EXPECT THE MONTREAL CANADIENS TO PITCH PATRICK KANE ON MONDAY – IF HE MAKES IT TO MARKET
Twas the night before Free Agency, and it’s a madhouse.
It always takes a deadline to produce results in hockey, and many teams are spending Sunday scrambling to re-sign their own pending free agents before the calendar turns to July 1 and free agency opens on Monday at 12 noon ET.
The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are working away on Sam Reinhart, same with Jonathan Marchessault and the Vegas Golden Knights, the Nashville Predators with Alexandre Carrier, and the Carolina Hurricanes are believed to have even re-engaged with Brady Skjei on Sunday after trading the signing rights to Jake Guentzel to Tampa Bay.
What about the Detroit Red Wings? Their season ended 76 days ago, yet Steve Yzerman is negotiating with Shayne Gostisbehere, David Perron and Patrick Kane into the 11th hour.
And all the while, the rest of the league is salivating to see whether these players make it to market.
That means we could be in for some surprises. While it’s believed the Red Wings and Kane found some traction on Sunday, sources indicate the Montréal Canadiens are one of the teams preparing a pitch for P. Kane on Monday should navigate free agency on Monday for the second time in one year. Kane, now 35 and eligible to sign a bonus-laden 35-plus contract for the first time in his career, registered 20 goals and 47 points in 50 games after a lengthy recovery from hip resurfacing surgery. That’s a 77-point pace for one of the 100 Greatest Players of All-Time (as chosen by the NHL in 2017) – and there’s reason to believe he’ll be even better next season with a full summer to train.
The New York Rangers, Dallas Stars and Kane’s hometown Buffalo Sabres are just a few of the other teams who are expected to make a play for Kane. Among the questions to consider from a Montréal perspective: Would Kane consider playing in Canada? Does he have interest in playing for Martin St. Louis? Would he commit to a non-playoff team like the Habs given their build cycle and timeline?
Then again, Kane chose the Red Wings last season. Could he play for a third Original Six team?
Kane is No. 10 on Daily Faceoff’s Top 75 Free Agents, which was updated on Sunday to reflect players who were bought out of their contracts and those not issued qualifying offers. Contract projections courtesy of @AFPAnalytics:
Daily Faceoff’s Top 75 Pending Free Agents
| Rank | Player | Pos | Age | Team | Cap Hit | GP | G | PTS | AFP Projection |
| 1 | Sam Reinhart | RW | 29 | FLA | $6.5M | 82 | 57 | 94 | 8 x $11.3M |
| 2 | Jake Guentzel | LW | 30 | CAR | $6M | 67 | 30 | 77 | 7 x $9.3M |
| 3 | Steven Stamkos | LW/C | 34 | TBL | $8.5M | 79 | 40 | 81 | 3 x $6.15M |
| 4 | Brady Skjei | LD | 30 | CAR | $5.25M | 80 | 13 | 47 | 5 x $7.5M |
| 5 | Brandon Montour | RD | 30 | FLA | $3.5M | 66 | 8 | 33 | 6 x $7.7M |
| 6 | Jonathan Marchessault | RW | 34 | VGK | $5M | 82 | 42 | 69 | 3 x $6.3M |
| 7 | Elias Lindholm | C/RW | 30 | VAN | $4.85M | 75 | 15 | 44 | 5 x $6.78M |
| 8 | Chandler Stephenson | C | 30 | VGK | $2.75M | 75 | 16 | 51 | 5 x $5.63M |
| 9 | Matt Roy | RD | 29 | LAK | $3.15M | 81 | 5 | 25 | 5 x $5.85M |
| 10 | Patrick Kane | RW | 36 | DET | $2.75M | 50 | 20 | 47 | 2 x $6.3M |
| 11 | Nikita Zadorov | LD | 29 | VAN | $3.75M | 75 | 6 | 20 | 5 x $5.32M |
| 12 | Brett Pesce | RD | 30 | CAR | $4.03M | 70 | 3 | 13 | 5 x $6.3M |
| 13 | Matt Duchene | C/RW | 33 | DAL | $3M | 80 | 25 | 65 | 3 x $4.83M |
| 14 | Sean Walker | RD | 30 | COL | $2.65M | 81 | 10 | 29 | 3 x $4.65M |
| 15 | Jake DeBrusk | LW | 28 | BOS | $4M | 80 | 19 | 40 | 5 x $5.8M |
| 16 | Tyler Toffoli | RW | 32 | WPG | $4.25M | 79 | 33 | 55 | 4 x $6M |
| 17 | Shayne Gostisbehere | LD | 31 | DET | $4.13M | 81 | 10 | 56 | 3 x $5M |
| 18 | Viktor Arvidsson | RW | 31 | LAK | $4.25M | 18 | 6 | 15 | 3 x $4.75M |
| 19 | Jonathan Drouin | LW | 29 | COL | $825K | 79 | 19 | 56 | 4 x $5M |
| 20 | Chris Tanev | RD | 34 | DAL | $4.5M | 75 | 2 | 19 | 3 x $4.5M |
| 21 | Teuvo Teravainen | LW | 30 | CAR | $5.4M | 76 | 25 | 53 | 4 x $5.25M |
| 22 | Tyler Bertuzzi | LW | 29 | TOR | $5.5M | 80 | 21 | 43 | 4 x $5.25M |
| 23 | Sean Monahan | C | 30 | WPG | $2M | 83 | 26 | 59 | 4 x $5.3M |
| 24 | Jeff Skinner | LW | 32 | BUF | $8M | 74 | 24 | 46 | 1 x $3.1M |
| 25 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | LD | 33 | FLA | $2.25M | 80 | 9 | 32 | 3 x $4.1M |
| 26 | Alexandre Carrier | RD | 27 | NSH | $2.5M | 73 | 4 | 20 | 3 x $4M |
| 27 | Vladimir Tarasenko | RW | 33 | FLA | $5M | 76 | 23 | 55 | 2 x $4.15M |
| 28 | David Perron | RW | 36 | DET | $4.75M | 76 | 17 | 47 | 2 x $3M |
| 29 | Brenden Dillon | LD | 34 | WPG | $3.9M | 77 | 8 | 20 | 2 x $2.9M |
| 30 | Nate Schmidt | LD | 32 | WPG | $5.95M | 63 | 2 | 14 | 2 x $2.4M |
| 31 | Alex Wennberg | C | 30 | NYR | $4.5M | 79 | 10 | 30 | 4 x $3.87M |
| 32 | Anthony Duclair | LW | 29 | TBL | $3M | 73 | 24 | 42 | 3 x $4.33M |
| 33 | Yakov Trenin | LW/C | 28 | COL | $1.7M | 76 | 12 | 17 | 3 x $2.55M |
| 34 | Laurent Brossoit | G | 31 | WPG | $1.75M | 23 | 2 | 0.927 | 2 x $2.2M |
| 35 | Alex Nedeljkovic | G | 29 | PIT | $1.5M | 38 | 2.96 | 0.902 | 2 x $2.32M |
| 36 | Adam Henrique | C | 34 | EDM | $5.83M | 82 | 24 | 51 | 3 x $4.3M |
| 37 | Warren Foegele | LW | 28 | EDM | $2.75M | 82 | 20 | 41 | 3 x $3.9M |
| 38 | Anthony Mantha | LW | 29 | VGK | $5.7M | 74 | 23 | 44 | 3 x $4.75M |
| 39 | Jason Zucker | LW | 32 | NSH | $5.3M | 69 | 14 | 32 | 2 x $3.7M |
| 40 | Stefan Noesen | RW | 31 | CAR | $763K | 81 | 14 | 37 | 3 x $3.2M |
| 41 | Michael Amadio | RW | 28 | VGK | $763K | 73 | 14 | 27 | 3 x $3.1M |
| 42 | Matt Dumba | RD | 30 | TBL | $3.9M | 76 | 4 | 12 | 3 x $3M |
| 43 | Ryan Suter | LD | 39 | DAL | $3.65M | 82 | 2 | 17 | 1 x $1.75M |
| 44 | James van Riemsdyk | RW | 35 | BOS | $1M | 71 | 11 | 38 | 1 x $1.2M |
| 45 | Matt Grzelcyk | LD | 31 | BOS | $3.7M | 63 | 2 | 11 | 3 x $3.25M |
| 46 | Jordan Martinook | LW | 32 | CAR | $1.8M | 82 | 14 | 32 | 3 x $2.77M |
| 47 | Mattias Janmark | LW | 31 | EDM | $1M | 71 | 4 | 12 | 1 x $1M |
| 48 | Erik Gustafsson | LD | 32 | NYR | $825K | 76 | 6 | 31 | 3 x $3.85M |
| 49 | Daniel Sprong | RW | 27 | DET | $2M | 76 | 18 | 43 | 3 x $4.1M |
| 50 | Kevin Stenlund | C | 27 | FLA | $1M | 81 | 11 | 15 | 2 x $1.3M |
| 51 | Kaapo Kahkonen | G | 28 | NJD | $2.75M | 37 | 3.64 | 0.898 | 2 x $2M |
| 52 | Jack Roslovic | RW | 27 | NYR | $4M | 59 | 9 | 31 | 3 x $3.1M |
| 53 | Brandon Duhaime | LW | 27 | COL | $1.1M | 80 | 5 | 13 | 3 x $1.8M |
| 54 | Ilya Samsonov | G | 27 | TOR | $3.55M | 40 | 3.13 | 0.89 | 1 x $2.35M |
| 55 | Anthony Beauvillier | RW | 27 | NSH | $4.15M | 60 | 5 | 17 | 1 x $900K |
| 56 | Vincent Desharnais | RD | 28 | EDM | $763K | 78 | 1 | 11 | 1 x $1.1M |
| 57 | Ian Cole | LD | 35 | VAN | $3M | 78 | 2 | 11 | 1 x $2.1M |
| 58 | Tyson Barrie | RD | 33 | NSH | $4.5M | 41 | 1 | 15 | 1 x $1.75M |
| 59 | Jani Hakanpaa | RD | 32 | DAL | $1.5M | 64 | 2 | 12 | 1 x $1.5M |
| 60 | Alec Martinez | LD | 36 | VGK | $5.25M | 55 | 4 | 17 | 1 x $1.25M |
| 61 | Cam Talbot | G | 37 | LAK | $2M | 54 | 2.5 | 0.913 | 1 x $1.8M |
| 62 | Tony DeAngelo | RD | 28 | CAR | $1.68M | 31 | 3 | 11 | 2 x $1.75M |
| 63 | Sam Carrick | C | 32 | EDM | $850K | 77 | 10 | 16 | 2 x $1.47M |
| 64 | Tyler Johnson | RW | 33 | CHI | $5M | 67 | 17 | 31 | 1 x $1.7M |
| 65 | Victor Olofsson | RW | 28 | BUF | $4.75M | 51 | 7 | 15 | 1 x $1M |
| 66 | Kevin Labanc | RW | 28 | SJS | $4.73M | 46 | 2 | 9 | 1 x $893K |
| 67 | Mike Hoffman | RW | 34 | SJS | $4.5M | 66 | 10 | 23 | 1 x $1.15M |
| 68 | Joel Edmundson | LD | 31 | TOR | $3.5M | 53 | 1 | 6 | 2 x $1.65M |
| 69 | Scott Wedgewood | G | 31 | DAL | $1M | 32 | 2.85 | 0.899 | 1 x $1.8M |
| 70 | Casey DeSmith | G | 32 | VAN | $1.8M | 29 | 2.89 | 0.896 | 1 x $1.65M |
| 71 | Oliver Kylington | LD | 27 | CGY | $2.5M | 33 | 3 | 8 | 1 x $1.1M |
| 72 | Erik Brannstrom | LD | 24 | OTT | $2M | 76 | 3 | 20 | 2 x $2.5M |
| 73 | Jack Campbell | G | 32 | EDM | $5M | 5 | 4.50 | .888 | 1 x $775K |
| 74 | T.J. Brodie | LD | 34 | TOR | $5M | 78 | 1 | 26 | 2 x $3.65M |
| 75 | Max Pacioretty | LW | 35 | WSH | $2M | 47 | 4 | 23 | 1 x $1.5M |
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