Maple Leafs Brandon Carlo tried hard to get Brad Marchand to come to Toronto
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said that he tried hard to land a top-six winger this offseason, but there weren’t many available. Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo did his part by trying to recruit former teammate Brad Marchand before he re-signed with the Florida Panthers.
“I had talked to him, and there had been conversations there, and I felt like he definitely had that interest to come here. Ultimately, it didn’t end up that way. But that would have been fantastic,” Carlo said. “Now we’re just gonna have to compete against him and hopefully beat him here soon.”
The New York Rangers are in a position to spend next offseason, but will there be big names to sign?
Peter Baugh and Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic: The New York Rangers were obviously planning for this season, but next offseason is a pivotal one for them. They will have more salary cap space and roster flexibility. The cap his projected to go up to $104 million, and Artemi Panarin‘s $11.643 million is coming off the books. There is no rush to get the soon-to-be 34-year-old extended.
They currently have 16 players (11 forwards, 4 defense and 1 goalie) under contract for next season at $73.767 million cap hit. Defenseman Brendan Schneider is their biggest RFA. Re-signing him, adding a backup goalie and some depth pieces could leave them with around $20 million to spend on player or two.
They could also free up more cap space by trading Alexis Lafreniere ($7.45 million), as he doesn’t have trade protection until 2027. Additionally, Vincent Trocheck ($5.625 million) now only has a 12-team no-trade list.
The 2026 free agent group could be huge, but only if the majority don’t re-sign before testing the market next July 1st. The top group includes Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, and Jack Eichel, followed by Panarin, Kyle Connor, Adrian Kempe, Martin Nečas and Alex Tuch. The Rangers have tried to trade for Eichel before, back when he was with the Buffalo Sabres. Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson is an interesting pending RFA.
The Rangers’ current top three centers are all 32, and coming off subpar seasons – Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller.
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