Flyers expected to sign Linus Sandin
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet: Sources are saying that the Philadelphia Flyers going to be signing for Linus Sandin to an entry-level contract.
The 23-year old was third in goals while for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League. He is the older brother of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus.
Two other teams were interested in Linus.
Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post: If/when the Flyers sign Linus Sandin, it would be to an entry-level deal and his salary cap would be low, with likely some bonuses attached.
Sandin will turn 24 on May 19th. If he signs before this birthday it would be a two-year entry-level deal. If he signs after his birthday it would be a one-year deal.
He’d be battling for a top-six slot on the right side.
Potential lines for the Flyers next season could look like:
Claude Giroux — Sean Couturier — Jake Voracek
Joel Farabee — Kevin Hayes — Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk — Nolan Patrick — Morgan Frost
Tanner Laczynski — Scott Laughton — Linus Sandin/Wade Allison
Michael Raffl
Will the St. Louis Blues be able to extend defenseman Alex Pietrangelo?
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: (mailbag) It’s not going to be easy for the St. Louis Blues to fit in an Alex Pietrangelo contract extension. To do so, the Blues would most likely have to trade goaltender Jake Allen and buyout forward Alex Steen. Steen’s buyout would need to be a compliance buyout.
Justin Faulk may not be eligible for a compliance buyout – if the NHL/NHLPA agree to offer teams the option for one.
Marco Scandella‘s $3.275 million per year extension basically means that the Blues will have to remove two player salaries to fit in a Pietrangelo extension.
Don’t get the sense that the Blues would want to move Jaden Schwartz as part of the players needed to clear space for Pietrangelo.
If Pietrangelo is looking to get the most money in free agency, he’ll likely be having to look elsewhere. With a flat or lower cap, other teams will also be feeling a bit of cap crunch.
If Pietrangelo walks, their pairings for next season could look like:
Scandella-Parayko
Dunn-Faulk
Gunnarsson-Bortuzzo
Mikkola?