The Philadelphia Flyers could be headed toward a decision on Rasmus Ristolainen, and the signals are getting louder.
On Sportsnet, Nick Kypreos said it looks increasingly likely that this could be the year the Flyers move the defenseman, particularly if they keep chasing the group of playoff teams above them.
“It’s growing more and more likely that this is the year the Flyers will trade him, especially if they continue to chase the pack of playoff teams ahead of them.”
Elsewhere, Patrik Laine’s next move appears clear: it’s staying in the NHL. Emily Kaplan reported that the unrestricted free agent forward has no interest in going to Europe for his next contract and is focused on proving people wrong at the NHL level.
The conversation around roster-building also swung back to offer sheets, with Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky addressing the topic on The Sheet with Jeff Marek. Asked whether more offer sheets are coming, Tulsky compared them to trade offers and pointed to cap space as the major factor from both sides.
Marek brought up Bill Armstrong’s recent comments that offer sheets are legal and that more could be on the way, then asked Tulsky whether he agreed.
Tulsky responded: “I honestly don’t know. You know, an offer sheet, it’s it’s basically a kind of trade offer, right?
I’m saying, you know, you can give me this player and have my second-round pick. The only, and the team decides whether they want to take the pick or let you have the player or keep the player.
The difference is, you can, as part of a offer sheet, do something you can’t do in a normal trade, and say, ‘I’m going to jack up the player’s salary and make him less valuable to both of us.’
And that is something that can help force a team to accept a trade if they don’t have a lot of cap space.It’s easier to do if you have a lot of cap space. So right now, both of those things are true for most teams.
Is, ‘I have more cap space. It’s easier for me to to raise the price on someone.’
But if they have more cap space, it’s easier for them to say, ‘Fine, I’ll just pay it.'”
In Other News...
Hurricanes Just Sent A Strong Early Message Against Boston
A tight, early-season measuring stick against Boston turned into another example of Carolina finding a way to close. The Hurricanes beat the Bruins 2-1 on the strength of first-period goals from Jackson Blake and Pavel Zacha, then leaned on Sebastian Aho to finish the job in the third period. Pyotr Kochetkov did the rest in net, turning aside 14 shots as Carolina kept its recent run going and extended its point streak to four games.
For a team that wants to set the tone against a familiar Atlantic Division opponent, this was the kind of win that carries a little extra weight. The game stayed razor-thin after the opening period, but Carolinas structure and patience held up late, and Aho once again supplied the decisive touch when the margin got small. The result did more than add two points to the standings - it also gave the Hurricanes a strong first look at where they stack up against a Bruins team they may see plenty more of. [Read more 🡒]
Eric Tulsky Just Clarified Carolinas Nikita Nikishin Contract Leverage
The wrinkle in Nikita Nikishins contract situation is less about cap math than the NHLs little-noticed 10.2(c) designation, a category that leaves certain young players without the usual restricted free agency leverage. For Carolina, that means the discussion around Nikishin is not the standard negotiation dance fans are used to seeing with most RFAs, because this is a different stage of the process entirely.
Eric Tulsky framed it in a way that makes the contrast easy to see, especially for anyone familiar with how these cases can play out in other sports. In the NFL, players in a similar spot often sign the qualifying offer, play out another year, and then move toward normal restricted free agency, but the NHL does not always give that same pathway, which is why teams and players can end up operating under very different rules than the headline suggests. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Still Have One Lineup Question As Forward Picture Shifts
A few moving parts still surround Carolinas forward group as the Hurricanes wait for clarity on Mark Jankowski ahead of tonights game. He was back at practice after dealing with a lower-body injury, and the latest word from him was encouraging, even if the team has not yet made anything official. With Carolina already juggling its lineup, any available depth forward becomes a little more important as the schedule keeps rolling.
Jankowskis status is part of a larger picture that has the Hurricanes monitoring health throughout the bottom six and beyond. The recent Penguins update on Elmer Sderblom, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and could be back Thursday, adds another layer to a forward pool already dealing with multiple players on injured reserve. Carolina may still have to wait for the final green light, but this is the kind of late lineup wrinkle that can shape who gets dressed and how the bench gets managed. [Read more 🡒]