Potential Blues fallout from signing Saad
Jeremy Rutherford: Quick thoughts on the St. Louis Blues signing Brandon Saad for five years at $4.5 million.
- “Getting him at that price ($4.5 million AAV) might make Army more willing to retain some of Tarasenko’s salary.
- Perhaps teams who were in on Saad might pivot to Tarasenko, especially if the Blues are going to retain salary.”
Perry left money on the table
Frank Seravalli: Corey Perry took less money to sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Getting a second year from the Bolts was important as he wanted a place to call him, as well as signing with a contender.
Hakanpaa had multiple offers including the Maple Leafs
Frank Seravalli: The Dallas Stars signed defenseman Jani Hakanpaa to a three-year at $1.5 million.
Hakanpaa had multiple offers and there was a bidding war going on but he liked the idea of playing with four other Finnish players.
Eric Engels: The Toronto Maple Leafs made Hakanpaa the same three-year, $1.5 millon per year offer.
Bunting took Leafs less from the Leafs
Kristen Shilton: Forward Michael Bunting had multiple offers and said that he took less money to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I had multiple teams reach out to me; some of the offers were higher than Toronto’s but the opportunity I had to come home and play for my team and compete for a Stanley Cup, that was definitely worth the pay cut in my mind.”
Ducks have what it takes to land Eichel, but will they go that far?
Eric Stephens of The Athletic: The Anaheim Ducks are a little light down the middle. They’ve been looking to move Adam Henrique, and have had some interest in Buffalo Sabres Jack Eichel.
The Ducks can afford his $10 million cap hit, but the asking price is another question. Could the Ducks get Sabres GM Kevyn Adams to take back Henrique’s contract or maybe Rickard Rakell? The Sabres don’t want to retain any salary.
The Ducks have just over $18 million in cap space with RFA Sam Steel, Isac Lundestrom, Max Comtois, Max Jones, and Josh Mahura to sign. They won’t take much to re-sign and some could be in any Eichel deal.
Holding on to Trevor Zegras is the Ducks preference. They have their 2022 first-round pick.