Up to Dater: NHL Free Agents Continue to Sit by the Phone

Rick Curran is supposed to be on a beach right now, catching up on his reading or any of his various other hobbies. He is supposed to be enjoying his summer break, resting up before resuming his busy job as an NHL player agent, something he has done since 1978.

But it has been, in Curran's words, an "unenjoyable" summer so far. Why? Because two of his clients, unrestricted free agents Christian Ehrhoff and Jiri Tlusty, still have no NHL employer at the moment despite being considered quality players. 

"I usually am done for the summer a half-hour past the start of free agency, seriously," Curran told Bleacher Report. "Not this year. It's been a bit surprising, but those two players will be playing in the National Hockey League somewhere this year. In the meantime, you continue to try and make a deal with someone."

Curran's and his players' situations are not unique. Nearly a month after the free-agent market opened, many very good players remain unsigned. They include: Cody Franson, Curtis Glencross, Michael Ryder, Mike Santorelli, Jan Hejda, Sean Bergenheim, Martin Erat, Erik Cole, Tomas Fleischmann, Tyler Kennedy Derek Roy and many others.

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Some players probably were always going to have to wait longer to be signed, players such as Cole or Erat, veterans getting on in years, guys coming off injuries, guys wanting too much money or all of the above. That happens every year.

But it is a genuine surprise to many around the league that players such as Ehrhoff, Franson, Ryder, Tlusty and Glencross remain unsigned. What's going on here? 

"I don't believe there's any collusion or anything like that. I've known the people in this business forever, and they don't operate like that," Curran said.

More likely, Curran says, too many teams are up against the cap already. Indeed, according to GeneralFanager.com, the website that has become the go-to for cap information since the unfortunate end of CapGeek.com, five NHL teams (Tampa Bay, Chicago, Detroit, the Rangers and Flyers) all have a $1 million or less in cap space. Eleven other teams have less than $5 million of remaining space under the $71.4 million cap for 2015-16. 

Still, that leaves 14 teams with the money to afford a nice player still available, eight of which, according to GeneralFanager.com, have more than $10 million available. 

"But what has happened more and more in the league is that teams have internal budgets set, and they just don't want to go over that amount," said Curran, who works with the Orr Hockey Group and whose clients have included Eric Lindros, Adam Foote, Jason Spezza and hundreds of others in a 37-year career. "Like it or not, that's the market and you just have to deal with it. But I have had a few GMs tell me, 'Hey, I'd like to do a deal, but my owner won't let me spend another dime for a while."

Curran thinks a good-sized number of remaining free agents may have to take professional tryout contracts this fall, which is nothing more than paid room and board for a few days of training camp while a team makes up its mind whether to offer a real one. He does not believe that will happen with his two remaining top clients, Ehrhoff and Tlusty. 

In fact, Curran said Ehrhoff could have accepted a couple of offers already but turned them down for reasons he wouldn't disclose but likely had to do with the money offered or the team's potential for success.

"Christian is fortunate in that he's already banked a good deal of money. He can be more choosy. Some other players, some very good players that are still available, they probably have been sitting by the phone a lot longer than they anticipated," Curran said. "I guess I'm in that group right now, too."

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Lindsay Still Buff at 89

This story will inspire most people and will depress the rest of the couch potatoes out there, like me. 

It's a great story done by the Detroit News' John Niyo recently on Ted Lindsay, with pictures of Lindsay lifting weights and looking more buff at age 89 than most people one-third his age. 

Lindsay, a Hall of Famer who won four Stanley Cups with Detroit, elected to have heart surgery last year at an age in which most physicians discourage it, but Lindsay came out of it feeling great. As Lindsay told Niyo:

"

One thing about reality is, we're all gonna die sometime. But I was blessed with a brain that recognized that the body is a muscle. And from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, if you don't work it out, it becomes flab. And flab becomes useless.

"

Hear, hear. And it's true—I decided on brussels sprouts instead of french fries as a side dish to my veggie burger before reading that article.

Scotty's Corner

In our weekly visit with 81-year-old, fit-as-a-fiddle himself, Scotty Bowman, the legendary 14-time Stanley Cup winner gives his best advice on what it takes to become—and stay—a pro hockey player:

"My number one priority is working on one's skating technique, as it is virtually the most important asset in today's game," Bowman told Bleacher Report. "As to going forward, when a player makes it to the NHL, getting to a top fitness level is what should be the top priority. Players are just so fit today. Getting a little extra is what I would shoot for."