Rieder had 12 goals and 13 assists in 78 games split between the Arizona Coyotes and the Los Angeles Kings last season. He's scored between 12 and 16 goals in each of his four NHL campaigns.
At 25, Rieder was one of the younger UFAs on the open market. It's possible the Oilers will put him on a line with fellow German Leon Draisaitl.
"Logan is a difference maker and has the proven ability to elevate his game when his team needs him the most," said Sharks general manager Doug Wilson. "His leadership, on and off the ice, combined with his high skill level and hockey sense make him a crucial component to this team's success. We're thrilled that Logan has made this long-term commitment to the team and to the community."
Couture was still under contract for one more year at a $6-million cap hit, so this extension will keep him in San Jose through the 2026-27 season.
The 29-year-old is coming off a career-high 34-goal season. He's also one of the league's better two-way centers, finishing 12th in Selke Trophy voting this year, awarded to the league's best defensive forward.
Brown has deep Minnesota roots. He hails from Burnsville, played his college hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and now gets a chance to play for his hometown Wild.
He'll likely compete for a fourth-line role with the club.
Cole is the definition of a stay-at-home defenseman. He had just 20 points in 67 games last season split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, he recorded 95 hits and 116 blocked shots and managed to maintain positive possession numbers despite starting most of his shifts in the defensive zone.
At 29, Cole is still relatively young for an unrestricted free agent. He gives the Avs a stellar left-handed-shooting rearguard who can play alongside Erik Johnson or Tyson Barrie on one of the team's top two defense pairings.
Reaves had just 10 points last season in time split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vegas Golden Knights, but offense isn't his game. He finished ninth in the NHL in both hits with 236, and penalty minutes with 94.
The Rangers are primarily made up of skilled players, so adding an element of grit during an expected youth movement isn't a bad idea at the right price. Reaves' previous cap hit was $1.125 million.
Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell hasn't been shy about his interest in trading forward Jeff Skinner, but the offers he's received aren't quite where he wants them to be.
"It's ongoing," Waddell said about his trade talks with teams regarding Skinner, according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. "We've got a lot of people talking to us. We've had decent to good (trade) offers, but we haven't gotten comfortable yet."
Skinner is still only 25 years old and has averaged 28.7 goals per 82 games over the course of his career, but he has just one year left on his contract with a $5.75-million cap hit.
Skinner's goal total dropped from 37 in 2016-17 to 24 last season, but an unfortunate 8.7 shooting percentage is largely to blame. He's also one of the most underrated defensive players in the game, as he had 93 takeaways last year, second only to Connor McDavid in the entire league.
Skinner is a valuable asset about to enter the prime of his career, so Waddell is right to wait for a great offer, rather than a "decent to good" one before pulling the trigger on a deal.
Kyle Dubas is in for a busy first offseason as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager, but his job may be simplified if 22-year-old William Nylander is ready to play center on a full-time basis.
Nylander was drafted as a center but has spent the first chapter of his NHL career playing right wing - usually alongside Auston Matthews. Nylander played center occasionally last season when Matthews was injured, and statistically, yielded some generally positive results, albeit in a small sample.
Stat
RW
C
Games
71
11
Goals/G
0.24
0.18
Assists/G
0.49
0.55
Points/G
0.75
0.73
Shots/G
2.04
1.55
CF%
50.2%
50.0%
SCF%
52.6%
59.4%
HDCF%
49.6%
61.5%
FO%
52.6%
46.5%
CF% = Percentage of shot attempts Toronto generated while Nylander was on the ice at five-on-five SCF% = Percentage of scoring chances Toronto generated while Nylander was on the ice at five-on-five HDCF% = Percentage of high-danger scoring chances Toronto generated while Nylander was on the ice at five-on-five
With Tyler Bozak, Tomas Plekanec, and Dominic Moore departing as unrestricted free agents, Miro Aaltonen bolting for the KHL, and no one truly ready for a promotion from the Calder Cup-winning Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs have significant holes down the middle. Moving Nylander to center full time plugs one of them.
In fact, even taking James van Riemsdyk's and Leo Komarov's departures as free agents into account, Toronto could theoretically roll out four adequate lines without making a single offseason acquisition up front, thanks to its outstanding organizational depth on the wings.
LW
C
RW
Zach Hyman
Auston Matthews
Kasperi Kapanen
Patrick Marleau
Nazem Kadri
Mitch Marner
Andreas Johnsson
William Nylander
Connor Brown
Carl Grundstrom
Frederik Gauthier
Josh Leivo
While the above lineup isn't set in stone, deploying Nylander down the middle means Toronto can use its cap space to sign a fourth-line center (Gauthier isn't the answer long term) and improve its defense.
However, this is all moot if Nylander isn't capable of playing center effectively next season.
'All kinds of adjustments'
If there's anyone who knows the challenges of switching from wing to center, it's former NHLer Alex Tanguay. He played center in junior with the Halifax Mooseheads, moved to the wing when he joined the Colorado Avalanche, but shifted back to the middle occasionally in his early days when Joe Sakic or Peter Forsberg was injured.
"It’s much more difficult to play center because there’s a timing. Wing, when the puck transitions, you go. At center, there’s a timing to go. So there’s all kinds of adjustments," Tanguay, who's currently an analyst for NHL Network, told theScore. "It is harder to play defense. There’s more responsibility defensively. I think that offensively, once you find your rhythm and your space, I think that center will give you more opportunities to get to more pucks, and more freedom maybe in that sense."
Though Tanguay humbly wouldn't draw comparisons between him and Nylander, there are some striking similarities. Neither player was extremely physical but both were highly skilled natural centers-turned-wingers with comparable builds. They even put up eerily similar numbers during their first two full NHL seasons:
Stat
Tanguay
Nylander
GP
158
163
G
44
42
A
84
80
P
128
122
"Obviously for me, I wasn’t an overly physical player. By physical I mean it was hard for me to defend. Some of those centermen are very strong on the puck, so for me, it was always a battle," Tanguay said. "I think it’s sort of similar for William. He’s got some of those attributes offensively that are gifts. You look at the skill that he possesses with the puck, the ability to be elusive, the ability to shoot, but defensively when I look at him, he’s still a young man that’s growing into the game that’s trying to learn the positioning, and I’m not sure that it’s a fit at center.
"Mike Babcock has sometimes (been) criticized about how and what he does with young players, but what he’s been asking of William Nylander is that consistency to compete. That’s something I had to go through in my career, where you have to make sure you get the puck, you have to make sure you’re responsible defensively, you have to make sure that you win your one-on-one battle."
Given Nylander's strong skating, slick hands, good vision, and ability to carry the puck smoothly from zone to zone, offense isn't an issue, but it's the defensive side of the puck that raises questions as to whether he can play center.
Most Maple Leafs fans have only been privy to Nylander's talent since he was called up at the tail end of the 2015-16 season, but Justin Bourne, a senior NHL columnist with The Athletic, saw the Swede hone his skills as an AHL center during his two-year stint as Marlies video coach.
"You can really get exposed if you’re not on your game in terms of energy and being engaged (while playing center)," Bourne told theScore. "(Nylander has) struggled with finding that, but that’s not uncommon with young players - and I think maybe we saw that with Nazem Kadri at one point, but Babcock eventually got through to him, so it'll be interesting to see if he ever gets through to Nylander, too."
Kadri, like Nylander, was a top-10 pick (seventh overall in 2009) but it took him until his age-26 season (Babcock's second in Toronto) to hit his stride.
"It’s going to be interesting to see because I think a lot of the reason that Kadri ended up becoming such a valuable centerman and so good at his role, is he grew up," said Bourne, who reached as high as the AHL level in his playing career. "He stopped partying as much, got married, he became a little bit more serious. Not that Nylander parties - that’s not it at all. It will be interesting to see if he matures the same way Naz did."
If Nylander can show significant signs of maturity and growth, it's difficult not to be excited by the impact he could have down the middle.
"It can be frustrating as a coach because when he's on - when he's engaged, he's present, and he cares - he can take over hockey games," Bourne said. "You get frustrated because, well, why don’t we see this every night? He just needs to become more consistent so he can be the best version of himself night in and night out. If he ever gets there, you’re talking about one of the best players in the league."
Sink or swim?
Banking on Nylander to find that consistency next season is a dicey proposition. If Toronto doesn't add another competent center and Babcock loses trust in Nylander during the season, Dubas will have to find someone to play down the middle before another expected playoff run.
"I think I’d be at least willing to experiment and you hope for the best of what you’re able to get this offseason," Bourne said. "I think if you’re able to make a trade for a good center, then maybe you keep him at wing. If you go into the year and you haven’t really found a solution to the problem, I think at the very least you gotta run him out there and just see what he can do. Let him make the decision for you. If he can do it, you can keep him there, if he can’t, then, well, back to the wing he goes."
If the Maple Leafs are unable to woo John Tavares, acquiring a pivot could prove difficult, and they'd likely have to overpay for any free-agent center. That's not ideal considering the cap crunch Toronto could find itself in come next offseason.
It's also tough to make a deal for a center on the trade market since the position is perpetually in demand. Dubas would almost certainly have to give up more than he should at the moment.
An effective Nylander manning center would be the most convenient option, then. But if he isn't ready to play the middle next season, will he ever be?
Bourne and Tanguay agreed that continuously jostling Nylander from position to position is not conducive to success. Unprompted, both brought up the Montreal Canadiens' utilization of the now-traded Alex Galchenyuk.
"If they’re gonna try (Nylander at center) this year, you have to give him a time frame to do it because obviously, it takes time, it takes adjustment. You have to make a decision. You look at the case of Galchenyuk in Montreal," Tanguay said prior to Galchenyuk's trade to the Arizona Coyotes. "(They’ve) been trying for the last four or five years to get him to play center, and give him different opportunities, and it seems like defensively he’s still having a hard time grasping a hold of the center-ice position."
Galchenyuk's shown flashes of promise over his first six NHL seasons but has never truly lived up to the expectations that come with being drafted third overall. It's hard not to believe that his constant positional switches have something to do with that.
"After two, three seasons ... I think there’s gotta be a cutoff," Bourne said, also prior to the trade. "I don’t like the way Montreal is dealing with Galchenyuk, in terms of, 'Well maybe one day he’ll be a center.' I think you know pretty quick. I think (the Leafs) need to be honest with themselves if it doesn’t work for them this season."
There's no doubt Nylander is a supremely gifted offensive NHLer. He's collected 61 points in each of his first two full seasons playing right wing. Still, his value will only skyrocket if he can become a productive center, one who's able to grasp the defensive element of the position, even if it comes at the expense of some offense. Given that Nylander, currently a restricted free agent, is going to be signed (likely long term) at winger's pay, Toronto has the potential to come out of this situation sitting pretty.
Centers are treasured in the NHL. Every club wants them, and no team has enough of them. Toronto's decision of what to do with Nylander is a massive one and will have a ripple effect throughout the organization.
Toronto's chosen to build around two home-grown centers: 20-year-old wunderkind Matthews and 27-year-old Kadri. Nylander, remember, is still just 22.
Bottom line: The Maple Leafs believe they have a window in which to win a Stanley Cup and could pry it further open if Nylander can successfully transition to a center.
No pressure.
(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick) (Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
Kempny was acquired in a midseason trade from the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he struggled to get into the lineup on a regular basis. With the Capitals, he excelled in a top-four role, serving as a steady, low-risk partner for the dynamic Carlson.
As one of the few blue-liners under 30 years old set to hit the open market July 1, there would surely be no shortage of interest in Kempny.
Chicago received subpar goaltending last season when Corey Crawford went down. He missed the bulk of the 2017-18 campaign due to vertigo-like symptoms, and with his health for next season still unclear, the team wants to ensure it has a better contingency plan.
Ward was solid early in his career, though he's likely no longer a name that will excite Blackhawks fans. A Conn Smythe Trophy winner in his rookie season, the 34-year-old hasn't had a year with a save percentage over .910 since 2011-12.
Last season, Ward posted a .906 save percentage and a 2.73 goals-against-average in 43 games with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Anton Forsberg, Jeff Glass, and the recently traded J-F Berube started most of the games for Chicago with Crawford sidelined in 2017-18.
