There was a time in the NHL when the morning hours of July 1st was filled with anticipation as the noon start to free agency was set to begin. Chat rooms would be filled all morning with rumors and tidbits and waited for the stroke of noon like handicappers wait for the bell to open the gates of a horse race. We knew certain teams were interested in certain players and seemingly with every surprise move fans screamed "tampering!" as the player they thought had a surefire destination headed elsewhere.
That changed with the latest collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players Association with the two sides agreeing on a "courting period" where teams could contact free agents to find out what they're looking for. Although they may not enter into any agreements--written or oral--with a player, teams are free to find out what the parameters of a potential deal might look like from a player's perspective. At high noon, any potential deals can be finalized and sent to the league.
Beginning in earnest yesterday, various insiders started leaking probable deals set for the start of free agency today, which takes the surprise out of what once was "Christmas Day" for many fans. If there were some in Sabreland who were fired up about the possibility (however small) of landing free agent center Matt Duchene, reports from insiders have him staying in Nashville, in what looks like a very team-friendly deal for seven years at around $8 million per season.
Here's a partial list of projected signings based upon what was floating around social media the past 24 hours:
--F, Mats Zuccarello 5 yrs./$30 million (MIN)
--F, Joe Pavelski, 3 yrs./ $21M (DAL)
--G, Segei Bobrovsky $9.5M AAV (FLA)
--D, Tyler Myers 5 yrs./$30M (VAN)
--F, Corey Perry 1 yr./$1.5M incentive-laden deal (DAL)
--F, Richard Panik, 4 yr./$10M (WSH)
--G, Cam Talbot, 1 yr./$2.75M (CGY)
Of course nothing with the big UFA fish, Artemi Panarin, has been settled although it's said to be a race between the NY Islanders, Florida Panthers and NY Rangers with a late, high-end bids from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche.
In the case of the Buffalo Sabres, they never seemed to seriously be in the running for any of the aforementioned even if they wanted to be. However, word on social media is that Buffalo's name has been attached to forward Marcus Johansson, who ended up in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Boston Bruins.
That would be more along what the Sabres normally do in what's considered "silly season." The Sabres are rarely involved in big name signings preferring the trade-route as a way of improving the roster. The hot rumors out the past day or two involve a deal with the Panthers. Looks as if they're in the market for a defenseman with both Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe having their names attached to the rumor. Buffalo general manager Jason Botterill is said to be in the market for a top-six forward and Florida has an excess of those. Names like Mike Hoffman and Jonathan Huberdeau have surfaced as potential Cats headed back to Buffalo and either would be a good get for the Sabres. Also mentioned, rather briefly, was 21 yr. old center Henrik Borgstrom who's upside would make for a prime get for the Sabres.
With Botterill stating he's comfortable with the depth on defense we'll be looking for him to make a splash in the forward ranks. How it happens is up in the air but he seems pretty determined to upgrade the forward ranks.
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