NHL critical dates moving back
Corey Pronman: The 2022 NHL draft could be held in the second week of July and not at the end of June.
The NHL is looking at Thursday, July 7th and having it a one-day draft.
David Pagnotta: A league source confirmed that because of the Olympic break there could be changes to the NHL’s critical dates. The 2022 NHL draft and the start of free agency could be changed.
There could be more cap casualties for the Maple Leafs after this season
Michael Traikos of the Toronto Sun: The Toronto Maple Leafs salary cap situation helped lead to the departures of Zach Hyman and Frederik Andersen, and it’s possible that Morgan Rielly could be the next free agent casualty.
It could end up being forward Ilya Mikheyev or goaltender Jack Campbell or maybe William Nylander.
After the lack of playoff success for the past five seasons, it sounded like Hyman wanted out of Toronto, that he needed a change. Hyman wasn’t willing to give the Maple Leafs the discount that they needed to fit with the cap.
Over $8 million for Hughes shouldn’t be a surprise
Patrick Johnston: It shouldn’t be a surprise if a long-term extension for Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes is over $8 million a season. His main comparables are obvious.
Pettersson’s agents waiting for other deals to be signed first?
Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province: Vancouver Canucks still need to re-sign restricted free agent forward Elias Pettersson. Maybe they look at five-year deal.
Pettersson’s camp might be waiting to see what type of deals Kirill Kaprizov gets from the Minnesota Wild and Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators.
Kaprizov could do a five-year deal at around $9 million. Mathew Barzal‘s three-year, $21 million deal could be another comparable. Barzal’s salary increases from $4 million to $7 million to $10 million.