Macklin Celebrini was selected first overall by San Jose Sharks, Celine Dion made the Montreal Canadiens first round pick, and Tij Iginla became the first player to get drafted by Utah.
NHL free agency got lost amid the excitement of the Stanley Cup Final, but the league’s annual spending spree starts Monday of next week.
Here are five available players who can make an impact without breaking the bank. All contract projections are courtesy of AFP Analytics.
Michael Amadio Position: Right wing Previous team: Vegas Golden Knights Contract projection: Three years, approximately $3.2 million annual cap hit
Amadio, 28, is coming off consecutive 27-point seasons and had 10 points in 16 games during the Golden Knights’ championship run last year.
Forechecking is Amadio’s speciality. He finished No. 1 this season in defensive plays per 20 minutes in the offensive zone out of 391 forwards who played at least 500 minutes. In addition, he was 13th in offensive-zone puck-battle wins per 20 and 24th in offensive rebound recoveries per 20.
The Golden Knights primarily deployed Amadio at right wing on their third line, but he has some experience at centre and enough offensive skill to play up the lineup if needed.
Laurent Brossoit Position: Goaltender Previous team: Winnipeg Jets Contract projection: Two years, approximately $2.1 million annual cap hit
The 31-year-old goaltender has been one of the league’s best backups over the past two seasons, going 22-5-5 with a 2.05 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 32 starts (34 appearances), with Vegas and Winnipeg.
Brossoit saved 0.62 goals above expected per 60 minutes this past season — second best among 67 goaltenders who played at least 1,000 minutes. (Anthony Stolarz was first with 0.66 GSAE per 60.)
The question is whether Brossoit, whose 22 starts with the Jets this past season were a career high, can keep up that level of play with a bigger workload in a 1A/1B setup. Based on his recent body of work, it seems like a safe bet.
Alexandre Carrier Position: Right defence Previous team: Nashville Predators Contract projection: Three years, approximately $4 million annual cap hit
A bit of a late bloomer, the 27-year-old Carrier has developed into a reliable shutdown defenceman. He helped the Predators generate 51.3 per cent of the expected goals at even strength during his minutes this season despite consistently facing tough competition.
Carrier’s 49.4 per cent defensive-zone denial rate was 28th out of 225 defencemen who played at least 500 minutes in all situations. Teams looking to upgrade their back end at a reasonable price should call Carrier.
Stefan Noesen Position: Right wing Previous team: Carolina Hurricanes Contract projection: Three years, approximately $3.2 million annual cap hit
Noesen makes the most of his minutes, posting 73 points over the past two seasons despite averaging just 12:06 of ice time per game. The 31-year-old veteran is an expert forechecker, ranking 17th out of 391 qualified forwards with 2.21 defensive plays per 20 in the offensive zone.
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Noesen loves mixing it up in front of the net. Since the start of last season, 22 of his 27 goals have come from the inner slot, including eight of 10 on the power play. He would be a solid addition to any team’s bottom six.
Daniel Sprong Position: Right wing Previous team: Detroit Red Wings Contract projection: Three years, approximately $4.1 million annual cap hit
Sprong has had a nomadic career since breaking into the NHL in 2015. The 27-year-old winger has suited up for five teams over eight seasons. Over the past couple of years, though, Sprong (89 points in 142 games) has emerged as one of the most efficient scorers in the league — both in terms of cost and production relative to ice time.
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Sprong’s most dependable weapon is his one-timer. He ranked 21st in one-timer attempts from the slot per 20 this season and 23rd in overall one-timer attempts per 20 among qualified forwards.
Jamie Campbell and Caleb Joseph discuss the Toronto Blue Jays missing an opportunity to pile on the New York Yankees in the fifth inning of their eventual blowout loss on Friday night and how momentum impacted the game.
The Dallas Stars defenceman is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on Monday, and the Leafs could be one of the prime pursuers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Treliving, of course, was GM of Calgary while the Toronto-born Tanev, 34, was a Flame.
“Knowing Treliving, I think Tanev is the guy he likes the most,” Friedman said on the Jeff Marek Show on Thursday. “He likes his game, he likes him personally and he knows him.”
The Stars know they’re in a battle for Tanev and made one move to achieve some savings on Thursday, buying out the final year of Ryan Suter’s contract.
With Suter at age 39 and the Stars needing roster flexibility, the move could help Dallas be more active in the next week.
While the Stars would like to keep Tanev, they may also be in the running for another big fish in the free-agent pond.
“I also suspect Dallas is one of teams lurking around Jake Guentzel,” Friedman said. “There seems to be some growing momentum between Guentzel and Carolina, but I do believe Dallas is around there.”
The Hurricanes acquired Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline. Friedman said the Hurricanes are trying to determine Guentzel’s future ahead of the NHL Draft on Friday.
The Hurricanes could trade his rights if they don’t feel he’ll stick around.
What’s up with Marner?
There has been non-stop discussion about Mitch Marner’s future since the Leafs’ season ended.
The talented winger holds a no-move clause as he enters the final year of his deal.
As of now, Friedman said he feels the most likely scenario is that Marner stays with Toronto — at least for this season.
“I do believe the Leafs have considered internally making him a (contract) offer and see where it goes,” Friedman said. “Until i get evidence that he’s serious about going anywhere else, there’s a serious offer for him to go anywhere else in terms of both the contract and trade, you have to convince me this is going to go any other direction.”
The Leafs, meanwhile, have decisions to make on UFA forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi after they played on one-year deals last season.
Age on July 1: 23 Position: Defence 2023-24 salary cap hit: $863,333 Arbitration rights: No Bargaining chips: Top-six draft pick. Calder Trophy winner (2022). Silver medallist at 2023 world championship. Named to 2021 and 2023 world championship all-star teams. Six-foot-three, 205-pound right-shot horse with edge. Can run a power play and kill a penalty. Led all Red Wings in ice time (22:22). Capable of 50 points while taking on hard matchups. Only NHLer with 200 blocks and 200 hits this season.
The latest: Seldom do rebuilding clubs mess around trying to nickel-and-dime their young stud defencemen.
Consider how swiftly Ottawa locked up Jake Sanderson with an eight-year, $64.4-million extension. Or how Buffalo gave Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power monster offers they couldn’t refuse to secure their prime seasons.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman should be willing to ink Seider the maximum term of an eight-year extension and make the German his highest-paid defenceman by a mile.
“He battles hard every game,” Yzerman said after the season ended. “He blocks shots, gets hit, makes plays. We’re asking him to do a lot. He’s got the mental toughness to weather it all.
“As our team gets better around him, Mo’s role might change a little bit. He’ll be used a little bit differently, which I think will allow him to display offensive side of his game.”
How does an AAV around $8.6 million sound?
That would tuck Seider in just below team captain and payroll leader Dylan Larkin ($8.7 million cap hit).
“It’s not a big secret I want to be a Red Wing,” Seider said.
“I’m also confident enough that I could be a good asset for this organization, and that really matters to me. I think then you can talk about numbers, lengths and how long the contract should be, but those two first parts fit well — and they do — then I’m pretty confident we’ve got something done.”
Age on July 1: 22 Position: Right wing / Left wing 2023-24 salary cap hit: $925,000 Arbitration rights: No Bargaining chips: Fourth-overall pick. World junior star twice over for Sweden. Two-time 20-goal, 57-point forward. His age fits well with Red Wings’ trajectory for improvement. Led Detroit in scoring in 2023-24 (72 points) and played all 82 games.
The latest: While Yzerman keeps his plans under lock and key, the Detroit GM’s previous actions may tell us where things may go with Raymond.
When Yzerman signed stud RFA Alex DeBrincat to a four-year contract averaging $7.875 million per season, he suggested a preference for mid-term commitments instead of longer deal — like, say, the seven-year, $49-million whopper Anaheim gave to RFA Troy Terry last summer.
“You’re starting to see more players, at least this off-season, and I think it might be a trend, signing shorter-term contracts, not necessarily going the full seven, eight years,” Yzerman said.
“I’m not sure I have a hard-set philosophy on contracts. There’s risk in every deal. There’s short-term risk you lose control of the player. On the back end, the long-term risk is a lot of things can happen that affect a player’s ability to perform on a long-term deal.
“What is my philosophy? I try to make a deal with the player, try to understand what they’re looking for and what’s important to them, but ultimately, I’m comfortable. I like these mid-term deals.”
Something to keep in mind when talks heat up.
“What I do know is that I love this team,” Raymond said. “I love the city, and I want to be here.”
At his pre-draft availability, Yzerman raised eyebrows when discussing the unsigned Seider and Raymond.
“Ultimately, I can’t force anything. They’ll get done in due time,” the GM said. “I prefer to have them done. But to be quite honest, I don’t anticipate that happening at this stage. And we’ll just work around it and make decisions along the way fully aware … that we will try to get them under contract or plan to get them under contract.”
Age on July 1: 22 Position: Right wing 2023-24 salary cap hit: $894,167 Arbitration rights: No Bargaining chips: First-round pick. Always produces in post-season. Ripped career highs in goals (33), points (67) and plus/minus (plus-23). Hurricanes need his offence. Carolina has gobs of cap space opening for 2024-25.
The latest: The benefits of buying out Patrick Marleau’s Maple Leafs contract are now paying off big-time for the Hurricanes. Jarvis — drafted with the pick Carolina obtained from Toronto to take an aging Marleau’s bad money — is emerging as an impact winger who delivers on the power play and in clutch situations.
While rookie GM Eric Tulsky’s decisions on key UFAs Teuvo Teravainen, Jake Guentzel, Jordan Martinook, Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo will be more complicated and costly, keeping Jarvis in the fold is a no-brainer.
Because Jarvis is just now emerging from his entry-level deal, the team holds the hammer.
Does Tulsky wish to go bridge?
Or will the Canes bet big that Jarvis could break out and lock him up long-term the way they did with Andrei Svechnikov as he wrapped his ELC?
Cory Lavalette of the North State Journalreported that based on deals regarding similar players, Jarvis’s camp could ask for an eight-year extension with an $8.35 million AAV.
Tulsky has said publicly that he is “not worried about offer sheets” because the Canes have the cap space to match: “It’s not really a route I expect anyone to take.”
Watch as Danny Briere and the Flyers call upon the voice of boxing, Michael Buffer, to announce Jett Luchanko as the 13th overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Captains, Stanley Cup champs, top-pair defencemen, and elite scorers.
Yes, even with several franchise studs (Anze Kopitar, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Sebastian Aho, Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck) and key support players (Noah Hanifin, Devon Toews, Gustav Forsling, Tom Wilson, Marcus Foligno, Mats Zuccarello, Dylan DeMelo, Nino Niederreiter, Jordan Eberle) signing pocket-padding extensions well before deadline and avoiding the stress of free agency, the NHL’s 2024 UFA class is an intriguing one.
And with the salary cap rising by $4.5 million — the first significant jump since the pandemic — those spendy general managers will have even more reason to splash the pot on this summer’s Johnny Gaudreau.
Here’s a rundown and ranking of hockey’s best impending unrestricted free agents, plus the latest buzz circulating about their future.
Age on July 1: 28 Position: Right wing 2023-24 salary cap hit: $6.5 million
The latest: Like Nylander, Reinhart selected a fine season for the best one of his NHL life.
Already a 20-goal man seven times over, Reinhart was a beast in 2023-24, piling 57 goals, 94 points, and sniping the Cup-clinching goal in Game 7.
No wonder the Florida Panthers will take a serious run at extending the forward’s Sunrise days long-term.
“Sam has had a wonderful year, and I’m proud and happy for him,” Panthers GM Bill Zito told The Athleticin April. “Wonderful achievement. I think around 100 players all-time have (scored 50 goals in a season). But I know his focus is on winning. Sometimes the contracts take time. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I believe we will find the right contract for Sam and the Panthers. If he wants to be one of the top 100 all-time scorers in the playoffs … that’s OK too.”
Reinhart is but one of 13 pending free agents on Zito’s roster, however, and RFA centre Anton Lundell also needs a raise.
The Cats have the flexibility to keep most of the band together, provided the core pieces are willing to take a hair less and fall under an internal cap.
The means Reinhart accepting less than leaders Aleksander Barkov ($10 million) and Matthew Tkachuk ($9.5 million). A winning culture, tax-free state, and balmy winter weather all help matters.
The man would stir a bidding war if he hit the open market, but Reinhart says he “absolutely” wants to stay put.
“That’s obviously the goal — that’s from both sides. We both made that clear. So, time will tell, but that’s option A for sure,” said Reinhart, whose extension talks should heat up now that the on-ice mission is accomplished.
Moments after hoisting Stanley’s mug, Reinhart reiterated: “I don’t want to leave. I want to be here. … This is the best place in the league to play.”
2. Jake Guentzel
Age on July 1: 29 Position: Left wing / Right wing 2023-24 salary cap hit: $6 million
The latest: Despite undergoing ankle surgery last summer, the dangerous winger is one of just three pending UFAs who averaged more than a point per game.
No wonder the Carolina Hurricanes were willing to trade Michael Bunting plus a package of prospects and high conditional picks for Guentzel’s services.
The market is rich for the two-time 40-goal man, with the L.A. Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, and New York Rangers among teams interested.
New Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky hasn’t given up hope to retain his star forward, however, as NHL insider Frank Seravalli reports the Canes proposed an eight-year, $64-million extension.
Sniper Patrik Laine’s contract ($8.7 million times four years) may be a suitable comparable for Guentzel, who is speeding toward a payday — be it from Carolina or elsewhere.
Age on July 1: 30 Position: Defence 2023-24 salary cap hit: $3.5 million
The latest: Much like teammate Reinhart, Montour had spent years elsewhere before finally finding his best fit with Florida, the new Stanley Cup champs.
And like Reinhart, Montour came into the season with zero protection or contract security, but all signs point to a willingness to extend a working relationship.
The offence-fuelling blue-liner enjoyed a career year in 2022-23 (16 goals, 73 points) that sprung almost out of nowhere.
Prudently, GM Zito was not in a rush to buy Montour stock on July 1, when it was at its highest. Instead, Florida’s front office chose patience, waiting to see how Montour’s shoulder responded from summertime surgery.
Late to get running, the right-shooting Montour didn’t light up the league again, but he’s been solid (eight goals and 25 assists in 66 games).
Montour was a warrior in the ’23 post-season. And puck-moving, right-shot defencemen in their prime aren’t exactly in abundance.
Zito took care of another pending UFA D-man, Forsling, first, signing him to an eight-year extension at a $5.75-million cap hit. Montour will ask for more.
“One day at a time. My goal is to try to keep the core together,” Zito said of Montour’s future on March 8. “At the same time, be respectful that you know people have to make individual decisions.”
Watch as Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens bring legendary singer Celine Dion to the Las Vegas Sphere to read out the teams’ selection at number five overall in the NHL Draft, Ivan Demidov.
TORONTO — Much of the Toronto Blue Jays’ hopes for a strong 2024 season were placed on the idea that players such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had more to offer than they did in 2023.
In Guerrero’s case, that has been true in a broad sense, as his overall offensive output has been better than it was last year, leading to fWAR total through 80 games that matched his full-season 2023 output.
At the same time, there has been a lingering sense of disappointment surrounding his season, considering he has just 10 home runs to show for about a half season’s work. In a season where a lack of power has been the Blue Jays’ most significant shortcoming, Guerrero’s decline in power production has been tough to miss.
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From Guerrero’s exit velocity readings to his Home Run Derby performances, it is clear there is far more power in his bat than the average MLB player, but that’s not what the numbers say this season.
The good news for the Blue Jays is that Guerrero, at long last, appears to be finding his power stroke. The first baseman has three home runs since June 21 — including the longest hit of his MLB career.
It’s generally worth being cautious about power outbursts like this from Guerrero because they don’t tell us anything new. It’s clear that he can hit the cover off the ball, the question is how consistently he can do it and whether those batted balls will get the elevation they need to do damage.
This case is a little bit different because the power we’ve seen from the 25-year-old is backed by a noticeable change in approach. In recent weeks, Vlad Jr.’s game has been channeling some Vlad Sr. energy.
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Earlier in the season, the first baseman’s willingness to leave the bat on his shoulders resulted in plenty of walks, but extra-base hits were few and far between:
Time Span
Swing%
Walk%
ISO
April and May
45.2%
13.2%
.116
June
52.6%
5.9%
.253
To be fair to Guerrero, his 132 wRC+ through the first two months of the season ranked 24th among all MLB hitters. That’s solid overall production, but it’s also an offensive profile that wasn’t tapping into a big part of what makes him special. The .295/.337/.547 he’s hitting in June is more in line with what’s expected of a middle-of-the-order slugger.
By getting more aggressive, Guerrero has been able to take advantage of early-count pitches that pitchers often throw in the strike zone, hoping to get ahead of opponents.
In April and May, he swung at just 36.4 per cent of first or second pitches, generating five extra-base hits and a single home run. Since the beginning of June, his swing rate on those early-count offerings is up to 47.5 per cent and he’s generated seven extra-base hits, which include five of the six home runs he’s hit this month.
There are trade-offs associated with this approach, though. As you can see in the chart above, Guerrero’s walk rate has fallen off a cliff, and over the long term he probably wants to be closer to his career average (9.9 per cent). There have been moments when a swing-happy approach has led him astray in recent weeks.
One example is his first-inning battle with Boston Red Sox starter Bryan Bello on June 19. In that three-pitch strikeout, he swung at two pitches in areas classified as ‘Waste’ zones by Statcast.
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For a little perspective, the average hitter swings at pitches in those ‘Waste’ locations just 6 per cent of the time and Guerrero did so just twice in the first two months of the season.
That’s a bit of a fluke occurrence, but it’s the sort of thing that probably wouldn’t have happened with Vladdy earlier in the year. There are positives and negatives associated with any approach, and Guerrero’s current style has resulted in more of a stylistic shift than massively improved output. After all, his June wRC+ (150) isn’t a colossal step up from what he did in the first two months (132).
Even if the total gains aren’t groundbreaking, this seems like a step in the right direction for Guerrero. It’s possible that his current aggression is a bit of an overcorrection and it could take a while to find a happy medium on swing decisions.
The best version of Guerrero probably doesn’t swing at as many pitches outside the zone as he currently does — and takes a few more walks. At the same time, even after nearly a month of slugging Guerrero has an ISO (.158), that’s far closer to Ernie Clement’s than his career average (.205). That’s a solid indicator that prioritizing power is the way to go.
Getting Guerrero to tap back into his extra-base ability won’t be enough to save a floundering Blue Jays lineup in 2024, but it could get him closer to realizing the talents that made him a generational prospect and a near MVP.
Today, it looks like he’s got the right idea. His current approach could be nitpicked, but h
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