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Which RFA Has The Best Chance Of Being A Holdout? |
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With just over two weeks to go till the opening of training camps, 10 young restricted free agents are still unsigned. Some like Arthur Kaliyev of the Kings, Buffalo’s Peyton Krebs, and Phillip Tomasino of the Preds don’t have a lot of leverage and may simply have to accept their club’s qualifying offer and hope to put up good numbers this season to earn a pay raise next summer.
News out of Boston is that Jeremy Swayman wants to be paid in Bobrovsky/Vasilevskiy territory, but he is participating in informal workouts with teammates, so there is hope that a deal will be resolved before the start of camp.
Dallas does not have the cap space this year to sign Thomas Harley long-term, so a bridge deal is likely there, the same with Winnipeg and Cole Perfetti. Detroit will likely step up and pay Moritz Seider big bucks on an eight-year deal, but at this point there are three players that are the likeliest to remain unsigned going into camp.
1. Lucas Raymond – Reports out of Detroit have said the two sides are not close on a long-term deal. The priority for Yzerman is Seider, and he will likely turn more attention towards the talented forward after he is signed, but this could be a staring contest to see who blinks first.
2. Nick Robertson – The smallish scorer netted 14 goals in 56 games for Toronto but told the Leafs he had no intention of re-signing there after being limited on opportunity and ice time last season. Robertson does not have many options, going to Europe doesn’t make sense, an offer sheet is not likely, and in the end, sitting out could be more detrimental to his career, so barring a trade, he may have to accept the QO.
3. Dawson Mercer – A two-time 20 goal scorer before the age of 22, Mercer took a slight step back last season. New Jersey has just under $5 million in cap space, which would hint towards a bridge deal and in the end that is what Mercer will have to settle for.
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