The free-agency market is still packed with great players!

Who finds a team first?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
The free-agency market is still packed with great players!
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This hasn’t been your usual free agency in the National Hockey League thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the flattened salary cap. At any other time, these following names would have been off the board as the NHL’s free agent signing period goes into its third week.

Can you imagine that a player like Mike Hoffman remains available. There were some developments in his situation on Tuesday when his representative Robert Hooper told The Athletic’s Adam Vingan that 13 teams have inquired about Hoffman, five or six of which he described as having serious interest.

However, he is still a free agent and to the Top 100 compiled by TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli, he is the best one on the market. 

Behind Hoffman, Erik Haula, Corey Perry, Mikael Granlund and Anthony Duclair round out the top five.

Duclair has not accepted the offer made by the Ottawa Senators ahead of the opening day of free agency and has decided to represent himself in this process. He too is still on the market. He earned $1.65 million on a one-year contract and is seeking more money, however has often be called out for his attitude off the ice. His work ethic has always been criticized since the day he was drafted, which is why he fell to pick No. 80 in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Let’s not forget he is on his sixth team in just his seventh year in the league! This is surely a warning sign for teams who might have looked into the possibility of adding him to their lineup, but decided to back out.

Let’s not forget that Zdeno Chara has yet to re-sign with the Boston Bruins and is amongst the top defensemen still available. Sami Vatanen is also sitting on the market, he who was traded from the New Jersey Devils to the Carolina Hurricanes in February but did not play until the Return to Play, in which he recorded three assists in seven games with the Canes in the Toronto bubble.

Most teams were very active on the market signing netminders as now only two remain on the TSN’s board in Jimmy Howard and Craig Anderson.

We want some action! 

Source: TSN