Speculation: Top remaining UFAs - do any not get signed?

[Habsrule]

What hasn’t really been mentioned in here is that many teams will have internal budgets going into this season. I have to assume that just about every team lost money last year. I highly doubt that owners would want to throw away millions again this year. So even though a team may have cap space to sign a player like Hoffman or Haula their owners don’t want to pay for it.

 

[Rubi]

I don't think Hamonic will sign. He may get offers but I don't think he'll sign any. I think he'll sit this year out because of covid.

 

[Rubi]

Hoffman is waiting for Calgary to clear cap space so he can play there as a RW.
Book it.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Nobody said he had no talent. I said he wasn't REALLY talented. Really talented players are guys like McDavid, Mackinnon, Ovechkin, Crosby. AA has one really good talent and that's his skating.

He tries to win with talent alone. The problem is... he doesn't have enough talent to win on talent alone, gentlemen.

AA definitely has skill. But he's not so overwhelmingly skilled that he can coast and still be awesome. He's not Alexei Kovalev.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with his two-way game.

The fact that would fabricate this certainly looks like you are trying to find a way to criticize a player you (obviously) don't know much about.

What? There is certainly a lot wrong with AA's two-way game. As in, he doesn't put effort into it. He's certainly got the physical capabilities of being a great two-way player... he just... isn't. He'll pull an amazing takeaway where he steals it from a D trying to make an outlet pass and get a great opportunity on net at times. More likely though, he's coasting back at 35% top speed (he's leaving a lot of steam in the legs, because there are guys who just shouldn't be able to outskate him that do it routinely.

He floats to try to get a breakout instead of backchecking. He'll backcheck inconsistently and it usually works out okay for him when he does. But he just doesn't. It's why he is maddening.

 

[Ratsreign]

Wish Rangers kept him instead of that year and half of Yandle, but if they extended Yandle then i would not mind it so much. Yandle was a good Ranger.

Call Zito.

 

[Ratsreign]

The problem is, reportedly, Haula didn't like being a 3C in Carolina and wanted a bigger role which is why the Canes ditched him after he became a bit of a dick. Maybe now with no contract, he'll be more accommodating. I've also read somewhere that some ex-teammates in LV called him "Haula Famer" because he thought he was better than the really was. (This may just be hearsay so I won't claim it to be 100% legit).



Not sure I agree with the 5x5 comment, but we'll never know for sure. He had a very major injury the prior season and re-aggravated something this past season and missed time as well. On top of that, he was a bit of a malcontent in Carolina. I think teams would have been very wary signing him to a 5x5 contract based on all that, but who knows for sure.

He'll have a job when the season starts. Teams are just waiting on a lot of these guys to see when the season starts and what it will look like. He may be better off taking a 1 year "show me" type deal if he really wants a big payday down the road.

Haula Famer. Maybe not true, but that nickname for him made me laugh.

 

[Ratsreign]

I think more teams are worried about Hoffman now, especially after the cyberbullying his wife did to the Karlssons and given the recent bullying conversations we've had regarding Mitchell Miller. And then the first game Hoffman and Karlsson play against each other, Hoffman grabs him and tries to fight him. Very bad look on Hoffman's part.

Alleged cyber bullying.
Idk, if I’m Karlsson and truly believed those allegations to be true, I would’ve gladly taken the chance offered to try and punch his ass out. Hoffman seemed like the one pissed off over his reputation being sullied, Karlsson looked like the kid in school who starts malicious rumors about someone, and then runs when it’s time to pay the piper.

 

[FerrisRox]

What? There is certainly a lot wrong with AA's two-way game. As in, he doesn't put effort into it.

I think AA is, without question, an above average two way forward.

You seem to be saying the same thing, but you are taking exception with his the consistency of his effort and you feel he could be even better defensively if he put in the work.

The poster I was responding two claimed he "couldn't" play defense which is absolutely nonsense. He back checks, he picks off passes, he picks pockets and he plays a very solid positional game in all zones. Saying he "can't play defense" or "doesn't want to" as the poster claimed it absolutely false.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I think AA is, without question, an above average two way forward.

You seem to be saying the same thing, but you are taking exception with his the consistency of his effort and you feel he could be even better defensively if he put in the work.

The poster I was responding two claimed he "couldn't" play defense which is absolutely nonsense. He back checks, he picks off passes, he picks pockets and he plays a very solid positional game in all zones. Saying he "can't play defense" or "doesn't want to" as the poster claimed it absolutely false.

No... he can play defense... When he wants to. Red Wings fans around the world can attest to it. When AA is sufficiently driven and motivated... he can be the best player on the ice. The problem is, he spends 75-80% of his icetime hoping for a breakaway or a chance to make a flashy play. When Babcock or Blashill red-assed him and made him bust his hump, he was fantastic. But AA just isn't wired to do that long term. He doesn't change who he is. He's easily a more talented hockey player than Dylan Larkin. Dylan Larkin plays f***ing circles around him though, because Larkin will continuously sell out to be better and AA just doesn't. It is why he is eternally frustrating and I don't want him back at any price.

 

[SomeDude]

I wish Duclair had just signed back with Ottawa.

So does he. Fired his agent and turned down a pretty big deal when the league is dealing with a global pandemic and a flat cap.

With big brain moves like that he may be offered a government position.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Only way Hamonic ends up in Winnipeg is if he takes a massive discount.

 

[Limeyjim]

I'd like to see Hoffman end up on the Flyers. I'm not sure how Fletcher could do it, but Hoffman is a decent scorer.

 

[Just Linda]

Except for Hoffman, they are sign in Ottawa and push them one step closer to the cup in 4 years?

That would be a funny scenerio.

 

[CreeksideStrangler]

Kovy should've stayed in Montreal

 

[LeapOnOver]

Hamonic always puts family first. I don't think he's going to try to play hockey until there's a vaccine. He may retire indefinitely. I feel like if he wants to play, and location is not an issue he'll sign, but if he still keeps up his location priority (which he probably will) then he'll have limited choices and be fine sitting it out.

 

[biturbo19]

you can count the number of teams that are worried about the so called "reputation" re: karlsson on one finger.

he wants to get paid and play in a situation that helps him score goals. any team that can offer both currently would need to make trades to do it.

Obviously like i said, the sort of money and situation to score goals is going to be the bigger factor in where Hoffman lands. But i think you're probably really underestimating the premium a lot of GMs around the league put on players who "fit into their culture", and that can very much extend to their significant others and those they choose to associate with off the ice.

There's a very limited pool of teams who have a desirable Top-6Wing spot up for grabs, a solid center to play with there, and more importantly...the cap space to pay Hoffman, even for one season, as a ~20-30G scorer. It's a small pool of viable suitors to start with for players like that right now. And his girlfriend allegedly pissed in part of it. And certainly not just when it comes to the Sharks alone. Other teams and GMs are going to have reservations about the whole scenario. At the very least, try to leverage that against other GMs to manage a lower cap number for a year.

 

[drktmplr12]

But i think you're probably really underestimating the premium a lot of GMs around the league put on players who "fit into their culture", and that can very much extend to their significant others and those they choose to associate with off the ice.

my point is that idea that hoffman is a toxic asset or locker room cancer because of his (future) spouse is a false narrative and exists primarily on HFboards.

 

[Big Muddy]

An important and related question is "when will the NHL season start"?

When the decision is made, and the training camp and season opening dates are known, I think it will trigger a lot of action from the teams.

My guess is that a flurry of action and signings will start at that point, and that there will be many very low price, bargain basement types of deals signed. Many teams will have self imposed caps, and roster slots and money is going to be very tight & scarce.

 

[Leafs87]

Wondering if Hoffman got lowballed or has received good offers from teams he had no interest in. Either way getting to this point with him unsigned, I’m curious if he now regrets if he has an offer and rejected it

 

[Cheeks Clapinski]

Wondering if Hoffman got lowballed or has received good offers from teams he had no interest in. Either way getting to this point with him unsigned, I’m curious if he now regrets if he has an offer and rejected it

Maybe he has a handshake deal with a team that is waiting for the season to start to put players on LTIR to make room for him? Honestly I'm not sure if this even makes sense but throwing it out there

 

[Leafs87]

Maybe he has a handshake deal with a team that is waiting for the season to start to put players on LTIR to make room for him? Honestly I'm not sure if this even makes sense but throwing it out there

I don’t know. You can be 5 or 10% over the cap in the off-season and once the season starts you throw the player on LTIR. So that is 4-8 mill roughly depending on if it’s 5 or 10 % you can be over by. For the life of me I can’t remember which it is tbh. Highly doubt that is the reason. Starting to look more like he was being too greedy and it bit him. Not to mention some teams likely have him blacklisted after his wife and Karlsson’s wife ordeal in Ottawa

 

[Matty Sundin]

Hopefully for his sake he didn’t Cody Franson’d himself. Guy that could of gotten overpaid but waited and waited too long lol

 

[biturbo19]

my point is that idea that hoffman is a toxic asset or locker room cancer because of his (future) spouse is a false narrative and exists primarily on HFboards.

I don't think it really is simply an HFboards "made up thing" though. In fact, if anything...i'd suggest a lot of the posters here seem to underestimate the impact of a black mark on a player's record like that in the mind of GMs who are actually staking tens of millions of dollars of their bosses money on a player. We as the public, still really don't know exactly where the truth is in that whole escapade...and probably never will. But GMs and those on the inside of the business, who talk to all the players and other GMs and agents and are privy to a lot more information than the public tends to be...probably have a better feel for things.

And what they've demonstrated with their assets and money, makes it look like it very much could be a factor. Hoffman was traded for a paltry return. He's continued to be a speedy, money in the bank perennial ~30G scorer...and yet, he's still sitting there, un-signed.

I'm sure he's got offers. But there are really only maybe ~10 teams that could realistically clear the sort of cap space he's looking for. One of them is the Sens, who he's never going back to. So ~9 at most. If just a few other GMs are worried about it for whatever reason...that limits him to maybe half a dozen teams with the space to sign him for what he likely wants, and is probably worth on the ice as a hockey player. Factor in that some of those teams have hard internal caps due to team financial constraints, especially under Covid impacts on the business...and you've managed to narrow it down to a pretty small pool of viable suitors.

At that point, it's either sign with one of them (and they're probably going to be a bad team). Sign with a good team willing to take the risk or just not worried about the whole incident for an absolutely cut rate deal for a year. Or sit around and hope that he's worth the gamble to a team that they're willing to cough up additional assets just to move cap out, so they have room to sign Hoffman at the sort of number he wants.



The reality is...teams spent their money. They spent significant money on a lot of various wingers. Instead of Hoffman. Dadonov found a solid deal, despite his advanced age. Toffoli, Domi, Burakovsky, Mantha were all within range of what a guy like Hoffman should probably command in this market. At least, within range of what could've been squeezed out of the cap space to add a better and more productive player. Tons of teams inked deals in the $3M+ range too, instead of trying to use that space with their remaining room to sign Hoffman.

In a league like this...money talks.

I mean, i like Hoffman as a player. And i know nothing about him or his fiancée. But that's kinda the point. I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes...but a player who offers the skillset of Hoffman, should've been scooped up quickly...unless there's something else going on behind the scenes. He's got an established agent, who has landed quality deals for a ton of clients. It's hard to imagine he just completely whiffed on the market and overpriced him and somehow couldn't adjust once the reality became clear, in talking to NHL GMs.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

I still think Boston has been lowballing this guy all offseason.

Can see him signing there at a short , respectable deal