The restricted free agent class for the upcoming offseason is as strong as ever with a handful of talents. Last year, we saw a ton of RFA drama such as the Montreal Canadiens offer sheeting Sebastian Aho or the Mitch Marner contract dispute had with Toronto. With that in mind, 2020 could be just as interesting.
There are multiple big-name RFA’s who may be in need of that change of scenery or whose teams may not be able to pay them or could be finding a new home for other reasons. While things can certainly change between now and the NHL offseason, the three players below will be RFA’s who may very well find themselves in a new city next season.
Matt Murray – Pittsburgh Penguins
Despite winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Matt Murray was never able to find a spot in the hearts of the Penguins fanbase to the same extent as his predecessor, Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury was a fan favourite in Pittsburgh and Penguin fans were devastated to see him leave the so that the organization could retain Matt Murray. This season, Murray had his worst statistical year and even lost the starting job to Tristian Jarry.
There have been multiple reports circulating since the season paused that Murray is unhappy in Pittsburgh and he was constantly rumoured to be on the block throughout the year. At just 26-years-old, Murray still has plenty of hockey left to play, but seems at this point to need a change of scenery.
Keeping both Murray and Jarry is a possibility however it is not as easy as it seems. In an article on The Athletic, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is quoted saying, “Well, I’ll say this: If we are going to keep both of them, we’d have to move a few things around on our team. There is a way to do things and to make that work, yes. There are some very, very tough decisions ahead.“
For the upcoming playoff qualifying rounds, Murray is expected to be the Penguins starting goaltender over Tristian Jarry. Although Jarry had a far better season, he lacks the playoff experience that Murray has. The playoffs will be a huge indicator as to what the future of the Penguins crease looks like, but if Murray loses to the Canadiens, we can expect Murray to be traded this offseason.
Kevin Labanc – San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks need to make a change and they need to make one fast. Despite being one of the younger and more skilled pieces of the Sharks roster and their future, Kevin Labanc may be a prime trade chip to improve the team. What the Sharks desperately need is a goaltender.
Labanc has been rumoured to be a player that the Sharks would trade in order to acquire a goaltender all season. Now that their offseason has started after struggling to qualify for spot in the playoffs, their need for a #1 goaltender has never been as prevalent as it is now. The 2020 free-agent class has plenty of strong goaltenders that could take the No.1 spot in San Jose, but cap space is an issue.
Someone like Robin Lehner could be the perfect fit for the Sharks, but they do not have the cap to sign him unless they make some major trades. It will be tough for the Sharks to clear enough cap in time to sign a No.1 goaltender in free agency and even if they could there is no guarantee that any of the available goalies would come to San Jose. The San Jose Sharks’ best bet at acquiring a starting goaltender could be via trade.
With Timo Meier being a young star that the Sharks would be very reluctant to part ways with, Kevin Labanc becomes the team’s best trade chip. He could be shipped to a team like Pittsburgh in exchange for Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry or to the Rangers for Alexander Georgiev.
Anthony DeAngelo – New York Rangers
Definitely not the name you may have expected to see here after a breakout year by the New York Rangers defensemen, but there are multiple reasons why DeAngelo’s tenure with the Rangers could be coming to an end. The shortened 2019-2020 season saw the American defensemen record an impressive 53 points in 68 games which placed fourth in the league by a blue-liner. While DeAngelo’s offensive performance this season was nothing short of spectacular, it does come at a cost.
As a pending RFA, DeAngelo could be in for a major pay raise, one that the Rangers may not be able to afford. Young star RFA’s tend to be receiving large contracts, usually with a long-term deal attached. The Rangers may be a rebuilding team, but they have a lot of cap space already tied up in their current roster and the future they have to look out for.
Signing DeAngelo long-term to a big contract may not be something that the Rangers can afford to due. Currently, the Rangers have around $17M tied up between Jacob Trouba, Marc Staal and Brendan Smith and that is just half of their blue-line. Luckily, Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren still have some time left on their ELC’s, however, the Rangers do have multiple other players in need of contracts as well which makes their cap situation all the more difficult.
If the Rangers can find a way to clear some cap by trading a contract such as Staal’s or Smith’s, then DeAngelo will certainly have a spot for the upcoming season, but if the Rangers cannot find a way to clear cap and the salary cap does not increase as previously expected, that could leave some looming questions as New York may be forced to trade DeAngelo.