Insider says talks with one pending UFA have ceased, meaning that a big name defender will be available in free agency
We are currently about 3 and a half weeks away from the opening of free agency and it appears as though there will be at least one big name UFA defenseman on the board. Per Pierre LeBrun on Friday's edition of Insider Trading, talks between the Dallas Stars and pending UFA John Klingberg have completely stalled and it appears as though he'll be available come July 13th.
Currently, the Stars are believed to be involved in talks with the Montreal Canadiens for veteran defenseman Jeff Petry, who has 3 years remaining on his current deal, which carries a $6.25M cap hit. LeBrun confirmed that the Stars do have some competition, as the Detroit Red Wings are also believe to be interested in acquiring Petry this summer.
By the sounds of things, Klingberg's ask is considerably higher than what the Stars are willing to pay, so that would all but take Klingberg out of the picture for the Leafs long before we even get to free agency. There will certainly be suitors, but if negotiations don't go as planned and Klingberg's ask maybe comes down a little bit, we may see some more teams enter the fray here. Just not sure that the Leafs will be one of them even then.
