Theodore still looking for a deal
David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Training camp is three weeks away and the Vegas Golden Knights still have to re-sign restricted free agent defenseman Shea Theodore.
Not much as changed regarding this since GM George McPhee did a radio interview back on August 8th: “We’ll hopefully have Shea under contract soon, and we’ll see how that goes over the next few weeks.”
McPhee did note that it could take a little longer.
It’s not known if the sides are apart on salary and/or term.
Recent comparables on long-term deals are Brady Skjei (six years, $31.5 million) and Damon Severson (six years, $25 million).
If looking at a bridge deal, Brandon Montour signed two-year, $6.775 million deal.
Other unsigned RFA defensemen include Noah Hanifin, Josh Morrissey and Darnell Nurse. Each could get between $3 and $4 million on a bridge deal, and around $5 million on a long-term deal.
Rangers don’t have any intention of trading Hayes
Dan Rosen of NHL.com: The New York Rangers and Kevin Hayes agreed on a one-year deal earlier this offseason – which makes him a UFA after the season – but he’s still hopeful to remain in New York long-term.
“At the moment, was best for both sides. We couldn’t really come to a long-term agreement and a one-year deal is what came out of it. I’m not treating it like I’ll be out of there in February or at the end of the year. Everyone keeps saying UFA at the end of the year, but that had nothing to do with the decision.”
Hayes met with Rangers GM Jeff Gorton for two hours after the sides had agreed on the one-year deal on July 30th. Hayes said that he was reassured by Gorton that he has no intention of trading him during the season.
“In a perfect world, Kevin Hayes is here after one more year and we keep going with him. Everything goes the way he wants it to and we do,” Gorton said. “We certainly have (the NHL salary cap) room to keep him and move forward, it’s just a matter of the contract. As we went through the process, the one-year deal seemed to be the best fit for what we’re doing right now. I think Kevin was comfortable saying, ‘OK, I’ll come back this year and I’ll do exactly what I say I’m going to do, and then let’s talk.’ We’re comfortable with that too.”