Seven storylines to watch as 2022 NHL Free Agency begins

It seems improbable that we are almost on the eve of free agency 2022, the final signpost along the way to the end of the 2021-22 season and the setting of the table for the 2022-23 season that will begin Oct. 7 in Prague with San Jose and Nashville kicking things off.

So without ado, here are some of the top storylines about to unfold leading up to and shortly after noon ET on July 13.

1. The Great Goalie Crunch

We could literally write all day every day leading up to the 13^th about the permutations of what has developed into a dramatic goalie crunch. Three teams with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations next season – Toronto, Edmonton and Washington – all need to find a starting goaltender. Buffalo needs a goaltender to grow under Craig Anderson and sooner than later. Who else? The New York Rangers will need a low-maintenance backup for Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin as will a handful of teams. So, these are critical days for Edmonton GM Ken Holland and his counterpart in Toronto Kyle Dubas, given that when free agency opened a year ago they were both in the same position. The fact Edmonton made it to the Western Conference Final doesn’t mitigate the fact Holland has failed to find a goaltender to backstop a team with two of the best four or five players in the world in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for the long haul. Dubas corrected a mistake of a year ago by moving Petr Mrazek to lamentable Chicago at the NHL Draft but if Dubas can’t adequately solve this problem and get the Leafs out of the first round next spring it will likely cost him his job.

The Candidates

Part of what makes this such a compelling story is that there are really no obvious candidates among the pending unrestricted free agents on whom you can hang your organizational hat. A year ago there was Philipp Grubauer and Frederik Andersen (discuss amongst yourselves the relative benefits of either). And yes Darcy Kuemper won a Stanley Cup in Colorado. But the fact the Avs really only made a cursory attempt at re-upping Kuemper before acquiring Ranger backup Alexandar Georgiev and then signing him to a digestible three-year deal with a $3.4 million AAV tells you about the team’s thinking vis a vis a repeat with Kuemper at the helm. Could Kuemper take the Leafs, Caps or Oilers to the promised land? Or even out of the first round? Will teams be willing to wager six years at north of $6 million to find out?

Same question regarding Jack Campbell, who has reignited his career with a couple of stellar regular seasons in Toronto, both of which ended in playoff disappointment and a failure to guide the team beyond the first round, something that has plagued the Leafs since before the 2004-05 lockout. Would the Islanders move Semyon Varlamov? Not likely. John Gibson’s name popped up in Anaheim after Pat Verbeek took over for Bob Murray as Ducks’ GM during the season. Then it got quiet and now with Ville Husso in Detroit, Vitek Vanecek in New Jersey, Marc-Andre Fleury re-upping in Minnesota and Georgiev in Colorado there is lots of Gibson talk. But his agent has indicated Gibson, who has a partial no-trade, isn’t interested in playing in Toronto. The same hard questions teams will or should ask of Kuemper and Campbell will or should be asked of Gibson. And the whole narrative on Cam Talbot being mad in Minnesota isn’t going to yield a trade. Why would Bill Guerin do that? So, what else? Jake Allen? With so much uncertainty surrounding Carey Price’s future that seems a dead end again unless a team is willing to wildly overpay for a mid-level netminder. Is there a backup or European star a la Tim Thomas back in the day who could come in and save the day? Maybe. But it seems inevitable there’s going to be a lot of money spent on goaltenders in the next few days. We’re guessing there’s going to be a lot of buyers’ remorse next spring.

Murray Machinations

Speaking of which. Without trying to be cruel, if the Leafs end up working out a deal to acquire Matt Murray from Ottawa with the notion that he will be the guy that answers their goaltending questio,n that should jump the odds to this is Dubas’ last season in Toronto. I don’t care if the Senators eat a chunk of the two years at $6.25 million annually outstanding on his deal. Hard to imagine that a goalie trying to regain his form after some rocky times since 2017 and his second Stanley Cup win in Pittsburgh would thrive in Toronto. It’s not like he’d be under the microscope at all. Maybe it would work out perfectly for both Murray, 28, and the Leafs and it would be great to write that redemption story in Toronto. But it just seems every goaltender being discussed at this stage represents multiple troubling questions. And as a quick aside to NHL teams: might be good to draft and develop your own puck-stoppers.

2. Geno, Geno, Geno

I spent a lot of time over the years in Pittsburgh. From the get-go of the Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury era, there has always been a constancy that marked the Penguins. It starts and ends with Crosby, of course, but Malkin and Letang are among the most important athletes in the history of the great sports town. Letang signed a six-year extension with a palatable $6.1-million dollar cap hit that will carry him into his 41^st year. Malkin is more problematic given his injury issues and swings in productivity over the past few years. But I keep asking myself, if you’re the Penguins, who plays in the second center slot if not Malkin? Vincent Trocheck is an easy line to draw given his Pittsburgh roots but unless he’s coming in at under $5 million, not sure that makes sense given his own ups and downs. But what makes sense for Malkin and the Penguins? Term is an issue, so can the Pens find a number for three years that makes sense? It seems new ownership is all in to ride the Crosby train as far as it will take them. And the fact the team has been a playoff pushover every year since winning their second of back-to-back Cups in 2017 can’t necessarily be tied to the play of those pillars (they were the better team two straight playoffs in ’21 and ’22 and goaltending caved them in). So our guess is the Pens find a way to keep Malkin in the fold.

If Not?

It would be weird as hell seeing Malkin in a jersey not black and gold (and white). But we’ve seen weird before: Zdeno Chara in Washington, Claude Giroux in Florida and so on. And the New York Rangers are close and they have some money to spend as long as the term wasn’t crippling. But for us, what about Carolina? The Hurricanes are in business with nine free agents of varying stripes, and if they don’t re-sign Trocheck who is a UFA, what about Malkin? What about Malkin and star winger Andrei Svechnikov, who hit a developmental road block late last season and in the playoffs, lining up together behind Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen? Bring it.

3. Whither John Klingberg?

With Letang re-upping in Pittsburgh and Tony DeAngelo, a restricted free agent, being dealt and then extended in Philadelphia, what is the market like for offensive-minded defensemen? Slim. But there is one intriguing name on the market and that’s John Klingberg. A right-shot defenseman who is coming off a long team-friendly deal in Dallas. Klingberg has been surpassed organizationally by rising star Miro Heiskanen and knew that was coming. But can Klingberg, 29, find a place where he will get paid as a legitimate 50-plus point guy and solid dressing room presence? Are the teams that can afford that in a position to give Klingberg a shot at a Stanley Cup ring that has thus far eluded him? I’m a big fan and he’s a guy that has played and thrived under demanding coaches like Ken Hitchcock. Carolina makes sense given DeAngelo’s departure. Edmonton has cap space and Tyson Barrie, whose production really tailed off last season, could be traded. The Islanders don’t have and haven’t had for a long time that kind of big-time defensive stud. And there is or should be pressure on GM Lou Lamoriello to give rookie head coach Lane Lambert the necessary tools to get the Isles back in the hunt.

4. Dearth Of ‘D’

Sticking with a defenseman theme: I’m curious to see what happens with Josh Manson, who won a Cup in Colorado and will have many suitors including, perhaps, his old team in Anaheim. Manson isn’t the elusive puck-moving, power play quarterback that is critical to playoff success but rather a solid top-four/five defender with a nice edge. Attractive but not sexy. So who, outside the aforementioned Klingberg, fits that bill? The career clock is ticking on Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban, and there’s no question Subban is a larger personality. But at age 33, and coming off a third straight disappointing season in New Jersey, is Subban one of those veterans who finds a new home and hence new life with a contender or up-and-coming team at a short term and modest dollar? Edmonton, maybe? Boston? Just asking.

5. What’s next for Nazem Kadri and Claude Giroux?

These are two unrestricted free agents at different ends of the free agency spectrum. Giroux, of course, waived his no-move clause and went to Florida in search of his first Stanley Cup and the Panthers imploded in the second round getting swept by Tampa in a series that featured just three Florida goals. Ouch. So now what? Across the hockey universe, Nazem Kadri put to rest all talk of playoff responsibility and being a good teammate, rose above racist attacks during the Avs’ second-round series against St. Louis, won a Cup and is now is, in my mind, the top free agent forward on the market. Does winning a Cup change how Kadri views his future? Kadri, 31, has the goods to cash in both term-wise and dollar-wise. Giroux? More difficult. What’s important to him now? Lots of folks have drawn a line between Giroux’s hometown in Ottawa (yes, he’s technically from Hearst but grew up in Ottawa) and a deal there. Does it make more sense with the Sens acquiring Alex DeBrincat? Giroux, 34, would be a grand veteran presence for a team that could take a huge step forward. As for Kadri, the Rangers would love to add his experience, but the term/dollar issue will be daunting. Carolina has the space for Kadri but a six or seven-year deal may be more than a Cup-ready team wants to commit. Either way, those are two prime-time players who will command a lot of attention in the next few days.

6. Who Goes First, J.T. Miller or Jesse Puljujarvi?

I know, different players, different stages of their careers but both seem destined to be moving on from, in Miller’s case Vancouver and Puljujarvi from Edmonton. Miller, 29, has one year left on his deal and it doesn’t appear he fits long-term for the Canucks, who don’t want him walking for free next summer and would like to avoid having him become a trade deadline possibility given they have aspirations of being in the hunt for a playoff spot. Puljujarvi, 24, is a restricted free agent and has had a rollercoaster ride of things in Edmonton. Loved the first part of his season last year but not so much his playoffs. He’s still a kid, though. But it seems the ride is over in Edmonton if they can find a taker. Folks like him in Carolina presumably because he’s a Finn and all the Finns seem to end up in Carolina. Miller back in New York is a possibility but, given the cap demands of their young core moving forward, it’s hard to see that he fits beyond this season. Both have the potential to be difference makers in their own way wherever they end up.

7. The Chicago Fire (Sale)

Does Chicago GM Kyle Davidson try and accelerate the process of determining the future for future Hall of Famers Patrick Kane, 33, and captain Jonathan Toews, 34? The two foundation pieces of three Stanley Cups between 2010 and 2015 are entering the final year of their respective deals. They could play it out and hit free agency next summer. And maybe that’s how it goes. But that seems like wasting a year for two players entering the twilight (certainly in Toews’ case) of their respective careers. Chicago will have to eat dollars on the two deals that total $21 million this season and it may cost assets, too, but especially Kane will be an attractive asset for those teams who can’t land any of the big fish UFAs.

_____

POINTSBET CANADA IS LIVE IN ONTARIO

PointsBet Canada has officially launched in Ontario! Get more details right here!