The Wild would prefer to work out a medium-term contract with pending RFA winger, Michael Russo of The Athletic suggested on Daily Faceoff’s DFO Rundown (audio link). They’ve already given center Joel Eriksson Ek a max-term deal and offered one up to pending RFA winger Kirill Kaprizov; they don’t have the cap room to long-term with all of them. Fiala is two years away from unrestricted free agency so a four or five-year deal would still buy out some UFA years but would keep the cap hit a little lower in the process. He had a $3MM AAV on his most recent deal and could come close to doubling it this time around. Russo added that he believes Fiala’s name has been dangled as a trade chip for a top-six center which would also explain their hesitance in working on a long-term agreement.
Elsewhere around the Western Conference:
- The Oilers have made an offer to pending unrestricted free agent goaltender Mike Smith, reports Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal. The 39-year-old had quite the bounce-back season in 2020-21, posting a .923 SV% and a 2.31 GAA in 32 games (30 starts) which has certainly boosted his stock heading into free agency. Last fall, he was basically the fallback option but with Edmonton tendering an offer now, it’s clear they value him more this time around. That should be enough to get him more than the $1.5MM base salary he had this season (plus $500K in bonuses). Leavins notes that if a deal does get done, it’s likely that it will come after the expansion draft which means that Stuart Skinner would likely be protected in expansion.
- The Bruins, Rangers, and Capitals are believed to have shown interest in Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko with the Islanders also on the radar, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Of that group, Boston makes the most sense financially as they have the cap space to absorb Tarasenko’s $7.5MM AAV without needing to match money and if they can’t reach an agreement with pending UFA Taylor Hall, they’ll have a need on the wing to fill. The Rangers also have the cap room but their biggest need is down the middle. Washington and the Islanders would need to match money as they’re projected to be capped out by the time they re-sign their own pending free agents which would make a deal more difficult. Tarasenko has requested a trade from St. Louis and is working with the team to facilitate a deal.
Ugh, I hope not Boston. They can just sign Hall, and do it for a fair bit less than Tarasenko’s salary, and they don’t have to give up a thing. St Louis isn’t precisely dealing from a position of strength, but they’re sure going to want a solid package all the same.
Who cares if a 39 goalie had a nice season of 30 some odd games? Can the Oilers win a Stanley Cup with Mike Smith? No.
Waste another year of McDavid and Draisital in their prime with inadequate goaltending. Smart.
Job One for the Oilers should be finding a legit championship caliber goaltender meanwhile it isn’t even on their to do list.
Problem is there aren’t many championship caliber goaltenders out there to be had. Maybe Vegas trades Fleury? But he’s said he won’t play for anyone but them. I agree with you though that the Oilers need to leave no stone unturned and stop wasting McDavids time
Fleury isn’t the right target. Oilers should offer their first to VGK for Lehner.
Tarasenko for kuznetsov would be a very interesting trade and the salaries just about match up
A deal based around Eberle (and maybe more…or not, depending on health issues) for Tarasenko makes some sense for both sides.