The early wave of NHL free agency has already started to sort itself out, but there’s still plenty of movement left to track - especially around a few familiar names who haven’t picked their next stop yet.
Eeli Tolvanen is drawing real attention, and the offers on the table are apparently serious. David Pagnotta reported that there was “plenty of interest” in Tolvanen on Monday, with teams going over deals in the four- and five-year range. That kind of term tells you clubs aren’t just poking around; they’re trying to lock him in for the long haul.
Patrick Kane, meanwhile, doesn’t sound like a player in any rush to make a snap decision. Pierre LeBrun said on TSN’s Free Agent Frenzy, “I don’t know that Patrick Kane’s gonna be in a hurry, may not be a July 1st signing.” So if Kane takes his time, that fits the picture here: a marquee name still weighing his options while the market keeps moving around him.
There’s also a wrinkle involving the New Jersey Devils and Barrett Hayton that could force a decision in Utah. Frank Seravalli called the Devils’ offer sheet for the Mammoth forward “a perplexing” one, pointing out that there isn’t “a real cap crunch” and that the 1-year deal at $4.775 is an easy match, according to a source.
Utah now has seven days to decide, and the bigger question is whether they’d rather match and keep Hayton than take the compensation. Seravalli framed it this way: would Utah trade Hayton for a second-round pick otherwise?
Chris Johnston highlighted the catch on the other side of the ledger. If Utah matches Hayton’s offer sheet from New Jersey, it would not be allowed to trade him for a year, which would put him on track to reach unrestricted free agency next summer.
And while those situations sort themselves out, Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin put together a ranking of the top remaining NHL free agents heading into day two of free agency. The list still has some notable names on it, including Alex Ovechkin at No. 4 with a 2025-26 cap hit of $9,500,000, Patrick Kane at No. 11 at $3,000,000, Claude Giroux at No. 12 at $2,000,000, Patrik Laine at No. 14 at $8,700,000, Vladimir Tarasenko at No. 24 at $4,750,000, Michael Bunting at No. 25 at $4,500,000, Eeli Tolvanen at No. 26 at $3,475,000, Cam Talbot at No. 33 at $2,500,000, John Klingberg at No. 34 at $4,000,000, Andrew Peeke at No. 36 at $2,750,000, Nick Blankenburg at No. 37 at $775,000, James van Riemsdyk at No. 43 at $1,000,000, Jamie Benn at No. 44 at $1,000,000, Connor Ingram at No. 47 at $1,950,000, and David Perron at No. 49 at $4,000,000.
Larkin’s “on the bubble” group includes David Rittich, Carson Soucy, James Reimer, Adam Henrique, Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf, Jesse Puljujarvi, Reilly Smith, Danton Heinen, Matt Grzelcyk, Mike Reilly, Jeff Petry, Pavol Regenda, and Philipp Kurashev.
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