A four-year deal for Martin?
Arthur Staple: Hearing that Matt Martin will be signing four-year deal with the Islanders at around $1.5 million per season.
Matt Martin is a great forechecker which leads to strong defensive results, but… four years for a 31-year-old with a lot of miles and limited utility is Not Great pic.twitter.com/Ho5TRsnqXY
— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) January 5, 2021
Friedman rumor roundup
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: One GM said: “How are you going to make up rumours when quarantines make trades so hard?”
Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine understands that he could end up remaining with the team all season. The more he scores, the easier it might be for the Jets to trade him.
Believe that the Philadelphia Flyers were interested in Laine a few months ago but the cost to acquire and his potential salary scared them away. He’ll have two more years as an RFA with arbitration rights before becoming a UFA.
If the Columbus Blue Jackets believe they could get Laine to commit long-term, that might be one situation to watch.
One player on why the Blue Jackets may have been concerned about an offer sheet for Pierre-Luc Dubois: “We knew was thinking of leaving, if he could.”
The player also mentioned that Dubois may be looking for “a bigger stage” – that may not mean the biggest market.
Get the sense that a long-term deal between the New York Islanders and Mathew Barzal is not an option right now given their salary cap situation. Barzal’s camp would likely use comparables of Mitch Marner and/or Mikko Rantanen. Maybe a three-year deal at $6 million works.
The Islanders have tried to trade Thomas Hickey with a sweetener attached. They’ve already paid his signing bonus for this year, so he’s at half salary. He has another year left at $2.5 million.
New Jersey Devils RFA forward Jesper Bratt remains in Sweden and if/when he signs, he’ll need to work out a work visa and then quarantine. Contract talks have stalled and there is a gap between the sides.
Believe the Montreal Canadiens really wanted to sign Mike Hoffman but couldn’t get the cap number to work.
The Ottawa Senators were interested in Tyler Toffoli before he signed.
The Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils have had some interest in defenseman Ben Hutton.
The Dallas Stars were interested in Erik Haula before he signed.
The Bruins and Flyers turned down the opportunity to play in the games being held in Lake Tahoe.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were looking at trading for Henrik Zetterberg’s cap hit.