On Connor Brown and the Toronto Maple Leafs …
TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs still haven’t re-signed restricted free agent forward Connor Brown, but he’s not too worried about it.
“Obviously it’s my first time going through something like this,” Brown said of restricted free agency. “I don’t think it’s as stressful as the media would make it out to be. I’m very confident things will get sorted by season time. We’ll get it figured out.”
Remaining NHL Restricted Free Agents …
Cap Friendly: There are 19 remaining restricted free agents. (Ranked in order of NHL points last season)
- Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton Oilers – 77 pts
2. David Pastrnak – Boston Bruins – 70 pts
3. Alexander Wennberg – Columbus Blue Jackets – 59 pts
4. Bo Horvat – Vancouver Canucks – 52 pts
5. Connor Brown – Toronto Maple Leafs – 36 pts
6. Damon Severson – New Jersey Devils – 31 pts
7. Andreas Athanasiou – Detroit Red Wings – 29 pts
8. Josh Anderson – Columbus Blue Jackets – 29 pts
9. Sam Bennett – Calgary Flames – 26 pts
10. Marcus Foligno – Minnesota Wild – 23 pts
11. Zemgus Girgensons – Buffalo Sabres – 16 pts
12. Anthony Duclair – Arizona Coyotes – 15 pts
13. Nikita Zadorov – Colorado Avalanche – 10 pts
14. Brett Kulak – Calgary Flames – 3 pts
15. Tyler Wotherspoon – Calgary Flames – 0 pts
16. Jean-Sabastien Dea – Pittsburgh Penguins – 0 pts
17. Robbie Russo – Detroit Red Wings – 0 pts
18. Petteri Lindbolm – St. Louis Blues – 0 pts
On Ilya Samsonov and the Washington Capitals …
J.J. Regan of CSN Mid Atlantic: Capitals goaltending prospect Ilya Samsonov has another year left on his KHL contract and is eligible to come to North America after his KHL season ends if he chooses. Samonov spoke with Daria Tuboltseva of Championat about his playing future.
Igor Eronko translated some of the Samsonov’s comments.
Samsonov has had good talks with the Capitals and is a dream of his to play with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov.
The Capitals have 27-year old Bradon Holtby in his prime, so if the 20-year old Samsonov came over next year, the AHL may be the best spot for him to get the most minutes.
Eronko notes that Samsonov said: “I’m ready to play in the AHL if it’s needed. Goalie should play all the time, it’s not a step back”