Could The Top RFAs Break the Bank this Summer

Which RFAs Will Make the Most Money This Summer

Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play Segment with Steve Kouleas and Anthony Stewart on Tuesday. There, he was asked about the restricted free agents like Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, along with others, and whether they could receive bigger AAV numbers than expected.

NHLRumors.com Transcriptions

NHL Rumors: Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, and Cutter Gauthier

Kouleas: RFAs, RFAS,

Pagnotta: “RFAs are interesting. Yeah, the RFAs are really interesting, because it’s not interesting in the sense that this is going to be, I know you want silly season and the offer sheets and all that, because it’s so spicy and sexy to talk about, but more so the money, the type of dollars that are going to go out to the Bedards, the Carlsons, Gauthiers, Robertsons, etc. even Zach Benson to a different degree, but all of these numbers I think are going to start, they’re going to look a little high.

I think everyone’s going to look at these and go, ” This guy just got how much, and it’s going to be a product of the way that the league is trending. The caps up to $104 million, it’s going up to $113.5 million, give or take, next season, it’s going to go in the 120s, the following season, we’re going to be pushing 130 in three, four seasons, so these numbers are going to be reflective of that.

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And I think it’s, I’m not intrigued necessarily by the potential of offer sheets, I’m more intrigued by the numbers that are going to come out of this, especially if some guys go full term, we could see $16, $17, $18 million to set a new one, and then (Macklin) Celebrini a year later, and he’s eligible to sign on July 1 as well.

So there’s going to be some very interesting numbers, I think, thrown around this offseason with respect to some of the RFAs that are ready to hit the market.”

NHLRumors.com Note: It is a big summer for the restricted free agent class, which includes Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, Zach Benson of the Buffalo Sabres, Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils, and Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier of the Anaheim Ducks. In addition, Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks is eligible for an extension.

There is a sense that Celebrini and Bedard could break the bank on their next contracts. Could they get as high as Kirill Kaprizov‘s $17 million AAV? Probably not. But the expectation is that both will be the highest-paid players on their respective clubs.

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All signs are pointing to the Dallas Stars and Jason Robertson getting an extension done. We know Ducks GM Pat Verbeek is a tough negotiator, but he will want to get Gauthier and Carlsson signed quickly so he does not repeat history, as Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras (now in Philadelphia), and Jamie Drysdale (also in Philadelphia) missed training camp.

It will be an interesting offseason, more so on the RFA market than the UFA market.

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