[united]

Sorry to interrupt

http://www.todaysslapshot.com/nichol...-top-nhl-rfas/
Fresh off his Olympic work assignment, Sportsnet NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman dove back into the hockey scene on Monday evening with an appearance on NHL Network that covered the status of some of the top restricted free agents.

Sean Monahan’s name was recently removed from that list, with the Flames having signed him to a seven-year, $44.625 million contract.

“I think it’s what Calgary wanted,” said Friedman. “Again, Monahan does very well too. Both sides make out really well in terms of this. I think we’ve seen the market get set. Nathan MacKinnon signed for 6.3. Barkov was in the high 5s. Mark Scheifele – who signed for eight years, not seven – was in the low 6s.

“So I think if you look at Monahan, he was the last guy to sign. He signs for a bit more than some of his peers did. So it’s a victory for him in terms of that, but it’s a victory for the Flames. They get the certainty. They get the number done. And I’m sure Calgary is going to look at it and say, ‘In a few years, if we have Monahan done for that number, we’re going to be pretty happy.’ It’s another contract they don’t have to battle over for a long time. Win-win.”

The Flames still need to get Johnny Gaudreau’s name on a contract though.

“I’m sure that Calgary would like to get Gaudreau in in that area too, but I think Gaudreau is asking higher.” noted Friedman. “I do think we’re looking at a situation where if you take a look at Gaudreau and what he’s done in the first couple of years in the league, there aren’t a lot of comparables for it. And that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. We’ve got a situation where his offensive numbers – you really struggle to find somebody who would come in at his level of experience and do what he’s done in the first couple of years.

“So I think he’s looking higher. I think he’s looking for term. I think the team is looking for term. I think what Gaudreau is probably saying is, ‘Well, if you want to do term, it’s got to be a pretty big number.’ I think they’ve talked a little bit in the last couple of days since Monahan was signed. Nobody is really discussing it, but I’ve got no information that anything is really close.