Would Alex Pietrangelo be interested in a short-term deal if he tests free agency?
Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet: St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is the top pending unrestricted free agent this offseason. Pietrangelo when asked if he could see himself putting on a different jersey next season.
“Lots of guys do it. I hope it doesn’t get to that point,” Pietrangelo said. “I grew up here. This is the only place I know professionally. Family’s here. Grew up here as a player and as a person. It’s part of the business, unfortunately, and the situation is what it is, but hopefully that circumstance doesn’t happen and we’ll see where this thing takes us.
“You want different challenges. You can go to a place that hasn’t won yet or won in a long time, challenge yourself to kind of help that organization. But then again, you can make the same argument here where we’ve won one Cup, why not challenge yourself to try and win another one? There’s so many different ways to look at it. There’s so many different ways you can kind of convince yourself to go one way or another. Now that I’ve won, you want to win again. Whether it’s here or somewhere else, the goal is always the same.”
There may not be that many teams that could a $9 to $10 million per season contract.
Pietrangelo could consider taking a one- or two-year deal with a higher cap hit, and then look to sign a long-term when in a couple of years when hopefully the salary cap ceiling is increasing.
If Pietrangelo is interested in a short-term deal, this is where the Winnipeg Jets could have an interest. The Jets aren’t in a position to get in a bidding war on a long-term deal. Patrik Laine, Neal Pionk and Andrew Copp will be looking for new deals after next season.
With Dustin Byfuglien‘s deal no longer on the books and Dmitry Kulikov a UFA, the Jets do have a little room to work with this offseason.
Would Pietrangelo be interested in a two-year, $20 deal from the Jets?
The Maple Leafs would need to make another move or two to be able to chase Pietrangelo
Michael Traikos of the Toronto Sun: The Toronto Maple Leafs gained some salary cap when they trade Kasperi Kapanen and his $3.2 million cap hit to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Maple Leafs now have a bit more room to chase a pending UFA defensemen like Torey Krug, T.J. Brodie, Chris Tanev or Travis Hamonic.
If the Maple Leafs were to move another salary out – Andreas Johnsson, Alex Kerfoot or maybe William Nylander – they could then be in the running for Alex Pietrangelo if he hits the open market.
The Maple Leafs desperately need to improve their blue line this offseason.
