We’re just a few short days away from the start of September and a few short weeks away from NHL training camps opening around the league. But there’s a lot of business that still needs to get done. As we wake up on Wednesday morning, is showing 21 still unsigned restricted free agents — many of whom are important players for their respective organizations.
Here are some updates from around the league on some of ไthe bigger name RFAs still waiting on the new paper to get written.
Seth Jarvis, Carolina
Even though most of the attention (especially in this space) was on the pending RFA status of forward Martin Nečas this summer, a great deal of that conversation was because the Canes need to get a deal done with their best player: Seth Jarvis. And it’s now Aug. 28 and there still isn’t a deal in place (yet).
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period on Tuesday that Jarvis and the Canes are worki🌊ng on a long-term deal (r✃ead: 7-8 years) with a $7.5M AAV.
Jeremy Swayman, Boston
I’ve written recently about the fact that the Boston Bruins, who had the best goalie tandem in the NHL for the last couple years, now have… neither guy signed. They traded Linus Ullmark to Ottawa, and still haven’t signed Jeremy Swayman. There have been some reports that he’s asking for the $10M AAV neighborhood, and the Bruins aren’t going there.
To his credit, Swayman appeared on this podcast and was very transparent with his commen🤪ts about educating himself about the business side of hockey over the past year, as well as the responsibility he feels to the rest of the goalie market in the coming years.
Nick Robertson, Toronto
Chris Johnston of The Athletic and TSN offered an update on Leafs RFA Nick Robertson on the with Aaron Korolnek and Carlo Colaiacovo. It appears the 22-year-old winger doesn’t want to be in Toronto any longer.
“At this stage, Nick Robertson doesn’t seem inclined to sign in Toronto and is sticking to the idea that he’d like to play somewhere else next season. There’s a path for him to play, given the Leafs’ depth chart at left wing. It ulti𝐆mately makes a lot of sense for him and the Leafs to end up together, but I just don’t know if that’s gonna happen.”
He scored 14 goals and added 13 assists in 56 NHL games last year. He isn’t a big forward (5-9, 178) but there’s skill there. This is a situation that at least intrigues me… According to , the Leafs have $1,275,333 in available cap space.
Cole Perfetti, Winnipeg
On Tuesday night, Pagnotta of The Fourth Period that the Jets and forward Cole Perfetti are still working on his next contract. But there’s still some disagreement on term/dollars.
“Speaking to those across the NHL, a 2yr bridge may be likely ($4M+ per?). If Jets want long-term, I suspect Cole would be open to that, but that’s a much higher AAV. We’ll see how this progresses.”
The 22-year-old center scored 19 goals in 71 regular-season games for the Jets last season. One would think he’s one of the building blocks for the next generation in Winnipeg; he was the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. We’ll see what they end up doing here. I’ll be watching because, of course, Winnipeg is in the Blackhawks’ division.
Dawson Mercer, New Jersey
Mercer is a really good center who I don’t think people talk about enough. He turns 23 on Oct. 27, has appeared in all 82 regular-season games in all three of this NHL seasons, and has scored 27 and 20 goals in the last two years, respectively. indicates the Devils have just under $5M in available cap space right now, and Pagnotta things are “not close either, but having ongoing talks.”
