NHL Free-Agent Rumors: Latest Buzz on Daniel Alfredsson, Matt Hendricks and More

Judging by early indications, the free-agent market is going to be full of quality players.

The three players on this list all have yet to get a deal done with their current team and have a good chance of hitting the open market once free agency begins on Friday. 

Daniel Alfredsson 

With Daniel Alfredsson getting close to hitting the open market, it appears the race is on to get him re-signed in Ottawa. The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch reports that Senators general manager Bryan Murray and Alfredsson's agent had a recent conversation. 

Obviously, the talks were not fruitful enough to end in a new deal, but the hope of him re-signing remains. 

At 40 years old, Alfredsson will certainly want to maximize his value, but the Senators can't rush to overpay him. Garrioch reports that the Senators are looking to ink him in the $4-to-$4.5 million range, but he also states that, on the open market, Alfredsson could net $6 million. 

I expect the two sides to find a middle ground and get this deal done. However, it is certainly no slam dunk. 

Matt Hendricks

Barring an unforeseen development in negotiations, or lack thereof, Matt Hendricks will be hitting the open market on Friday.

Katie Carrera of the Washington Post passed along quotes from Hendricks' agent, Michael Wulkan, saying as much.

Wulkan: "We haven’t heard anything from Washington, so at this point he plans on hitting the market. They’ve had plenty of time to call us and they haven’t."

The lack of contact is a little surprising. Hendricks is a replaceable player, but he is a hard worker and good teammate. I would've expected the Caps to at least see if they could bring him back at a price that fits their budget. 

However, at this point, it appears Washington has no intention of bringing him back. 

Benoit Pouliot

It looks like Benoit Pouliot's time in Tampa Bay has reached its end. RDS' Renaud Lavoie helps explain: 

It is one thing to allow a player to hit free agency. It is another to try to trade him first. That tells me the Lightning have no intention of trying to bring Pouliot back, and they were doing everything they could to simply get some value for him before he hit the open market.

Sporting News' Jesse Spector reports that Pouliot wasn't the only Lightning player to get this treatment:

Pouliot has been a productive player, but the Lightning clearly feel their money is best spent elsewhere.