NHL free agency begins Monday, less than a week after Commissioner Gary Bettman awarded the Stanley Cup to the Florida Panthers.
The offseason rolls around in the blink of an eye, and with everything crammed into a short space of time and more money to spend than before the pandemic, general managers aren't quite sure what to expect when the free-agent frenzy begins.
“It's going to be really unpredictable,” San Jose general manager Mike Grier said on NHL Network on Saturday. “It's going to be interesting. Every team is trying to improve, but there are only so many seats at the table.”
There are 16 playoff spots, but nearly all of the league's 32 teams have made some sort of deal and hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be pumped into players this week. The salary cap will increase this summer for the first time since 2019, increasing by $4.5 million to $88 million, and there's no shortage of top players to make big money in the free-agent class, led by longtime Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos and 2023 playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault.
Several deals were made Sunday, including one of the highest-profile players on the market. Three-time Cup champion Patrick Kane re-signed with Detroit for next season. Toronto also re-signed forward Max Domi (four-year, $15 million) and defenseman Timothy Liljegren (two-year, $6 million), while Utah retained Sean Darge on a $24 million contract for the next four seasons.
“Sean is a reliable two-way defenseman who can be a key player on the power play and run the offense from the blue line,” general manager Bill Armstrong said. “He's a young, very talented defenseman with an incredibly bright future and we're excited to have him become a core member of this organization.”
Beyond the signings, there are more trades on the way, with Detroit GM Steve Yzerman calling the weekend's draft moves “eye-opening” and unexpected.
“Every team has a little bit more cap space,” Los Angeles Kings president Luc Robitaille said, “and we're starting to see how things are going to go over the next two or three years. We're expecting some movement and it's exciting.”
That means at least two teams' front offices will remain in Las Vegas after the draft and handle free agency there, including the Washington Capitals, who have been one of the busiest teams recently, acquiring center Pierre-Luc Dubois and goaltender Logan Thompson in trades.
“We're rebuilding our team, adding some up-and-comers and competing,” general manager Brian McClellan said, adding that the team “maybe” has something more up its sleeve through trades or free agency to change things up, especially on defense. “We're going to look around and see what we can find.”
Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, fresh off helping the Panthers win their first title in franchise history, are among the experienced defensemen available. Others include Brady Skey, three-time Cup champion Alec Martinez and Sean Walker, who Colorado acquired at the trade deadline. Brett Pesce, Skey's longtime teammate in Carolina, has been rumored to be on the way to New Jersey after the Devils made room for him.
The forward talent pool would be even stronger if Sam Reinhart stays in Florida coming off a 57-goal season and Jake Guenzel signs with the Lightning after the team acquired the rights to the high-scoring winger.
There should be plenty of interest in Marchessault, an original member of the Vegas Golden Knights who recorded a career-best 42 goals. The team may not have room for Marchessault after acquiring center Tomas Hertl at $6.7 million and defenseman Noah Hanifin at $7.35 million in March, but general manager Kelly McCrimmon was reluctant to speculate on how free agency will play out in broad strokes.
“No club has complete control,” McCrimmon said. “We have a very good sense of what the market is, what the situation is, what it's like, and we'll make decisions accordingly. But it takes both parties to come to an agreement, and a free agent is a free agent. You can never say for sure. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.”
The goaltending market has been going for a while now with the Devils acquiring Jacob Markstrom, the Kings acquiring Darcy Kuemper, Boston sending 2021 Vezina Trophy winner Rinus Ullmark to Ottawa for Jonas Korpisalo, and there are plenty of other teams in need of goaltending reinforcements, including Detroit and Toronto.
The Maple Leafs will join the Capitals, who remain in Las Vegas for the free-agency celebrations, in taking a gamble to see if they can find a solution.
“How concerned are we about the goaltender market? Well, we'll just have to wait and see what the goaltender market is,” GM Brad Treliving said. “We've looked at that market and we know we need to step up on our side, but we're confident we can do that.”
AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow and freelance writer W.G. Ramirez in Las Vegas contributed.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
