Labor Day has officially passed, which means players are starting to trickle back to their respective cities in preparation for the 2019-20 NHL season. But there are still plenty of housekeeping items on the agenda for general managers across the league.
Brock Boeser, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Mikko Rantanen and Matthew Tkachuk are all notable restricted free agent forwards who have yet to sign with their respective clubs and may not have a deal before training camp opens. Same with defensemen Charlie McAvoy, Ivan Provorov and Zach Werenski. These are significant names.
The holdup among the upper tier forward group appears to be Marner, who could reset the market for wingers because he feels he deserves to be paid as much as, if not more than, teammates Auston Matthews and John Tavares — $11 million average annual value.