The Stanley Cup Final is starting and the St. Louis Blues are still alive. The organization that has never won a Cup in their history will get a chance to raise hockey’s legendary chalice, but have to go through the team that beat them the last time they had this opportunity. The Boston Bruins put St. Louis out in 1970, starting a 49-year streak of failure to reach the final round.
Even as hockey fans focus on the final few games of the season, work is being done in front offices across the league to prepare for the upcoming entry draft. Prospects are gathering this week in Buffalo for the draft combine, while management is prepping on all the free agents that will be available this summer. The interview period begins in just a few weeks, and top names like Erik Karlsson, Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene remain unsigned.
With that in mind it’s time to run another edition of our mailbag. You can submit your query by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. Make sure to get your questions in early and we’ll try to get through them all when the mailbag runs this weekend.
If you missed out on the last mailbag, it was split into two parts that you can read here and here. The first tackled topics like Karlsson’s pending free agency, playoff formats and the Nashville Predators, while the second looked at the future for the New York Rangers, the goaltending market, and the top defensive prospects in the game.
How big a risk is signing karlsson to 7 year deal at prob 10-11mil a year yes he’s an elite player but injuries are starting occur more frequently. Also where does he end up? rumours of the rangers interest but they already got plenty dmen on big contracts even if their play is not earning them
What moves do you see the Golden Knights making this off season and who might they consider for their first draft pick?
What moves do the Rangers make *if* they attempt to contend and if not, what do they do over the course of the offseason?
Can Milan Lucic, Andrew Sekera or Kris Russell’s contracts be dealt?
Andrej*
Given the recent Kuznetsov situation, what is the NHL and NHLPA’s stance on morality clauses in contracts? Thinking back to the disputed termination of Mike Richards’ contract and even further back in baseball with Denny Neagle and the Rockies, do teams carry clauses that allow them to terminate contracts for conduct unbecoming? Highly unlikely that this happens with Kuznetsov, regardless if it’s present in his contract or not, but just curious about those clauses – whether they are boilerplate, incredibly secretive, or only in the contracts of some players.
Will the Rangerd trade Chris Kreider before the start of the season and if so what sort of return could they expect.
Honey Mustard?
Is Karlsson to Tampa considered a serious possibility, or just fun to speculate about because of their ability to manage the cap in order to make things happen?
Do the devils get someone significant in FA and who ?
Do you think the LA Kings will be able to make significant changes this summer or will it be the same OLD group next season?
Thoughts on what the devils will do this off-season? Any offer sheets for cap-stripped teams like Toronto and Winnipeg?
When and if Buffalo signs Jeff Skinner do you think they will be active in free-agency for both RFA and UFA’s such as Trouba or maybe make a trade to move Roustalanien for a forward with some grit??
Do one of Ryan Callahan or JT Miller return to NYR as part of a salary dump? Could both?
Just read an article on Trade Rumors referencing 2019 Expiring Draft Rights.Who are the players that would draw the most interest?
with rumours that leafs and kings discussed marleauz odds a trade happens and what could be framework? also could you see Lou using his defensive surplus by getting involved and agreeing to take on Marleau and rights to Kapanen or Johnsson for a dman?
Do you see any changes regarding offer sheets for RFA’s? at the moment the compensation is so high its almost pointless as nobody will give up so many draft picks in one go
Could the St. Louis Blues call up Klim Kostin for the cup finals?
Which playoff teams do not make the playoffs next year? Which team that didn’t make the playoffs does?
Does Phil Kessel stay in Pittsburgh due to his NMC or does Pittsburgh trade him to one of the eight teams on his trade list?
Mantha for Trouba and wings select Byram with the 6th overall pick? Any chance wings can make that happen and will they buy out Abdelkader?
Despite a treasure trove of talent at defense, do the Rangers make a play for Jacob Truba?