Rumor: Two NHL teams still considering offer sheets this summer.

It seems that the offer sheet saga of the summer of 2019 is not over just yet.

It has been several days now since the Montreal Canadiens signed Carolina Hurricanes star forward Sebatian Aho to the first offer sheet we have seen in the National Hockey League for several years, but nothing has come of it just yet. The Hurricanes have already vowed to match the offer sheet but until they do so officially the Habs and their general manager Marc Bergevin have effectively been handcuffed. The ~$8.5 million in cap space they committed to Aho can not be used on the off chance the Hurricanes have been bluffing, but they may already be plotting their next move in spite of that reality. 

According to a report from The Fourth Period's  David Pagnotta it now appears that both the aforementioned Canadiens and the New York Islanders, and their general manager Lou Lamoriello, are still very much in the offer sheet market. Pagnotta mentioned that both continue to have interest in Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, but did appear to indicate that the Islanders are far more likely a threat in that regard than the Canadiens are. Instead Pagnotta is reporting that the Habs may have switched focus to another target, scoring winger Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets.

From Pagnotta:

Multiple teams have considered pursuing Marner, including the NY Islanders & Montreal. Hearing Islanders are serious about pursuit, while Canadiens may be focused on Laine. Whether Isles, or another team, move forward with an offer sheet remains to be seen.

You can see here that Pagnotta is leaving room for no offer sheets to be presented, and that is for good reason. We are now 4 days into free agency and you would think that teams intent on making an offer sheet would have done so, but that may actually be a poor argument for the aforementioned Habs. As I stated the Canadiens are basically in wait and see mode as they wait for the Hurricanes to match their offer sheet to Aho, and they could merely be waiting for that confirmation to drop their next potential bid on a star player. 

Whether that player is Marner, Laine, or no one at all remains to be seen however.