Media Bytes: Free Agency Freeze, Schneider Fallout, Eeli Tolvanen, Troy Terry
A one-year, $5.5 million bridge deal has the Rangers media set buzzing about a possible exit strategy. Plus: a familiar name reemerges in trade rumors with Sullivan's fingerprints on it.
Welcome back to Media Bytes, a weekly column from Blueshirt Banter. Every Sunday, we’ll help you start the week right with a quick catch-up on the latest stories and developments around the New York Rangers and the broader NHL media landscape.
The full version of Media Bytes is for Blueshirt Banter members only. To read the full thing and get it delivered to your inbox every Sunday, become a member at Blueshirt Banter today.
Free Agency Freeze
1. The hosts of Blueshirts Breakaway argued this week that NHL free agency is effectively dead, following a trend they believe has already taken hold in the NBA, MLB, and NFL. Ryan Mead and Greg Kaplan pointed to a growing list of star players across professional sports who have bypassed the traditional free agent bidding war, instead forcing trades to preferred destinations before immediately signing extensions.
"I don't think Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid are getting [to free agency]," Mead said while looking ahead to the next wave of superstar contracts. "I think they're going to get traded somewhere and will extend before [getting to market]."
Mead also included Artemi Panarin in that conversation. Although Panarin, 34, recently signed a two-year deal with the Kings, Mead believes he'll still command interest when Matthews and McDavid approach their next contract decisions.
"Panarin is a perfect example from this year," Kaplan added. "He was a pending UFA and no team wanted to trade for him unless he was willing to sign an extension, so he went to the team that was willing to give him one."
The sample size is still relatively small, with this trend only becoming noticeable over the past 18 months or so. Even so, it's becoming harder to ignore the pattern: elite players increasingly appear to be choosing their destinations before reaching the open market, favoring sign-and-trade scenarios over the uncertainty—and competition—of traditional free agency.
