07/01/25 08:40:00
Printable Page
07/01 08:39 CDT Start of NHL's free agency expected to lack frenzy with many
high-profile players off the board
Start of NHL's free agency expected to lack frenzy with many high-profile
players off the board
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer
No Mitch Marner. No Aaron Ekblad. No Brad Marchand.
No frenzy?
With a majority of the NHL's top-projected free-agent talent already off the
market, the 32 teams face relatively slim pickings entering the league's annual
signing period opening Tuesday at noon EDT.
A record $7.5 million jump in the NHL's salary cap led to many teams locking up
their own talent to long-term deals in advance of free agency.
The Vegas Golden Knights proved the big winners, acquiring Marner in a
sign-and-trade deal agreed to Monday with Toronto to land free-agency's most
prized player. And the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers took Ekblad
and Marchand off the board by re-signing each to a lengthy contract.
As the dust settled, the top players entering the market include forwards,
Winnipeg's Nikolaj Ehlers and Vancouver's Brock Boeser, Los Angeles defenseman
Vladislav Gavrikov, and New Jersey goalie Jake Allen. Teams are expected to
turn to the trade route in bids to improve their rosters.
The Buffalo Sabres are among the candidates to be involved in those moves, not
ruling out the possibility of dealing 24-year-old defenseman Bowen Byram.
Another, and older, defenseman, Erik Karlsson, could be on the move from
Pittsburgh. And Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi's name has come up in trade
buzz.
By no means is this year's free agency period expected to generate the
headline-grabbing moves made a year ago, when the Nashville Predators spent a
combined $115 million in salary to secure forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan
Marchessault, defenseman Brady Skjei and goalie Scott Wedgewood.
But plenty of money is set to be spent. San Jose is nearly $20 million below
the salary floor, and teams from Anaheim to Carolina and beyond have room under
the cap to get better.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
|
