Friedman's 31 thoughts - Sept 24

[sureLoss]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...ts-rfa-market/

Just one real Flames note:

1. The lesson of the Brayden Point negotiation? Everything can change with one phone call. Months of inertia, and a lengthy Sunday conversation gets it done. Of the remaining restricted free agents, the one most affected is Patrik Laine. Point was always going to be a bridge and Laine is likely to be. Calgary and Matthew Tkachuk were looking at five- and six-year terms (although that could have changed), Kyle Connor and Winnipeg have been around four-to-six years, and Colorado’s made it very clear it wants term with Mikko Rantanen.

Other newsworthy:

at last week's BOG, 20-21 salary cap was estimated at $84.5 million before escalator but is also subject to the CBA negotiations that the league and PA are currently having

Devils and Hall are underselling how hard they are working on a contract extension

Canadiens are looking to move a forward with Suzuki, Evans, and Poehling pushing

Teams looking for a d-man are considering Joel Edmundson

Ducks looking for a RHD after aborted Faulk trade

Toffoli as a pending UFA is an option teams could be looking at.

[TheScorpion]

Friedman mentioned that Drouin is seeing less and less ice-time in the preseason... maybe it's because he's a known commodity, but I wonder if he could be a trade candidate if the Canadiens start lukewarm again