The 5th overall pick from 2010 headed to free agency this summer, per his agent
By this time next week, teams will have added a significant number of new assets to their respective rosters to help set them for the future. However, less than a week later, many teams will also be parting with substantial pieces thanks to free agency on July 13th. The Carolina Hurricanes are more than likely to be among the teams who may be watching an important piece walk out the door it seems.
A former 5th overall pick in 2010, Nino Niederreiter has six 20-goal seasons under his belt and has flirted with that total in a 7th year (2017-18, when he was limited to just 63 games). Alongside Canes captain Jordan Staal, Niederreiter was a staple in the team's middle six, primarily used in a shutdown role on the third line this season. Despite drawing the opposition's toughest matchups, the 29-year-old was still able to amass 44 points in 75 games in 2021-22.
Niederreiter, who turns 30 on September 8th, is coming off of a 5-year, $26.25M contract, which carried a $5.25M cap hit. With an estimated career earnings of $36,248,373, free agency could be Niederreiter's last opportunity to secure the bag. That said, according to his agent, Andre Rufener, Niederreiter has not officially closed the door on a return to Carolina, but it appears as though he's not the slightest bit interested in taking a pay cut. Rufener stated on Friday that his client is "definitely" going to test the waters in free agency to see what opportunities may be out there for him.
-Niederreiter's agent Andre Rufener on his client heading to the UFA market on July 13th
Given what Niederreiter is likely to command on the open market, I can't see the Leafs being interested, especially since they seem to be disinterested in bringing back Ilya Mikheyev at a ~$4M cap hit. Mikheyev is not only younger than Niederreiter, but he's also better defensively, and way more effective off the rush. Still, I don't think the Swiss winger will have any shortage of potential suitors when free agency opens up in less than 2 weeks time.
