The top remaining unrestricted free agents
Frank Seravalli of TSN: Top remaining NHL free agents.
1. Marcus Johansson – left wing
2. Jake Gardiner – left defense
3. Ben Hutton – left defense
4. Micheal Ferland – left wing
5. Ryan Dzingel – left wing
6. Ben Chiarot – left defense
7. Patrick Maroon – left wing
8. Brian Boyle – center
9. Derick Brassard – center
10. Deryk Engelland – right defense
11. Jason Pominville – right wing
12. Ben Lovejoy – right defense
13. Adam McQuaid – right defense
14. Dion Phaneuf – left defense
15. Nick Cousins – center
16. Dan Girardi – right defense
17. Michael Del Zotto – left defense
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Top 10 remaining free agents.
1. Jake Gardiner – Bad back may be scaring some teams. He’s looking for a long-term deal. Chicago and Montreal have been linked. Steve Simmonds reported he’s interested in Florida, Los Angeles and Minnesota.
2. Ryan Dzingel – Reportedly turned down a five-year from the Senators this season at over $20 million. Chicago and Colorado showed some interest. Edmonton makes some sense but they don’t have a lot of money.
3. Micheal Ferland – Had been looking for a long-termed deal. Calgary may have interest but they’d need to move out some salary – James Neal, Michael Frolik or maybe T.J. Brodie. Carolina has the salary cap space to re-sign.
4. Marcus Johansson – Could be looking for five years at $5 million per. Has a concussion history.
5. Joe Thornton – Wants to play again but the Sharks don’t have a lot of space.
6. Ben Hutton – Averaged over 22 minutes last season. Could the Canadiens be interested to replace Jordie Benn, who signed with the Canucks. Los Angeles has shown some interest.
7. Justin Williams – Williams may be leaning towards playing another season and may not be looking move his family.
- Tom Gulitti of NHL.com: Hurricanes GM Don Waddel on Tuesday: “We’ve been in contact with Justin here recently. He hasn’t given us 100 percent yet which way he’s going to go. I think he potentially could be leaning toward playing, but I think in the next few weeks it will shake out.”
8. Derick Brassard – Play has declined that past couple of years. A low-cost return to Columbus or New York?
9. Patrick Maroon – Edmonton and Calgary are among the teams that have shown some interest. Remaining in St. Louis could be an option.
10. Brian Boyle – The Oilers could be one of the teams he interested in playing on.