Monday: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports there are visits scheduled for Los Angeles, Detroit and San Jose, while two other clubs are still involved but don’t have any meetings on the books. One of those could be the Dallas Stars, as Sean Shapiro of The Athletic confirms that they’re still in the running. McKenzie adds that the finalists are all US-based clubs, and Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that the Minnesota Wild didn’t make the final cut.
Sunday: Minnesota State defenseman Daniel Brickley is the top player available in college free agency and it appears he is getting closer to picking his new team. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that the 22-year-old has narrowed his list of NHL teams to sign with down to five with a decision expected to come in the next few days.
Brickley is coming off of another stellar season with the Mavericks, collecting ten goals and 25 assists in just 40 games. He is eligible to return for his senior year but with it being reported earlier this month that 30 NHL teams had expressed an interest in his services, the timing is certainly right for him to make the jump.
He will be limited to signing a two-year, entry-level contract which carries a maximum base salary of $925K (including a 10% signing bonus). It’s all but a foregone conclusion that Brickley will get that wherever he lands so the next question becomes how many performance bonuses will be in the deal. Those are also capped at a maximum of $2.85MM.
As several top college players do each year, it’s likely that Brickley will sign a deal that burns the first year of his contract this season, allowing him to get to restricted free agency one year earlier. However, even if he does that, he will not be eligible to play in the postseason so his NHL exposure this season will be limited to just the next two weeks.