Suter could make his decision by Monday - two days before free agency opens - Friedman adds.
The 36-year-old was bought out by the Minnesota Wild last week. Suter tallied three goals and 16 assists in 56 games this past season while averaging 22:11 per contest. His underlying numbers were still stellar, specifically on offense.
The NHL unveiled its schedule for the 2021-22 campaign Thursday.
The season will run from Oct. 12 to April 29 - contingent on the league participating in the 2022 Olympics. The schedule features a two-week pause between Feb. 7-22 to allow players to compete at the Games. The NHL will revise the schedule and the campaign will likely end earlier if the league decides not to attend the Olympics.
An agreement hasn't been made regarding the league's participation in the Winter Games. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in June that it's "not necessarily an ideal Games to elect to go to."
The NHL's 2021-22 opening night will feature a doubleheader beginning with the Tampa Bay Lightning raising their Stanley Cup banner and hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins, followed by the league's two newest franchises - the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights - squaring off in Sin City.
Each team will play 26 games within its division, 24 contests against the other division in its conference, and 32 matchups against the opposing conference.
Here are a handful of contests throughout the season worth circling on your calendar:
Date
Home
Away
Purpose
Oct. 13
Rangers
Capitals
1st game since line brawl
Oct. 23
Kraken
Canucks
Seattle's home opener
Nov. 20
Islanders
Flames
New York's 1st game as UBS Arena
Dec. 7
Canadiens
Lightning
Stanley Cup rematch
Jan. 1
Wild
Blues
Winter Classic at Target Field
Feb. 26
Predators
Lightning
Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium
The series-style schedules, which were used during the 2020-21 campaign and were popular among players, won't return this season.
The All-Star Weekend in Vegas will take place Feb. 4-5.
With the 2021 Seattle Kraken expansion draft in the rearview mirror, we highlight the winners and losers from Wednesday's event.
Winners
Chris Driedger
Christopher Mast / National Hockey League / Getty
Two years ago, Driedger split his season between the ECHL and AHL. Now, he's locked into a three-year contract and gets to be the guy in net for an NHL team. Vitek Vanecek and Joey Daccord aren't major threats to the starting job.
Driedger could be poised for success thanks to the personnel around him. The Kraken's blue line projects to be the strength of the team and there's still room for more additions.
LD
RD
Mark Giordano
Adam Larsson
Vince Dunn
Jamie Oleksiak
Carson Soucy
Jeremy Lauzon
Haydn Fleury
Additionally, head coach Dave Hakstol is a defensive-minded bench boss who will try to put his netminder in a position to succeed - especially since the team will need to win low-scoring games due to a lack of firepower up front.
Driedger's NHL sample size is small, but in 41 games, he's posted a .926 save percentage and a 2.18 goals-against average. At 27 years old, he could conceivably cash in on another contract down the road if he performs well.
Every organization has to rebuild at some point, and it's ideal if the timing lines up with an expansion draft. These teams didn't lose anything of substance and weren't desperate to get a contract off the books.
Losers
Kraken
Alika Jenner / Getty Images Sport / Getty
General manager Ron Francis took an interesting approach to the expansion draft. He passed on several proven players in exchange for ones with minimal experience. This isn't to say the Kraken should've taken Carey Price or Jakub Voracek, but James van Riemsdyk, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Max Domi would've made sense.
Francis' strategy gives the Kraken ample cap room (around $30 million) but leaves them with several roster holes up front. It might be too early to judge Francis until we see how he spends his remaining cap space this offseason, but it's hard to feel overly optimistic right now.
He also didn't swing any major side deals - that we know of. Trades helped the Vegas Golden Knights find instant success in 2017-18. George McPhee fleeced teams in a few instances, reeling in multiple players at a time and stockpiling draft picks so that he had the ammunition to make big trades down the road.
While GMs around the league may have learned their lessons, it's quite possible that Francis' asking prices could've been too high. Francis' undoing during his stint as Carolina Hurricanes general manager was his overly cautious approach, and based on this draft, it appears he hasn't changed his management style.
The league, the fans, ESPN
Rick Madonik / Toronto Star / Getty
The NHL really fumbled this one.
The expansion draft was shaping up to be a compelling, must-watch event, but instead, all the drama was leaked on Twitter throughout Wednesday morning.
Of course, the reporters who broke the news were just doing their jobs and deserve no blame. But the league and the Kraken should've done a better job of keeping the selections under wraps. In hindsight, the 10-hour gap between Seattle's submission deadline and the official announcements was a horrible idea.
Fans obviously have a right to be upset, but nobody should be more livid than ESPN. The expansion draft was the network's first event since purchasing the primary package of the league's new U.S. TV rights deal, and the ratings were surely substantially lower than they would've been had the picks not been previously revealed.
Teams hoping to shed big contracts
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Numerous clubs cast some shiny bait out into the water, but the Kraken didn't bite.
The Philadelphia Flyers exposed both Van Riemsdyk and Voracek, likely expecting Seattle to take one and provide Philly with some cap space. The Kraken took the relatively unknown Carsen Twarynski instead.
It's no secret the St. Louis Blues are shopping Tarasenko. But the fact that the Kraken passed on him for free definitely diminishes his trade value, even if he's healthy after multiple shoulder surgeries. Seattle preferred to selected blue-liner Vince Dunn.
The Montreal Canadiens were probably quietly praying for the Kraken to take Price, even though he just led them to the Stanley Cup Final. Getting that contract (five years left at $10.5 million per season) off the books would've been a weight lifted off GM Marc Bergevin's giant shoulders. And if it wasn't Price, Bergevin was certainly hoping Seattle would take Jonathan Drouin, who missed the entire playoffs while on personal leave. The Kraken picked defense prospect Cale Fleury instead.
Edmonton Oilers
Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty
The Oilers' offseason isn't filling their fan base with confidence. The Duncan Keith trade was (rightly) heavily criticized, the decision to re-sign 38-year-old Mike Smith to a multi-year deal was questionable, and there's still a chance they pony up for Zach Hyman.
However, they're losers in this exercise because they let pending UFA defenseman Adam Larsson sign with the Kraken on a reported team-friendly four-year, $16-million contract. Edmonton apparently offered him the same contract, but it probably would've been a good idea to offer him more money or add another year.
Larsson, 28, has been very steady defensively over the past few years - something the Oilers have generally lacked on their back end. He'll be incredibly difficult to replace via free agency or trade this offseason.
The decision applies only to the expansion draft and not a trade, Nill confirmed.
The Stars are now able to protect fellow netminder Anton Khudobin. Youngster Jake Oettinger is exempt. He split time in the crease with Khudobin this past season.
Bishop missed the entire 2020-21 campaign after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, and he played only three playoff games during Dallas' run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020. His status for next season is unclear.
There are two years remaining on the 34-year-old's contract, and he carries an annual cap hit of $4.92 million, according to CapFriendly.
Bishop has battled other injuries throughout his career, but he's been an elite puck-stopper when healthy. He produced a .920 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average over 44 games during the 2019-20 season.
The towering 6-foot-7 netminder has been a Vezina Trophy finalist three times, including as recently as 2018-19.
The Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender, who died in a fireworks accident on July 4, sacrificed his own life to save others, Merzlikins said.
Kivlenieks died due to chest trauma from a fireworks mortar blast. The mortar tube tilted and started firing toward a hot tub. Merzlikins and his pregnant wife were nearby.
"He saved, not just many lives, but when it happened, I was standing 20, 30 feet back of him," Merzlikins said at Kivlenieks' memorial service on Thursday. "And I was hugging my wife. He saved my son, he saved my wife, and he saved me. My son's second name is going to be Matiss.
"If that wasn't me or my wife or son, that would be 50 other people. He died a hero. And that's not me saying it. That was the doctor saying it. If he would just sit, it wouldn't have happened. As Sabrina said, he saved his last puck. I just wanted to let you know that he was a hero. He saved a lot of lives."
Kivlienieks lived in Merzlikins' guest room, and the two Latvian netminders formed a tight bond.
"Matiss, he wasn't my friend. Matiss was my little brother," Merzlikins said.
The incident occurred at goaltending coach Manny Legace's house in Michigan to celebrate his daughter's wedding. Kivlienieks first lived with Legace during the summers after joining the Blue Jackets organization.
"I love you. I always will love you," Legace said. "You were my son. And you were a great friend to everybody here."
The contract carries an annual cap hit of $2.66 million, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
Forsling registered five goals and 12 assists in 43 games this past season while averaging 19:57 per contest. He was a favorite of head coach Joel Quenneville after the two spent parts of three seasons together with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 25-year-old posted strong underlying numbers this past year and projects to fill a top-four role with the Cats moving forward:
It appears Zach Hyman's time in Toronto is coming to an end.
The Maple Leafs have granted the pending unrestricted free-agent forward permission to speak to other teams so the club can explore trading his rights, sources told TSN's Darren Dreger.
Hyman, 29, is coming off the best two-year stretch of his career after tallying 36 goals and 70 points over his last 94 games. He's also proven to be an effective play-driver and a responsible two-way forward over the last three seasons.
Evolving-Hockey.com
Toronto has less than $10 million in projected cap space, according to CapFriendly, and may not be able to pay Hyman his market value while addressing other needs.
Evolving-Hockey is projecting Hyman will sign a four-year deal with a $5.325-million annual cap hit this offseason.
Hyman has spent the majority of his Maple Leafs tenure playing alongside elite talent. The workhorse winger has played almost exclusively on the club's top line with some combination of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner.
Hyman was originally a fifth-round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2010. The Maple Leafs traded for him in 2015 in exchange for Greg McKegg. The native of Toronto has played 345 games across six seasons with his hometown club.
The physical blue-liner suffered numerous injuries over the years, including two broken kneecaps that caused him to miss the entire 2019-20 campaign. He was also hospitalized after suffering a concussion in the 2021 playoffs.
Signed as an undrafted free agent, the Los Angeles, California, native finishes his NHL career with 71 points in 352 games spanned across seven seasons.
Hockey Hall of Famer Sergei Fedorov is taking his talents behind the bench.
The 51-year-old is taking over as head coach of the KHL's CSKA Moscow, the league announced Wednesday.
Federov has been the team's general manager since 2012-13.
The 6-foot-2, two-way center was one of his generation's best players, winning three Stanley Cups, two Selke Trophies, a Hart Trophy, three World Championship gold medals, and a world junior gold medal. His best years came with the Detroit Red Wings, but he also enjoyed stints with the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Washington Capitals.
The pair signed matching 13-year, $98-million contracts as free agents in 2012. The buyout for each player will go as follows, per CapFriendly:
Season
Initial cap hit
New cap hit
2021-22
$7.54M
$2.37M
2022-23
$7.54M
$6.37M
2023-24
$7.54M
$7.37M
2024-25
$7.54M
$7.37M
2025-26
$0
$833K
2026-27
$0
$833K
2027-28
$0
$833K
2028-29
$0
$833K
Combining the two buyouts, the Wild will receive significant cap savings for the 2021-22 season but not much afterward.
Season(s)
Annual cap savings
2021-22
$10.3M
2022-23
$2.3M
2023-25
$300K
2025-29
-$1.7M
The move also frees up two protection spots for the expansion draft. Both players had to be protected by Minnesota unless they waived the full no-movement clauses in their contracts.
Suter registered three goals and 16 assists in 56 games this campaign. His average ice time of 22:11 was his lowest by over two minutes since joining the Wild.
Parise was a healthy scratch at times this season and tallied just seven goals and 11 assists in 45 contests. His 0.40 points per game tied his career-low mark.
Both players still drove offense this past year in their age-36 seasons. However, Parise - and to a lesser extent, Suter - didn't post strong defensive metrics.
Evolving-Hockey.com
Minnesota missed the postseason just once in nine campaigns during the Suter-Parise era, but it never made it out of the second round.
Suter finishes his Wild career ranked second in franchise history in assists (314) and fourth in games played (656) and points (369). Parise ranks third in goals (199) and points (400) and seventh in games played (558).
