Free Agency Frenzy Could Still See Big Names on July 1
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio and was asked about the 2026 free agent class, which still includes Adrian Kempe, Alex Tuch, and Artemi Panarin, and whether or not any of these players might test the market on July 1.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Carter Hutton: “Dave, it feels like all the big tickets are coming off the table with these deals, and obviously trying to forecast where the market is going, and teams betting on that is there going to be value, for (Adrian) Kempe or (Alex) Tuch, one of these players to hold out, to hold till July 1, now, with the cap going up and so much cap space. Is this going to be like a new market where, if you do make it to July 1, you kind of have the keys to the castle to try to sign for a bigger number that you might be worth?”
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Dave Pagnotta: “It might be for some guys; it might certainly be beneficial to kind of go that direction. Like Artemi Panarin is UFA, and depending how things go with the Rangers and how their season goes, not the best start to the season, only a few games though. So poking a little bit, but it might be in his best interest to weigh things out.
Like Kempe in LA, they’ve been going back and forth, and he wants to lock in. He wants to get a deal done. The Kings want to sign him. They’re going back and forth on trying to hammer this out. That’ll start with an 11, probably between $11-$11.5 million in LA on an eight-year term. But they want to get there.
Tuch is interested in staying in Buffalo. The Sabres obviously need to get him locked in. With all these numbers coming in, that might help that case as well. But, there are others that, and Panarin, I think, is one of them, that may wait out and try to take advantage of July 1 with all these guys locked up. This may be a case of him cashing in on another significantly big contract.
And we’ll see kind of where this, where that one goes for him. That he may turn around and say, ‘Alright, the team’s doing better, I want to stay in New York. I love it here.’ But if it’s another roller coaster ride of the season for the Rangers, then it wouldn’t surprise me to see a guy like him test the market and wait till July 1.”
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