Early August, and the phone still isn’t ringing
Two of the more reliable goal-scorers of the last decade are sitting at home. Patrik Laine. Vladimir Tarasenko. Both still unsigned, both still waiting for an offer that fits.
They aren’t alone. Michael Bunting, Eeli Tolvanen and Logan Stanley are floating around the same free-agent pool. On paper it reads like a decent second line. In reality it reads like a warning.
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The cap space vanished weeks ago
Camps open soon. Rosters are mostly set. The clubs that had money to spend spent it back in July, and what’s left under the cap now barely covers a depth signing.
That’s the trap of a long summer. Wait for the market to come to you and you can end up negotiating against the calendar instead of another bidder. These are veterans who wanted a real payday. The leverage has quietly slipped to the other side of the table.
Montreal, meanwhile, just keeps working
No drama by the St. Lawrence. The Canadiens locked up defenceman Maksymilian Szuber on a one-year, two-way deal, the kind of move that never makes a headline but fills a hole.
Laine and Tarasenko are still hunting an entry point. Every day the door narrows a little more.
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