Some RFAs who may not get qualified
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Teams must submit qualifying offers to restricted free agents by Thursday, October 7th at 5:00 PM ET. With the flat salary cap there may be more teams deciding to not qualify players because of the dollar amount. Some players who may fall into this category could include.
Evan Rodrigues – Toronto Maple Leafs – Is he worth $2 million?
Devin Shore – Columbus Blue Jackets – Owed $2.4 million.
Mark Jankowski – Calgary Flames – May not be worth $1.75 million.
Brett Ritchie – Boston Bruins – Is his depth worth $1 million.
Jake Virtanen – Vancouver Canucks – The arbitration number could be too high for Canucks. He scored 18 goals this season but didn’t have a good playoff. They could look to trade his rights.
A trade may be best for Max Domi and for the Montreal Canadiens
Eric Engels of Sportsnet: Ever since the Montreal Canadiens’ season has been over, there has been the perception that pending restricted free agent forward Max Domi wants out of Montreal and that they’d be okay with moving him.
His production and position in the lineup dropped this season, he fired his agent and hired one who has a rep of playing hardball.
Darren Ferris on Sportsnet said that may not be the case, and that he hasn’t requested a trade.
“Max’s desire is and always has been to stay in Montreal.”
Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin has also been on record saying the Domi hasn’t asked for a trade.
The Canadiens like Domi better at center than on the wing. The Canadiens now find themselves a little deeper down the middle with Phillip Danault, Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Trade speculation will continue to be there because a move might be best for Domi and for the Canadiens.
Domi is also an RFA with arbitration rights and is coming off a two-year, $6.3 million deal. Would the Canadiens, or Domi, be interested in a long-term deal? A one-year deal would seem more likely if they don’t move him.