And Then There Were 4: The Last Of The RFAs

I’ll be honest, I’m sick of writing about these RFAs.

But it’s preseasons so here we are.

There are just 5 days until the official 2019-2020 regular-season starts and here are the last 4 RFAs that need to be signed.

Patrik Laine

LAINE SIGNED (the next day) READ HERE

Last time I talked about Patrik Laine (and Kyle Connor) was September 1st. It seems that Laine and his camp aren’t much closer to a deal from then. Laine is hanging out over in Switzerland along with Mikko Rantanen.

Pierre LeBrun spoke about what he’s heard about the Laine and Jets talks on TSN this past Wednesday. LeBrun said:

“I believe the Jets recently offered a two-year deal, yes, a two-year bridge deal at around $6 million a year. My sense is that the Laine camp led by Mike Liut would rather be north of $7 million a year on a two-year bridge. So, still a gap right there. ” (x)

I don’t think we’ll see Laine back before the start of the season. The Jets are going to struggle without him but they’ve got enough talent that they’ll be fine. He’ll probably end up getting around $7 million AAV for two-years. It’s not too far off from Winnipeg’s first offer and they have the cap space to fit a deal like that.

Kyle Connor

Kyle Connor is on a different track from Patrik Laine. Connor seems to be going more for a long term deal. I talked about Connor back in September 1st as well, more so saying that he’ll probably end up getting signed first. That way the team can look at what they have left to give for Laine. But the team has that $23 million in cap space so I don’t think they have to worry much about money.

Bob McKenzie talked about Connor’s contract talks:

“Kyle Connor continues his discussion with the Winnipeg Jets. Right now, they are probably looking at a six-year term. That’s suitable for both sides, but they’ve obviously not been able to agree on the money just yet. As of right now, not close is the word with negotiations between Kyle Connor and the Winnipeg Jets.”(x)

I can see this deal being for about $5.5-$6.5 million AAV. If they go for 6 years, I could see them going for a $5.5 million AAV deal.

Mikko Rantanen

I just talked about Mikko Rantanen a few days ago but the team is still without his as he’s chillin’ in Switzerland. With this camp, the Avalanche and Rantanen’s team can’t seem to find a comparable deal to gauge what the player should make. Even though Brayden Point (x), Mitch Marner (x), Matthew Tkachuk (x), and Sebastian Aho (whoops, didn’t blog about that one) all have similar numbers to Rantanen and all have already signed.

Screenshot 2019-09-26 at 23.02.24.png — Chart via Hockey-Reference

Now, as I explained the last time I talked about Rantanen, the Avs will survive the first stretch without him. When he comes to them it’ll be an added boost to their game. Here is the Avs ~~abundant~~ cap space:

Julius Honka

Last time I talked about Honka was August 15th. I suggested that a trade would work better for both the Stars and Honka and wouldn’t you know, Honka requested a trade. Nothing has happened since then but there is more talk in the air than anything else. Stars GM Jim Nill spoke to the press the day Honka requested a trade (September 13th) regarding how the league has been quiet this offseason. Nill said:

“Right now, the league is in a real you could almost say shutdown mode. All these RFAs that have not signed have really slowed the league down and right now, teams’ hands are tied. Teams that I’ve talked to might have interest but until they know what they can do with their RFAs, they can’t make any moves. They’re capped out. We’ll play this out, see where it goes. In the end, I just got to make sure I do what’s right for the organization.” (x)

We’re now at the end of September so things with Honka should move soon. It’s good for both Honka and the Stars to move on from one another. I’ve heard the Montreal Canadiens’ name floating around much more than any other team. For Hanka, I doubt the trade would be one-for-one. This will be a big trade for Dallas, where ever they send him.

Here is Dallas’ cap situation.