Who’s left?

Five big-name unrestricted free agents remain on the market after the frenzy of 1 July and the following three days.

Jake Gardiner, Ryan Dzingel, Joe Thornton, Michael Ferland, and Marcus Johansson all remain unsigned. 

It’s difficult to see any club, other than the San Jose Sharks, picking up Thornton.  At 40, Thornton may have one more season in him for the Sharks and he might leave the ice as captain with Joe Pavelski heading to Dallas.

Thornton has iced for the Sharks since the 2005-06 season and this past campaign he collected 16 goals and 51 points through 73 games.

One more year in San Jose?

Johansson is still unsigned and unlikely to return to the Boston Bruins.  A quick tour around the podcast world would suggest the Bruins are a mess in the locker room and short of cash with the David Backas contract hanging over their heads.

Darren Dreger had Johansson moved on Monday, but that never materialized.  Johansson was a minor disappointment after being acquired as a trade but he contributed during the Bruins’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.

With Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen, Johansson, 28, was a standout, but that has not translated into a contract.

Ferland is 27 and his cap hit was $1.75 million for 2018-19. At left wing this season with the Carolina Hurricanes, he had 17 goals and 40 points but collected only an assist in seven playoff games.   His risk side is considered to be his style play, rough and tumble, and the cost to the physical body is in play.  He is rumored to be on the Colorado Avalanche’s radar.

Dzingel was a trade deadline acquisition by the Columbus Blue Jackets from the Ottawa Senators.  In 57 games with the Senators ahead of the trade, Dzingel had 22 goals and 44 points.

His time in Columbus was frustrating for himself and the Jackets as he added four goals and 12 points in 21 games and had a single goal in 9 playoff games.

In most cases, that is should not be enough to get it done. The extenuating circumstance to be considered is the situation in Columbus where head coach John Tortorella needs a guy in the dog house and Dzingel was a healthy scratch down the stretch for the Jackets.

Dzingel, who played collegiate hockey at Ohio State University, is rumored to be on the Chicago Blackhawks’ radar.

Gardiner, 28, is coming off a 30-point season with three goals with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  There are a few issues that have been discussed with Gardiner and one is that he has a bad back and some teams are leery of taking a chance with a long-term deal.  Gardiner is a good defenseman and played in excess of 21 minutes per game with the Leafs this past season.

The second issue is the Leafs and their salary cap issues.  If not for Mitch Marner going unsigned through Thursday as a restricted free agent, Gardiner may well have been re-signed by Toronto.