Elliotte Friedman was convinced Steven Stamkos was going to join the Nashville Predators. Now he’s adding the Vegas Golden Knights, while also pointing out that the Detroit Red Wings and Carolina Hurricanes are in the running.
Friedman also says Montreal will try to sign Marchessault, but that one team will end up overpaying him and it won’t be Montreal. Just like in the Stamkos case, Nashville is very aggressive for Marchessault. Here are his comments on Sportsnet.
“Coming out of the draft, Nashville was at the top of my list for Steven Stamkos, but Marchessault’s departure upsets me. Guentzel is signed. Reinhart is signed. Barring a trade that I haven’t discovered yet, Stamkos is the real big fish to replace.
The Golden Knights will take a chance. But I still believe the Predators want him and the Red Wings will have the opportunity to get him if they want.
Stamkos’ pedigree is such that there will be surprise suitors, and if I had to pick an unexpected option, it would be Carolina. The Hurricanes still have a plan, but they were really hoping to keep Guentzel. They’ll try to redeem themselves with Stamkos.”
Here are Friedman’s predictions for major free agents.
Elias Lindholm : Boston.
Jordan Martinook : Chicago.
Sean Monahan : Columbus ou Winnipeg.
Brandon Montour : Utah ou Seattle.
Brett Pesce : New Jersey.
Matt Roy : Washington.
Jeff Skinner: Seattle, but lots of options.
Brady Skjei : Nashville.
Kevin Stenlund: Utah.
Brett Pesce: New Jersey
Chandler Stephenson : Nashville, Seattle ou St. Louis.
Chris Tanev: Toronto (about six years at $4.5M per year).
Teuvo Teravainen : New York (Rangers) or Chicago.
Tyler Toffoli : Los Angeles, Rangers ou Sharks
Yakov Trenin : Minnesota.
Sean Walker : Floride.
Nikita Zadorov: Boston.
Tyler Bertuzzi : Chicago.
Sam Carrick : Rangers.
Viktor Arvidsson : Edmonton
Anthony Beauvillier : Pittsburgh.
Laurent Brossoit or Anthony Stolarz: Toronto.
William Carrier : Dallas.
Ian Cole : Utah.
Jake DeBrusk : Seattle
Brenden Dillon : New Jersey.
Matt Duchene : Dallas.
Joel Edmundson : Los Angeles ou Ottawa.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson : Toronto.
Warren Foegele : Los Angeles.
Not a single trace of the Montreal Canadiens. OUCH. But he forgot to make his predictions on Jonathan Marchessault, Jake Debrusk and David Perron.
Everything is possible.
