Are they done yet? Probably not as the rumor mill percolates

The New York Rangers were active, but not in a big way on the first day of NHL free agency.  They signed three players, with only one, Patrik Nemeth,  expected to have an impact on the Rangers.   It’s hard not to have a nagging feeling that the team is not done and Chris Drury has some irons in the fire.

The Jack Eichel rumor mill has hit a fever pace with the common belief that the Sabres have overplayed their hand.  The Minnesota Wild had been a contender for Eichel, but they pulled out of the sweepstakes, loudly, proclaiming that the ask was too much.  The Los Angeles Kings appeared to be going in a different direction, signing Phillip Danault and left with under $2 million in cap space.

Meanwhile, Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News reported that Buffalo’s ask from Vegas was  Reilly Smith, Peyton Krebs, Nic Hague and a first round pick. That’s a pretty reasonable price, but Vegas has absolutely no cap space even after dumping Marc-Andre Fleury to Chicago.

With potential trade partners disappearing and the Rangers still in need of a center, social media is exploding with speculation.  For some reason, observers feel the Rangers’ signing of Greg McKegg and Dryden Hunt is a precursor to a bigger deal instead of just the addition of some depth for the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The rumors that Ryan Strome is on the trading block won’t go away, but except for the Seattle Kraken, potential trade partners are limited.

Meanwhile, the name of  the Bruins’ Nick Ritchie keeps coming up as a potential free agent signee.  He played all 56 games for Boston, scoring 15 goals and saw action in all 11 playoff games for the Bruins.  He wasn’t given a qualifying offer off a $1.5 million contract, becoming an UFA.

 A trade proposal

One of the big surprises was that goalie Philip Grubauer fled Colorado for Seattle, leaving the Avalanche with only Pavel Francouz in goal and little else.  Most of the quality netminders were snapped up with Braden Holtby, Antti Raanta, Martin Jones, Jaroslav Halak, Carter Hutton, David Rittich, James Reimer, Petr Mrazek, Jonathan Bernier, Brian Elliott, Linus Ullmark and Frederick Andersen all switching teams.

With the Rangers rumored to be looking to move Alexandar Georgiev, could Colorado be a landing spot?  What about packaging Strome, Georgiev and either Zac Jones or Libor Hajek (or both) in a deal for Nazem Kadri and center prospect Alex Newhook?  That would leave Keith Kinkaid as the back up to Shesterkin, but if Benoit Allaire would sign off on that, it could work.  Strome and Kadri are both going into their walk years and reuniting UMass teammates Jones and Cale Makar could be interesting.

Another asset the Rangers have that could be enticing to the Avs is Morgan Barron.  In 2020 Colorado drafted his little brother, Justin Barron, a defenseman who is one of their top prospects.

The key to a deal would have to be Alex Newhook.  The left shot center is a Boston College product and 2019 first round pick who made his pro debut at the end of last season and tore up the AHL with five goals in eight games.

The other logical trading partner could be the Los Angeles Kings. They have a  definite surplus of center prospects, similar to the surplus of defensemen for the Rangers.   No, it’s not Lias Andersson (who they protected in the expansion draft),  but the Kings could make life interesting if both teams are willing to deal from strength.

Two big long term contracts

As the Rangers try to figure out what to do with Mika Zibanejad, it’s worth noting the two eight-year deals handed out this week.  The Colorado Avalanche signed Gabriel Landeskog to a maximum length contract with an Average Annual Value (AAV) of $7 million.  That number is lower than figures that had been bandied about and he surely left money on the table to stay with the Avalanche, the only team he has played for.

Could Mika Zibanejad be enticed into a similar contract, but for shorter term, say five years?

On the other end of the spectrum was Brayden Point who signed an eight-year deal with the Lightning for an AAV of $9.5 million.  Even Point left money on the table with the contract commencing in the 2022-23 season when he will be 26 years old.

Coming off two straight Stanley Cup wins and three years as a point-a-game player, he could have signed for well over $10 million, but he elected to give the Lighting a home town discount. Then again, the Florida tax situation is a factor as well.

If there is anytime to lock up Zibanejad it is right now while using the Landeskog and Point deals as a frame of reference.  It would make sense to give him an increase, but nowhere near the $10+ million he was expected to get. Face it, if Zibanejad has a full season the way he finished this past season, he will be unaffordable.

Another big D-Man contract

$9 million appears to be the going rate for top NHL defensemen.  That’s what Dougie Hamilton is getting from the New Jersey Devils.  Compare that to the a $9.5 million AAV for Seth Jones and $9 million AAV for Cale Makar and that sure look that’s the number that Adam Fox will be getting (though he is the only one of the four with  Norris Trophy).

DeAngelo to Carolina

Tony DeAngelo signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes for $1 million.  Hurricanes GM Don Waddell had this to say. “Tony is a smooth-skating, puck-moving defenseman.  We’ve done a lot of background work on this player and we are confident that he can be a positive addition to our group.”

Predictably, social media has gone off the deep end when it comes to DeAngelo.  It’s not worth recounting all of the posts, you can find them on Twitter.  No matter what, it will be interesting to have DeAngelo playing for a Metropolitan Division rival.

Madison Square Garden fans will have to wait a long time to see him.  The Canes don’t come to New York until game #74 on April 12.  The Rangers don’t visit Raleigh until late January.

Stay tuned

As mentioned, you get a feeling that something is percolating in Rangersland.   Will it happen?  Who knows, but it appears that Chris Drury is waiting to see how it all shakes out after day one of free agent frenzy.

If you want a laugh, check out the Buffalo Sabres’ page at capfriendly.com.  They are sitting on $36 million in cap space, but have only three defensemen under contract and not a single goalie. They do have 10 forwards signed,  but from the surface it looks like a mess.

If Jack Eichel thought Buffalo was a disaster area last season, it’s gotten even worse with the selloff of Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart and dealing Eric Staal, Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar at the trade deadline plus losing Tobias Reider, Jake McCabe, Linus Ullmark, Carter Hutton and Jean-Sebastian Dea to free agency.

All Buffalo did today was sign Chicago’s Vinnie Hinostroza, Nashville’s Sean Malone and re-sign their own Brandon Davidson to one-year deals for the grand total of $2.55 million.

Stay tuned.