Welcome back for part III. This week we'll cover the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Montreal Canadiens, and Minnesota Wild. The previous sections in this ongoing series can be found here.

You will see the trend continue this week, where some teams have little in the way of unrestricted free agents. This is due at least in part to the expansion draft, as teams aim to have several viable options for the Seattle Kraken to choose from. Also, in part due to the pandemic and players wanting a second or third year on a contract for job security.

I can't recall another season where so many teams had this many bottom-six roster players under contract.

You can once again find the link to Alex MacLean's UFA salary projections here.

Up first…

New York Rangers – Anthony DeAngelo, Age 25, Defense ($4.8M)

I know, I know, he's not an unrestricted free agent. But he is more interesting to discuss than Jack Johnson, Brendan Smith or Phillip Di Giuseppe. Unless you play in the absolute deepest of pools those three won't move the needle for you.

Now, if I look into my crystal ball, I can justify this by predicting DeAngelo will be an unrestricted free-agent as soon as the Rangers enter the buy-out window.

It's also entirely possible no one signs DeAngelo. It's more likely though, a team will sign him for dirt cheap on a short-term contract to give him one more chance. He is young with loads of skill. That, more often than not, draws teams to players – regardless of baggage.

Time will tell where or if he lands. His limitations are all off-ice. From a value stand-point, if/when the Rangers buy him out DeAngelo will hold the potential to be the best value contract available this summer.

I don't see any scenario where he returns in a Rangers uniform next season. That ship has already sailed. I also don't see another team willing to make a trade, even for a bad contract to acquire DeAngelo. There is significantly more risk at $4.8M than $1M.

Owning DeAngelo is a controversial decision in real life and fantasy – that becomes a personal and potentially a moral laden choice. I will stick to the facts. On a cheap contract, there's potential of him being fantastic bang for the buck… if he can sign one.

New York Islanders – Kyle Palmieri, Age 30, Right Wing ($4.65M)

It has not been a season Palmieri will want to remember. As poor as it was in New Jersey things only got worse after the trade to the Islanders.

I don't think anyone expected Palmieri to have four points in 17 games with the Islanders. We all know the Islanders don't scoring much but those numbers are Taylor Hall-in-Buffalo bad (too soon?). There have been signs of life in the playoffs but unless there is a prolonged stretch of dominant play, I don't see the playoffs offsetting his poor regular season.

Hopefully, General Managers learned from the summer of 2016. I don't know if more mistakes were made in a single summer of free agency as in that summer. It was the mind-boggling summer where Andrew Ladd, Milan Lucic, James Neal, David Backes, Loui Eriksson, and yes, Kyle Palmieri all signed large five- and six-year contracts. As one of my favorite writes, Hunter S. Thompson would often exclaim, "Ye-Gods!"

Be warned, Palmieri is the only one from this group to provide good value throughout the duration of the contract. He was also the youngest in that group to sign in 2016.  Anything beyond three years on this next deal has all the hallmarks of ending like the aforementioned group.

I can't help but believe there is a swift decline in play coming Palmieri's way over the next couple seasons. Buyer beware with this one. This is the type of player I don't mind unloading ahead of the decline, even if I am a year or two early, rather than get stuck with what awaits the drop, post cliff.  

If I'm contending next year, I would risk owning him. Regardless of performance I would look to move him at the end of 2021/22 while he holds good value.

New Jersey Devils (Former) – Travis Zajac, Age 36 Center ($5.75M)

Ryan Murray and Scott Wedgewood don't really move the UFA needle when it comes to value discussions. I would rather cheat (again) and cover a player that holds more potential fantasy value. It was only a couple months ago that Zajac was a life-long Devil. It seems only fitting, doesn't it?

Zajac's big payday contracts are officially over. At 36, Zajac is looking at transitioning to a support role, and likely with a contending team. A short, one- or two-year deal for something close to his current Islanders cap-hit is what I would suspect him to sign. Somewhere in the $2M to $2.5M range.

Zajac can still be a valuable, productive player – for the bottom of your roster. In a third line role he provides depth scoring. In the right situation he could still push a 40-point season.

Nashville Predators – Mikael Granlund, Age 29, Right Wing ($3.75M)

As lethargic as Granlund's 2020-21 season felt, it was still an incremental improvement over 2019-20 with 27 points in 51 games.

It is hard to believe that Granlund has tanked from a 69-point player to a 40-point player seemingly overnight. It shouldn't really be a complete surprise though. This is a team that has only had 4 players in their history with 70+ point seasons: Paul Kariya did it twice, JP Dumont & Jason Arnott the other two. Filip Forsberg shockingly holds a career high of 64-points. It is possible Granlund is more hampered by the Predators style of play than his play has fallen off a cliff.

His time in Nashville hasn't returned any financial favors for him. He is destined for another mid-to-lower value contract. There will be a few teams looking closely at him during the summer (We all suffered through two months of the media pouring over Kyle Dubas' infatuation with him). Any team that struggled to score goals should be interested.

His next contract should be close to, if not identical to his current one-year deal. If he returns to Nashville I don't see him returning to the 65-point years he had in Minnesota or even coming close. I expect more of the same. If he lands in a more offensive-minded system, I would be on the buy train.

I am convinced he's still a 55-point forward, just not in Nashville.

Montreal Canadiens – Tomas Tatar, Age 30, LW/RW ($4.8M)

The hype Tatar brought with him into the NHL still follows him around like a mid-day shadow. It's hard to see, but it lingers. He was a steady performer for Detroit even though he never really brought his game to the next level we all hoped for and some expected.

Then he was dealt to Vegas and never adjusted. So much so that they did not hesitate in trading him less than a year later for Max Pacioretty.

But he did gel right away in Montreal. His fist year in Montreal was good with 58 points in 80 games. Last year was even better with 61 in 68. His production did drop this year to 30 in 50 which may play a role in the value of his next contract but only slightly.

Tatar has demonstrated he can be a very strong, reliable top six forward. Alex MacLean had Tatar signing for $5.8M this summer. After his disappointing season I expect him to sign for slightly less than that projection – in the $5.2 to $5.5M range.

It makes sense from a fit perspective for Tatar to re-sign in Montreal. Yet when you look at Montreal's cap situation, it's unlikely he returns. With $12 million in current cap space and only eight forwards under contract, spending $5M or more on Tatar does not seem feasible. That leaves a lot of contracts to sign for $12M.

In the $5.25M to $5.75M range Tatar remains a good contract. That said, I think there are players with similar production at better value than Tatar.

Minnesota Wild – Nick Bonino, Age 33, Center ($4.1M)

There aren't any high-end options available in Minnesota. It was really between Bonino and Marcus Johansson. Based on age and where I suspect the two players next contracts to fall, I felt Bonino provided better value of the two.

Bonino is entering the twilight years of his career. He has been deemed over-paid this entire contract at $4.1M. With some big names on the market, while older, the centers available this summer will be vying for the same spots among contending teams (Ryan Getzlaf, Travis Zajac, David Krejci, Paul Stastny, Erik Haula) as Bonino.

For the few top-team spots the competition is going to be fierce. Bonino isn't in the same tier as these other players. One could argue Getzlaf's play has declined to the point he shouldn't be included either. Regardless, it is not the best year to be a free agent depth center.

Yet, Bonino doesn't play like an aging player. His game speed & skill looks the same as it did a couple years ago when he went to Nashville. It won't matter, other centers will be viewed as more experienced, better leaders.

This will push Bonino down the food chain and result in him signing a friendly contract. Another year or two close to a .5 point per game player and a salary in the $1.5 to $2.5M range should keep him on the bottom of most rosters. In deeper pools he becomes slightly more valuable.

A fringe player that could provide good return on the dollar. We all know every dollar counts.

Thanks for reading. Next week we continue with part 4.

(all stats from frozentools.com; all salary info from capfriendly.com; Nashville Predators team record info from quanthockey.com)

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