Unrestricted free agent Patrick Kane is not in any hurry to choose his next destination.
Kane is one of the top remaining UFAs, but his situation is unique: He underwent hip resurfacing surgery June 1 and was given a four-to-six-month recovery timeline. If Kane requires the full six months, he could miss the first quarter of the 2023-24 campaign.
So it's possible Kane may wait to sign until he's fully healthy. His agent, Pat Brisson, has no issues playing the waiting game.
"There's no rush. This is one I'm very comfortable with. I'm very calm," Brisson told ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "You could offer me a one-year deal or a two-year deal right now at $7 million or so. I don't even know if I want to entertain it, because it's not what he needs. We'll see, at the right time, how he feels, where he's at, and then we'll take it from there."
Brisson added that teams have called with interest in his client.
Kane, who will turn 35 in November, recorded 21 goals and 36 assists across 73 games between the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers last season. While he's only one year removed from a 92-point campaign, there are questions about how he'll perform after the surgery.
However, Washington Capitals playmaker Nicklas Backstrom underwent the same procedure last offseason and didn't look quite like himself in 2022-23, posting a career-worst 0.54 points per game with seven goals and 14 assists in 39 contests.
By waiting to sign until the season is underway, Kane will have a better idea of which teams are contenders. And even with three Stanley Cup rings, playing for a competitive club is likely high on Kane's wish list.
But waiting also has its drawbacks. Interested teams may not want to bank on landing Kane and may pursue other options. Cap flexibility could also be an issue. If Kane waits until the season is underway to sign a contract, his cap hit will be prorated, meaning it will be higher than his actual earnings.
The latest example was Evander Kane, who signed with the Edmonton Oilers midway through the 2021-22 season. His total salary was $1.375 million, but his cap hit was $2.1 million.
Alex Galchenyuk's third stint in the desert is over before it even started.
The Arizona Coyotes announced Thursday that they are placing the journeyman forward on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract.
The Coyotes discovered an "off-ice situation" regarding Galchenyuk that was previously unknown to the team, a source told ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
Arizona signed Galchenyuk to a one-year, two-way deal as a free agent July 1. The contract carried a $775,000 cap hit in the NHL and $225,000 in the AHL. He'll once again be an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers.
Galchenyuk spent the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons with the Coyotes. Arizona initially acquired him in the 2018 trade that sent Max Domi to the Montreal Canadiens. He joined the organization again as a free agent in 2021.
The 29-year-old failed to record a point in 11 contests with the Colorado Avalanche last season. He spent the rest of the campaign with the AHL's Colorado Eagles, registering 42 points in as many games.
Galchenyuk showed plenty of promise during his early years with the Canadiens after the club drafted him third overall in 2012. His best season came in 2015-16 as a 21-year-old when he accrued 30 goals and 26 assists. He hasn't reached 25 points in a campaign since he collected 41 with the Coyotes in 2018-19.
He's also had brief, unsuccessful stints with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs over the last four years.
The Dallas Stars re-signed restricted free-agent forward Ty Dellandrea to a one-year contract worth $900,000, the team announced.
He'll be an RFA with arbitration rights at the end of the deal. Dellandrea can't become an unrestricted free agent until 2028.
Dellandrea posted nine goals and 19 assists while averaging 14:12 across 82 contests in his first full NHL season in 2022-23. He added three goals in the postseason, including a pair in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final.
"Ty's become one of our most dependable two-way forwards," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "His versatility allows him to play up and down the lineup, and he proved in the playoffs his ability to take his game to another level. He's a heart-and-soul type of player, and we're happy to have him under contract for the upcoming season."
Dellandrea, who racked up 125 hits last season, posted strong defensive metrics at even strength and on the penalty kill.
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The soon-to-be 23-year-old projects to fill a fourth-line role for the Stars in 2023-24, although there will be opportunities to move up the lineup.
To make it clear off the hop: The chances of a team signing a restricted free agent to an offer sheet are minuscule. It's such a rarity in the NHL. There have been 10 offer sheets signed in the salary-cap era, and only two in the past decade.
The reasons aren't quite clear. General mangers might be hesitant to surrender draft picks or dish out a contract that could be seen as an overpay in the short term. Maybe they're scared of putting a target on their back with a potential revenge offer sheet from the opposing GM in the future. After all, almost nobody wants to find themselves in a barn fight.
But it's a perfectly legal, vastly underused tactic that can be deployed to acquire a young, star player or put an opposing team in a very difficult position, both of which are reasons that make the Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard a prime target for an offer sheet.
Bouchard is a 23-year-old right-handed defenseman. The 2018 No. 10 pick stands at 6-foot-3 and is tremendous offensively. He racked up back-to-back 40-point seasons and has shined in the postseason with 26 points in 28 playoff games.
While Bouchard passes the eye test thanks to his size, some physicality, and offensive ability, he also posted outstanding underlying numbers in 2022-23.
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Bouchard has all the makings of a future No. 1 defenseman. He might even be a dark-horse candidate for the Norris Trophy next season. Following Tyson Barrie's trade to the Nashville Predators on Feb. 28, Bouchard racked up 36 points in 33 games between the regular season and playoffs.
So it's clear Bouchard is not only a cornerstone of the Oilers' future, but he's also a key piece in their hopes of winning a Stanley Cup in 2024. Losing him would be devastating.
Edmonton has just $5.62 million in projected cap space, according to CapFriendly. The Oilers also have third-line center Ryan McLeod as an RFA (who can't be signed to an offer sheet because he's arbitration eligible). If the Oilers stretch their lineup as thin as possible, they'll have $7.245 million to sign both players.
If a team came along and signed Bouchard to a five-year offer sheet carrying an $8.58-million cap hit, it would put Oilers GM Ken Holland in quite a bind. He could still match it, as teams can exceed the $83.5-million cap ceiling by 10% during the offseason, but it would force Holland to either shed a player he wants to keep or surrender key assets to get rid of an undesirable contract. Either way, it wouldn't be ideal for Edmonton.
An $8.58-million cap hit for five years is the sweet spot for Bouchard. It's the maximum cap hit and length in the offer sheet tier that would cost the team a first-, second-, and third-round pick in 2024. Going above $8.58 million would put the team in the next tier, which would cost an additional first-rounder. Going down a tier ($6.43 million as the highest cap hit) only subtracts a second-round pick and doesn't quite put enough heat on the Oilers.
It's a deal that Bouchard would likely accept, too, which is obviously crucial to the process. Otherwise, he's probably looking at a bridge deal between $3.5 million and $4 million per season. This five-year deal would still allow Bouchard to cash in as a UFA when he's 28.
That cap hit may seem steep for player with only 184 regular-season games under his belt, but for an ascending talent in a rising-cap environment, it could age nicely for a club over five years if Bouchard reaches his potential.
Here are three teams that should try to make it happen.
Buffalo Sabres
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The Sabres check a lot of the necessary boxes for a team considering an offer sheet. Firstly, they have the cap space. They're currently listed with $6.7 million but could easily get that number to the $10-million range by shrinking their roster to the minimum 18 skaters. They have contracts they could easily move.
Buffalo also probably believes it's close to winning. The club finished one point out of a playoff spot in what was considered a rebuilding year. With one of the league's most enviable young cores, qualifying for the postseason should be the primary goal for 2023-24. The Sabres should have their eyes set on winning a Stanley Cup within the next few seasons.
The Sabres also have one of the NHL's best prospect pools, so they don't necessarily need their top three picks in the upcoming draft. If all goes according to plan this season, those picks will be in the latter half of each round, anyway.
Adding another cornerstone defenseman to a blue line that already features a pair of No. 1 picks in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power would be dynamite. A righty in Bouchard to complement lefties Dahlin, Power, and Mattias Samuelsson (an underrated defender locked up for seven years) would be ideal, too.
The Sabres do have four right-handed defensemen on the roster making at least $2.5 million in Connor Clifton, Erik Johnson, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Henri Jokiharju, but only Clifton is signed beyond this season, and Lyubushkin and/or Jokiharju could easily be moved. None of these players should prevent the Sabres from making a splash.
Carolina Hurricanes
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Don Waddell is the only active GM to have signed a player to an offer sheet, having pried Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Montreal Canadiens in 2021. So we know the Hurricanes executive has the guts to do it. But we didn't just include the Hurricanes for this reason. It makes sense from several angles.
The Canes have shown interest in multiple right-handed offensive defensemen. There are rumors of a reunion with Tony DeAngelo, and they've also reportedly inquired about Erik Karlsson. Bouchard would be the superior addition, though. He's nine years younger than Karlsson and has far fewer flaws than DeAngelo.
Carolina is only listed with $2.52 million in cap space, but it could get to around $5 million by icing the minimum-sized roster. The club would also likely dangle defensemen Brady Skjei or Brett Pesce - both one year from free agency - as trade bait. The Hurricanes already reportedly plan to deal Pesce if they can't get him extended.
Nonetheless, the addition of Bouchard would give the Canes arguably the best top four in the NHL.
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The Hurricanes have been one of the league's top teams for years without sacrificing much draft capital, so parting with the picks is more than worth it for a Stanley Cup contender looking to get over the hump.
Seattle Kraken
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Do the Kraken believe they're here to stay after qualifying for the postseason in their second campaign? If so, they should attempt to make a splashy move like signing Bouchard to an offer sheet. If they're not fully committed, then taking the slow build is fine, albeit boring.
However, Bouchard would give the Kraken one distinct advantage that the Sabres and Hurricanes wouldn't have: The Oilers are a division rival. If the Kraken are going to be a perennial playoff team, there's a good chance they'll meet the Oilers often in either Round 1 or 2.
It's a no-lose situation for the Kraken. Either they land an exciting, young player at a reasonable cap hit, or, in the more likely scenario, they put a divisional foe in a severe cap crunch.
Nobody on Seattle makes more than $5.5 million, and the club currently has $9 million in cap space. Some of that will be devoted to RFA Vince Dunn, whose arbitration eligibility prohibits an offer sheet, but the Kraken could still easily make the room for Bouchard if they wanted to. A blue line featuring both Dunn and Bouchard, along with defensive stalwarts Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak, would be electric.
The Vegas Golden Knights added a former NHL bench boss and an ex-player in the league to head coach Bruce Cassidy's staff.
Dominique Ducharme and Joel Ward joined Vegas as assistant coaches, the club announced Wednesday.
Ducharme guided the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 after taking over for the fired Claude Julien that February.
However, the Habs stumbled out of the gate the following season, going 8-30-7 before Ducharme was replaced by Martin St. Louis. Ducharme had been an assistant with Montreal since 2018. He led the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads to a Memorial Cup championship five years earlier and also helmed Canada's national junior team in 2017 and 2018, winning silver and gold, respectively.
Ward spent the last three seasons as an assistant with the Golden Knights' AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. The former winger played parts of 11 NHL seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals, and San Jose Sharks. He helped the latter squad get to the Cup Final in 2016, collecting seven goals and six assists over 24 playoff games.
Cassidy led Vegas to its first championship in what was the team's sixth season.
Matt and Blake discuss the brief tenure of Travis Dermott as a Canuck, and debate which young winger needs a stronger season: Vasily Podkolzin or Nils Höglander. They also discuss an in-season tournament for the NHL: a Canada Cup. Former Canucks player and assistant coach Jason King joins the show to talk about his time running the Canucks power play with terrific insight on JT Miller's input, Elias Pettersson's one-timer, and the bumper spot with Bo Horvat now in New York. Jason reflects on his time spent with the organization, riding shotgun with the Sedin twins, and how his family loved their time in beautiful B.C. An excited Sam Shaw joins the show after being a ninth-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Victoria shortstop tells us he hopes to sign soon and ultimately play for the Vancouver Canadians at Nat Bailey Stadium. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.
