and TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours as the NHL off-season heats up.
The Off-Season is here
The Stanley Cup was handed out to the Carolina Hurricanes Sunday night meaning the NHL’s offseason has officially arrived.
We are just over two weeks away from Free Agent Frenzy, but it will be on the trade market that many teams look to improve over the coming days.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin and Edmonton Oilers veteran Darnell Nurse headline the players available after both submitted trade requests to their respective clubs.
Pointing to a thin free-agent class, Harman Dayal of The Athletic listed the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Seattle Kraken, Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers as eight teams who could be especially aggressive on the trade market this month.
While the Rangers remain focused on a retool, Chris Drury has stated he’s looking for a quick turnaround and it appears only the Vancouver Canucks enter the off-season as a rebuilding team, leaving a competitive space on the trade market.
Not listed by Dayal, the Chicago Blackhawks are also looking to be a buyer, with general manager Kyle Davidson acknowledging earlier this month that he, too, is looking to improve his team.
“I’ve talked to every team, so [I] have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on around the league and what’s out there — and also what’s not out there,“ Davidson told the Chicago Sun-Times at the draft combine.
“We’re certainly engaged in trying to be aggressive and seeing what we can do to help the group because we believe in the group as currently constructed. We think it would be a good thing to add, if at all possible.”
Teams can also further increase their cap space as a buyout window opens later this week.
Flyers a fit for Nurse?
Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Philadelphia Flyers are among the teams interested in acquiring Nurse from the Oilers and are also listed among the defenceman’s approved list of destinations.
The link comes after Flyers general manager Daniel Briere acknowledged earlier this month that the team will listen to trade offers for blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen.
“Yeah, I mean, we’re going to look into it. I think we have to,” Briere said, per the Inquirer. “That’s our duty as the organization, to explore what’s out there and see if there’s something that makes sense or not. But he was so good down the stretch for us, played on the top pairing with Travis Sanheim, how good he was at the Olympics, how good he was in the playoffs. So he’s a big asset.
“As we talk about expectations, you trade a guy like Rasmus, and it weakens the team. So if we do it, it’s going to have to make sense for the future. It certainly wouldn’t be ideal for taking a step forward next season if we do trade him, but we have to explore everything that’s out there.”
Trading Ristolainen could allow the Flyers to load up on assets and then acquire Nurse to fill his role.
The 31-year-old Ristolainen is just a year away from reaching unrestricted free agency, carrying a cap hit of $5.1 million on his soon-to-be expiring deal. He had one goal and 14 points in 44 games with the Flyers this past season, adding one goal and five points in 10 playoff games. He averaged 21:23 of ice time in the regular season and a whopping 25 minutes per game in postseason.
Nurse is entering the fifth season of an eight-year, $74 million contract that carries an annual cap hit of $9.25 million.
Also 31, Nurse had seven goals and 24 points in 82 games last season while averaging 20:58 of ice time. He averaged 23:03 of ice time in six playoff games as the Oilers fell in the first round.
The Flyers have just under $37.5 million in cap space to work with, per PuckPedia, though a good portion of that will be filled when restricted free agents Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale sign new deals this summer.
Philadelphia currently has 18 players signed for next season and working to extend goaltender Dan Vladar to a long-term contract extension that will carry a cap hit in the area of $5 million when it kicks in next July.
