In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Sidney Crosby is expected to sign, but he’s not considering signing a long-term deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Meanwhile, there are updates on contract talks between the Winnipeg Jets and Cole Perfetti, Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins, and the Detroit Red Wings and a couple of their big stars. Finally, Evander Kane will have off-season surgery and could be out to start the season.
Crosby Doesn’t Want Too Long a Term
Elliotte Friedman noted on the 32 Thoughts podcast that Crosby isn’t looking for a big term on his next contract. First, he doesn’t want to play past a point where he’s not a top-tier player. Second, he doesn’t want to put the Penguins in a position to be stuck with a long-term contract that handcuffs the team.
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Crosby is likely to play later in his career and despite previously saying he wouldn’t play when he was 40, he may play past that age because he feels good about his game. That said, he won’t be looking for more than a few years on a new deal.
Cole Perfetti Contract News
Friedman thinks Cole Perfetti will sign with the Winnipeg Jets, but it will be a bridge deal. The fact Perfetti showed up representing a team he’s not yet signed with to the NHL/NHLPA media tour in Vegas is a good sign that the forward is looking to and confident he’ll get his deal done.
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He isn’t in a position where he’s angry at the Jets for not getting this finalized yet, nor that he sees a problem. However, he’s hoping this gets sorted before camp.
Latest on Swayman and the Bruins
Friedman doesn’t believe that things are closer with Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins. Considering how long this is taking, the people Friedman talked to wondered if the team would go back in time and do arbitration. He wonders if the Bruins would have preferred that and the goalie could have picked the term.
While it’s never a good idea to walk a player in unrestricted free agency, the way the goaltender seems to be holding out for more money, they might have preferred it and tried to sort out the longer extension before things got problematic. In other words, the Bruins could have punted the problem down the road once he’d put up numbers consistently and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s worth what he’s asking for.
Friedman believes The Bruins traded Linus Ullmark when they did because there was a chance Ullmark might have switched the teams on his trade list and the Bruins didn’t want to take that chance.
Friedman said this is a reminder to the rest of the NHL that taking a player to arbitration has consequences. The hint here is that Swayman felt slighted during that process and hasn’t forgotten.
Red Wings Talks with Raymond and Seider Still Delayed
Friedman added that Moritz Seider is coming in at a higher salary ask than Lucas Raymond. It’s not clear what Seider wants, but some comparables to Raymond are out there.
Seth Jarvis’ contract is said to be on the low side, and GM Steve Yzerman isn’t listening to comparisons to Tim Stutzle’s contract, which is said to be too high. The one clear thing is that the Red Wings are lower than where the agent and Raymond are at, so there’s still potentially a long way to go here.
Evander Kane to Have Offseason Surgery
Multiple reports have confirmed that Evander Kane will undergo off-season surgery. Mark Spector tweeted, “Evander Kane is scheduled for surgery in the next “10 days or so” to repair damage from the sports hernia he carried through last season, I am told.” He adds, “Post-surgery prognosis should shed light on the recovery period, and of course, how Oilers will approach their salary cap.”
The most likely scenario is that he’s placed on regular IR and returns sometime mid-season while Edmonton accrues cap space. There is no timetable for how long his recovery could take.
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