On Wednesday morning, the New Jersey Devils announced their stalemate with restricted free agent defenseman Luke Hughes ended as he was signed to a seven-year deal with a $9 million average annual value. It was reported both sides were working on a six-year deal, but the willingness to go to seven convinced New Jersey to commit to more money per season making both sides happy. What general manager Tom Fitzgerald called his “number one priority” this offseason has finally been taken care of with just under a week remaining until puck drops on the regular season.
Luke Evangelista of the Nashville Predators remains the most high profile un-signed restricted free agent remaining. Both sides seem refusing to budge. The Predators are said to be dead set on their number, reported to be $2 million, while Evangelista wants $3 million. Nashville’s recent history of not being able to retain talent wingers (Eeli Tolvanen and Kevin Fiala are prime examples) adds even more concern.
All the pressure is now on Evangelista and Nashville to get a deal as the clock keeps ticking. $1 million should be such a roadblock considering how the cap is expected to finally increase by a sizeable amount. That might have been a deal breaker in the past few seasons, but that amount is going to start seeming like pocket change. As "The Tennessean" pointed out the cap hit Evangelista is seeking isn’t that much different from the much older Erik Haula, who provided similar production and was acquired via trade this offseason.
Don’t forget the cautionary tales of restricted free agents whose contract holdouts went into the regular season. William Nylander infamously sat out until December, although in the long run the Toronto Maple Leafs and he didn’t seem to suffer too much. The only good that came out of Shane Pinto’s not signing until January 2024 was that it helped negate most of his gambling suspension. Games he missed because of his contract dispute counted towards the 41 games he was punished for.
The name that came immediately to mind was Jeremy Swayman with the Boston Bruins last season. He signed at the eleventh hour before the 2024-2025 regular season began after missing all of training camp. His first season as Boston’s undisputed number one goaltender never recovered, as Swayman finished with a 3.12 goals against average and a 0.892 save percentage. Granted it was a down year for everyone in Boston not named David Pastrnak. Advanced stats show that Swayman can’t blame the rest of his team’s shortcomings, as he finished 57th in the league with -9.10 goals saved above expected.
Then there’s the situation in Nashville as the Predators try to rebound after being the league’s most disappointing team last season. All their highly touted free agency signings in the summer of 2024 lead them to a 30-44-8 season. Evangelista’s one of the few under-25-year-olds on the team and the career middle-six forward is projected to be their second line right winger.
We may be two months away, but there’s also that rule that restricted free agents must be signed by December 1st or they would be ineligible to play this season. Nylander signed right at the buzzer ending his stalemate in 2018. With Hughes signing his new pact in New Jersey, all remaining eyes are putting pressure on Nashville and Evangelista to find common ground.