NHL Rumors: Big UFA day, NYR have 4 players file for arbitration, Isles and Lightning susceptible to an offer sheet

Anthony Scultore |

Oct 11, 2020

Cirelli and Barzal battle (Getty Images)

Today’s NHL rumors focuses on looming decisions by the big UFA’s and impacts on some of the lesser names out there.

NHL Rumors: Alex Pietrangelo and the Golden Knights

The biggest UFA rearguard spent the day in Vegas with his wife meeting with the Golden Knights. The plan for Alex Pietrangelo is to spend some more time there today and possibly sign on the dotted line.

Alex Pietrangelo's day in Las Vegas was about seeing the community, the practice facility, and the Summerlin area of town. Schools, shopping, etc. More on tap tomorrow during this UFA visit.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 10, 2020

NHL Rumors – Taylor Hall’s next deal impacts others

Taylor Hall is pairing down his list after talking with 25 teams since free agency began. One other UFA forward waiting in the wings is Mike Hoffman. He has teams interested but would like to see what Hall gets before finalizing any contract.

Mike Hoffman, top UFA goal scorer, continues to have interest from 5-6 teams but there's an obvious overlap and impact from the Taylor Hall situation. For example, I think Nashville has kept on both Hall and Hoffman. Also I believe Florida has circled back on Hoffman.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 11, 2020

All Four Rangers RFA’s file for salary arbitration

The deadline to file for salary arbitration was 5PM EST yesterday. 26 players around the league have, and New York saw all four of their top ones do so. Tony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux, and Alexandar Georgiev are all looking for nice pay raises.

The Rangers have cap space to retain all four but must be careful in doing so. Jeff Gorton has to leave a cushion for performance bonuses due to the fact the Rangers have some amazing young players on ELC and just added Alexis Lafreniere to the mix.

Tampa Bay Lightning and NY Islanders ripe for offer sheets

Tampa is concerned about RFA’s Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev. The Islanders, although are playing it confidently are worried about one to Mat Barzal. Understand, the concern isn’t necessarily about not matching, but what the impact it could be to them if they do.

Both teams are up against the cap and have to sign plenty of RFAs and fill out a roster. The Lightning may have to entice someone take Tyler Johnson off their hands as he went unclaimed off waivers. For the Isles, they have tried trading aging vets to no avail.

There are team with offer sheets prepared from what I hear. Most are aimed at Mat Barzal. Just look around and pay attention to teams with lots of cap space and a desire to grab a top line center. The longer this goes for both teams, the more susceptible they become.