On the New York Islanders …
Arthur Staple: “Two things: 1) There is no #Isles news right now. 2) The chances of the #Isles trading John Tavares before the season are roughly 0.0001%.”
On notable RFAs that are still looking for new deals …
Jared Clinton: A list of restricted free agents to keep an eye on this offseason.
Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton Oilers: Could get a deal in the $8 million a season range.
David Pastrnak – Boston Bruins: Could get a deal in the $6 million a season range.
Mikael Granlund – Minnesota Wild: The Wild have about $15.8 million in salary cap space and needing to re-sign Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Marcus Foligno. The Wild and Granlund have an arbitration hearing date set for August 4th.
Ryan Johansen – Nashville Predators: Could get a deal in the $7.5 million a season range.
Alexander Wennberg – Columbus Blue Jackets: Could get a long-term deal in the $5.5 million a season range.
Nino Niederreiter – Minnesota Wild: Not easy to find a value for the 20-goal scorer. He doesn’t play in their top-six and averages just over 15 minutes a game. He had a career high 57 points last year. With the Wild’s salary cap situation, he could do a bridge deal.
Conor Sheary – Pittsburgh Penguins: Arbitration is set for August 4th and they could be headed for a hearing. Scored 23 goals and 53 points, mostly on Sidney Crosby‘s wing.
Bo Horvat – Vancouver Canucks: The Canucks have about $8.8 million in salary cap space and could do a long-term deal for Horvat. Might have to overpay for his production in the next couple years, but if at around $5.5 million, would be good value in the long run.
Mika Zibanejad – New York Rangers: Trading Derek Stepan this offseason gives Zibanejad a bigger role with the Rangers. Health has been a bit of an issue. Arbitration is set for July 25th if the sides can’t get a long-term done before then.