NHL Free Agency: 3 teams who should sign Alex Pietrangelo

Which teams have the best chance of signing Alex Pietrangelo in NHL free agency?

According to Darren Dreger, the St. Louis Blues are likely going to let their captain Alex Pietrangelo test NHL free agency. For the first time in his career, the Stanley Cup champion will be on the open market.

It’s rare to see a player of Pietrangelo’s caliber hit the open market. However, the flat salary cap ceiling has created the perfect storm. Just like John Tavares two years ago and Artemi Panarin last year, Pietrangelo will be the crown jewel of this year’s free agent class.

Pietrangelo likely isn’t taking a discount on the open market. He still might take one to stay with the Blues, where he has played in his entire career and where his wife is from, but once free agency starts, all bets are off. Pietrangelo will be looking to join a Stanley Cup contender and will be looking to make a ton of money. And he has earned that right.

Which teams have the best chance of signing Pietrangelo? Let’s look at three teams who should sign him.

Dark Horse: Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are in a very unique position. Their Stanley Cup window is wide open. But at the same time, they have some young defensemen coming up on the right side. Cale Makar is already a stud. Conor Timmins is likely going to be an NHL player. Keep in mind they have Erik Johnson too.

To sign Pietrangelo, the Avalanche are going to have to get a little bit lucky. Their best offer for Pietrangelo might be a one-year deal. With the flat salary cap, they can’t afford to let Pietrangelo’s contract interfere with them signing Makar to what will most likely be a very lucrative deal after the 2020-21 season.

Let’s say Pietrangelo doesn’t quite like what he’s getting offered in free agency. Maybe he goes to the Avalanche and signs a one-year deal with them. This would immediately make the Avalanche the team to beat in the Western Conference. Pietrangelo would be a terrific mentor for Makar and Bowen Byram, even if it’s merely for one year.

Is it probably happening? Absolutely not. But would we like to see it? Sure. It would be really fascinating to see a free agent take a one-year deal in this market and just go after a Stanley Cup. The Avalanche would be a perfect team to do this with.

1. Toronto Maple Leafs

Alex Pietrangelo is from somewhere pretty close to Toronto, so it’s practically a law that he has to be tied to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs enter this offseason looking to improve the right side of their blueline and Pietrangelo would certainly help them do that.

Pietrangelo would immediately be the Leafs best defenseman by a country mile. With Morgan Rielly, he’d form one heck of a top pairing capable of hanging with the elite teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins.

Of course, there’s the slight problem of the salary cap. Currently, the Maple Leafs have about $6 million of cap space with 18 players signed, according to CapFriendly. That’s barely enough money to re-sign RFAs Ilya Mikheyev and Travis Dermott, let alone sign someone of Pietrangelo’s caliber.

However, it could be done. The Leafs would probably need to trade Frederik Andersen and find a cheap replacement for him. This would give them about $4 million of cap space. Yes, Andersen makes $5 million, but they also have to replace him with a goalie who makes about $1 million.

On top of that, they’d need to trade Andreas Johnsson. Oh, and the Leafs probably can’t afford to retain any salary on Andersen or Johnsson. This would mean Travis Dermott’s likely on his way out as well, simply because the Leafs can only play six defensemen.

That would give the Leafs about $8 million of cap space, give or take $1 million. Is that enough to sign Pietrangelo? Maybe. The Leafs are sure as heck going to try to sign Pietrangelo. But it might not be possible for them.