NHL Rumors: Latest Buzz on Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund, More
Although the top NHL free agents are no longer available, there is still plenty of value on the market.
With Taylor Hall in Buffalo and Alex Pietrangelo signing with Las Vegas, Mike Hoffman and Mikael Granlund are among the names who have gained more traction recently.
Hoffman, 30, and his Florida Panthers teammate Evgenii Dadonov, 31, could be the most-coveted players left to sign because of their scoring prowess. Granlund, 28, is younger than both and has generated a good amount of interest in the last few days.
The defenseman market has dried up with Pietrangelo, Torey Krug and Tyson Barrie inked to deals. The lack of defenders available should make Sami Vatanen more valuable since he and Travis Hamonic are the top two players at their position available to sign.
Latest NHL Rumors
Mike Hoffman
According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, Hoffman has "interest from five-to-six teams."
LeBrun mentioned Nashville as a team that checked in on Hoffman and Hall, who signed a one-year deal with Buffalo. Florida "has circled back" on the forward as well.
Hoffman is coming off a 59-point season in which he had 29 goals and 30 assists over 69 games. If Florida played the entire regular season, the 30-year-old likely would have hit career highs in both categories. The Ontario, Canada, native scored consistently in two years with the Panthers, racking up 36 goals to go along with 34 assists during the 2018-19 campaign.
If the free-agent market were more robust, Hoffman may have already been off the board.
He may not be a free agent for long, though, since the teams that missed out on Hall may try to act fast to land a consistent goal scorer.
Remaining with Florida could be an intriguing possibility for Hoffman since the Panthers have been aggressive in free agency, landing Alexander Wennberg, Carter Verhaeghe and Vinnie Hinostroza among others.
If the Panthers retain the services of Hoffman, he could headline the team's offensive approach and benefit from the forward depth the franchise has built through free agency.
Mikael Granlund
Mikael Granlund is another second-tier free-agent forward gaining more traction on the market with Hall now in Buffalo. According to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch, "multiple teams are in discussion" with Granlund and he is dwindling down the list of potential suitors.
The 27-year-old Finnish forward averaged 55 points over the last four seasons but experienced a dip last season with 17 goals and 13 assists over 63 games with Nashville.
Buffalo and Montreal might be out of the running for Granlund, if they were even involved in the first place, since they inked Hall and Tyler Toffoli in the first week of free agency. Boston and the New York Rangers may be solid fits for Granlund, though, as they look to bolster their scoring depth to compete in the deep Eastern Conference.
Granlund's versatility to play center or wing and the possibility to land him in his prime over 30-year-olds Hoffman and Dadonov could make him an intriguing free agent.
Sami Vatanen
The defensive market should shift in Vatanen's direction with so few top defenseemen left on the free-agent market.
TSN 1040's Rick Dhaliwal mentioned Vancouver as one of the teams that checked in on the Finnish defender, who was traded from New Jersey to Carolina in February.
The Canucks made a defensive improvement Monday by landing Nate Schmidt in a trade with Vegas that allowed the Golden Knights to land Pietrangelo. St. Louis wasted no time replacing Pietrangelo by landing Torey Krug from Boston. Barrie inked a deal with Edmonton, T.J. Brodie landed in Toronto and Kevin Shattenkirk signed with Anaheim.
Vatanen could be the next defensive piece to sign somewhere because of his two-way capabilities.
The 29-year-old has recorded 20 points in all but one of his seven full seasons in the NHL and produced five goals and 18 assists for New Jersey in the 2019-20 season before he was dealt to Carolina.
However, Vatanen did not play for Carolina because of a lower body injury, and his injury history could put teams off signing him to a significant deal.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Hockey Reference.
