We began to see a trend on Monday with the re-signings of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in Edmonton and Wayne Simmonds in Toronto. Both deals were for less than their cap hits from last season (RNH from $6M to $5.125, Simmonds from $1.5M to 900k) but traded that off for more term (RNH got the eight-year max and a NMC, Simmonds a two-year deal).
This trade off is likely to be repeated before the start of unrestricted free agency with those comfortable playing in their current location, like Gabriel Landeskog in Colorado, Adam Larsson in Edmonton, Mattias Ekholm in Nashville and possibly David Savard in Tampa if the Lightning open enough cap space in the off-season, which could mean that the flat cap for the next few years is going to have a chilling effect on the UFA bidding frenzy.
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) January 5, 2021