Quick hits on some remaining restricted and unrestricted free agents
Rory Boylen of Sportsnet: There 16 teams that are within $2 million of the salary cap ceiling. That could mean that some players will be available for trade at a discounted rate as teams may be looking to free up salary.
There may not be a lot of space for any unsigned unrestricted free agents.
The Washington Capitals will be looking for a goaltender or will promote one of their lesser experienced goalies.
The St. Louis Blues will have some cap flexibility now after Alex Steen‘s announcement that he won’t play this year due to an injury.
Teams that are in a win-now mode have mostly spent their cap money, but there are still some teams looking to add, and there are still some intriguing free agents available.
Mike Hoffman – Do the Blues make sense now?
Travis Hamonic – Can kill penalties and doesn’t bring much offense. The Canucks were previously interested. It is believed that Hamonic wants to play in the West.
Sami Vatanen – Right-handed shot and brings some offense.
Mikael Granlund – Could be a buy-low forward target.
Zdeno Chara – If he comes back, would expect it to be with the Boston Bruins.
This would have been the offseason for someone to offer sheet one of the remaining big named restricted free agents.
The New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning have some salary issues and unsigned RFAs in Mathew Barzal and Anthony Cirelli. Barzal will likely get a short-term deal and even that may not be easy to fit in.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have the salary cap space to fit in Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Blues RFA defenseman Vince Dunn has had his name in the rumor mill this offseason, but they do now have a bit of cap flexibility.
The Devils have lots of cap space to re-sign MacKenzie Blackwood and he shouldn’t be that expensive.
The Oilers don’t have much cap space to work with. Defenseman Ethan Bear will likely get a bridge deal. They might need to move out some salary.
Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson have had their names in the trade rumor mill this offseason. Will Oliver Ekman-Larsson trade talk pick up again at some point this offseason?
At the trade deadline and depending on where their teams sit, Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri could become available. Patrik Laine will be an RFA at the end of the season.
The free agent goalie market for next offseason could include Frederik Andersen, Tuukka Rask, Jordan Binnington, Philipp Grubauer and Pekka Rinne.
