Top 10 ‘untradeable’ NHL contracts
Ken Campbell of The Hockey News: The ‘bad’ contracts of Milan Lucic, James Neal, and David Clarkson have been traded over the past week or so. Taking a look at the top 10 contracts that have four or more seasons remaining that may be untradeable.
10. Kyle Turris – Nashville Predators – five years left at $6 million. Could give a sweetener to Seattle before the expansion draft.
9. Justin Abdelkader – Detroit Red Wings – four years left at $4.25 million.
8. Kyle Okposo – Buffalo Sabres – four years left at $6 million. Has concussion concerns.
7. Nick Schmaltz – Arizona Coyotes – signed for seven years at a $5.9 million cap hit. Basically only one NHL season under his belt.
6 and 5. Ryan Suter and Zach Parise – Minnesota Wild – Both signed 13-year, $98 million deals in 2012. Both have dealt with some injuries and have NTCs.
4. Andrew Ladd – New York Islanders – three years into his seven-year, $38.5 million deal. Only 15 goals the past two seasons, and injuries limited to 26 games last year.
3. Kevin Hayes – Philadelphia Flyers – signed a seven-year, $49 million deal this offseason.
2. Brent Seabrook – Chicago Blackhawks – 34-year-old has five years left at a $6.9 million cap hit.
1. Shea Weber – Montreal Canadiens – seven years at a $7.9 million cap hit.
Point and the Lightning don’t appear to be in a rush
Diana Nearhos of the Tampa Bay Times: The Tampa Bay Lightning and the camp for Brayden Point have kept any contract talks details quiet. Lightning GM Julien Brisebois has they have been productive, but not much else.
The Lightning have around $5.6 million cap space but will gain another $5.8 million if/when Ryan Callahan is placed on the LTIR.
Point is five years away from being a UFA. They could look to sign him to a long-term deal, or go a three-year bridge route like they did for Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov.
The sides haven’t been in a rush, with the Lightning needing to go through some other things first. BriseBois and agent Gerry Johannson have been in contact all offseason. The majority of the top RFAs this offseason still remain unsigned as well.
Point and Mitch Marner seem like ideal comparables. A Marner deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs doesn’t appear close though – who could be looking for $11 million a season.