The Minnesota Wild And The Arbitrations
Joe Smith of The Athletic: For the Minnesota Wild, there was a piece of good news when they avoided arbitration with Brandon Duhaime. Duhaime gets as one year, $1.1 million deal to stay on the fourth line in Minnesota.
That means Minnesota possesses an idea of what they want to pay Filip Gustavsson. A one year deal would cost them $3.2 million AAV and maybe as much as $3.4 million AAV for a three-year agreement. However, things are not that simple and the two sides are not close.
NHL Rumors: The Islanders and Blue Jackets
Now, let’s dig into the dollars. Everyone knows Gustavsson wants more as a starting goaltender. More than likely, Minnesota will have around $4.5 million in cap space. This is even after signing Calen Addison. With Ilya Samsonov and Jeremy Swayman potentially nearing arbitration hearings, both sides may have comparables very soon.
The Wild want a little wiggle room for the season and do not want to be up against the cap. Meanwhile, Gustavsson desires to get paid what he deserves. He had a breakout season and was a huge reason why Minnesota made the playoffs again.
New York And The Russian
Ethan Sears of the New York Post: The New York Islanders and their year-plus long quest to land Vladimir Tarasenkoseems to have hit yet another snag. Yes, the salary cap now looms as an ugly obstacle potentially.
Creative Arts Agency led by Pat Brisson are now Tarasenko’s agent. This is after the 31-year old Russian fired his old agent. So, things are reset while one of the last UFA’s mulls offers coming his way.
Simply, New York could move Jean-Gabriel Pageau and his $5 million salary. Unfortunately, he has a no-trade list, and only 13 teams have cap room exceeding $5 million. Now, that adds to the difficulty.
Tarasenko and his potential suitors
For the sake of Long Island, should New York find a way to shed Pageau’s contract, does Tarasenko still sign in New York? That’s the other question with an unknown answer.