The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away with a lot of movement having already happened. Yet, that’s not the only time we’ll see movement in the near future. With a salary cap set to increase by over $7M this offseason, a lot of NHL teams have a little more spending power in the market place. Last offseason we saw the St. Louis Blues offer sheet both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from Edmonton. I expect more offer sheets to roll in this year. But who could potentially be a candidate for an offer sheet?
Evan Bouchard, D Edmonton Oilers
Kaapo Kakko, RW Seattle Kraken
Kakko has had a rejuvenation in Seattle. He was traded from New York after only putting up 14 points in 30 games to start this season. With the Kraken, however, he has a very respectable 21 points in 29 games and could be growing into the top six winger he was projected to be back in the 2019 draft. A lot of this I think will have to do what GM Rob Francis does at the trade deadline. If he moves rumored names like Jared McCann, then I think the possibility of 24 year old Finnish winger hitting RFA is all but squashed. Part of that may already be dampened with the departure of winger Oliver Bjorkstrand. But if they opt to only move expiring contracts from here on out or stand firm, there’s a chance teams look at Kakko’s current production and make an offer.
Joel Hofer, G St. Louis Blues
The last time an NHL team put in an offer sheet for a goalie was 1996. However St. Louis could be getting a taste of their own medicine this offseason with goaltender Joel Hofer being an RFA. His stats don’t seem to jump off the page when you look at them, but I think that has a lot to do with the team in front of him. St. Louis has struggled to generate offense and having three different head coaches in 24 months means it’s difficult for any team to be able to settle into a system. When the offense struggles, the pressure in the defense heightens. Last year he put up a .913 save percentage, ranking 7th among goalies with at least 30 appearances. This year has been up and down for him as he’s played jump rope with the .900 mark, but the Blues have a choice to make. Do they keep 31 year old Jordan Binnington, or move him when his value is highest to a team in need of goaltending like Carolina or Edmonton? And if they keep him are they okay with losing Hofer? Time will tell.
K’Andre Miller, LHD New York Rangers
Out of all the offer sheet possibilities, I think an offer for Miller is most realistic for three reasons. First, the Rangers don’t have a ton of cap space to spend given the names to be re-signed. Will Cuylle, Zac Jones (two honorable mentions), Matt Rempe, Adam Edstrom, Jusso Parssinen, and Urho Vaakanainen are all everyday players when healthy who are also pending RFAs with just under $17M in cap space. Maybe half of that cap space goes to that group of players with Cuylle commanding the majority of the pot, but there are currently no left handed defenseman rostered for next season. There’s a good possibility that another team views Miller as a low end top 2 defenseman. For a team that has no second or fourth round picks in 2026 or 2027, they could possibly take the compensation for the young defenseman.
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