On the Anaheim Ducks, Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm ….
Bob McKenzie: Unlike some of the other RFAs, Rickard Rakell and the Anaheim Ducks have had ongoing talks about a contract, which is positive.
Bob McKenzie: Rakell has been looking at Hurricanes Victor Rask‘s contract – six-years at $4 million per season. The Ducks have been adamant that they don’t want to go that high with him. The Ducks are not interested in doing a bridge deal.
Bob McKenzie: Thinking that they will do a six-year deal, but it will be below $4 million per season.
Bob McKenzie: Not a prediction, but sense is that Rakell’s deal will be easier to get done than the other restricted free agents.
Eric Stephens of the OC Register: Hampus Lindholm won’t be at the Ducks training camp as long as he doesn’t have a contract.
“Our plan is to report to the team once we have a contract signed,” said Claude Lemieux, who represents Lindholm. “Until then Hampus is training in Sweden.”
The Ducks and Lindholm are far apart. Both sides are interested in a long-term deal, but there is a big difference in what Lindholm is asking and what the Ducks want to do.
It’s believed that Lindholm thinks he’s worth $6 million, maybe $6.5 million a season. The Ducks would likely want to get him signed around $5, $5.5 million per season.
A bridge deal is not being discussed at the moment. The Ducks would like to buy some free agent years as opposed to Lindholm looking for a huge deal in 2018 if they did a bridge deal. Talks continue.
“We are working on a long-term agreement for Hampus,” Lemieux said in a text to the Register. “We have been negotiating for a while and have exchanged multiple proposals. I will say that we, both the team and ourselves, are working on getting this resolved ASAP.”
