Marner to Vegas, Panthers Lock Up Core & More: NHL Free Agency Breakdown

Peter Klein

Mitch Marner’s blockbuster move to Vegas stole the headlines, but there’s so much more happening across the NHL right now. In this segment, we break down:  - Why Vegas went all-in on Marner and how it reshapes the West  - Florida Panthers keeping their core together long-term  - Andersson’s trade rumors and why Flames fans should be cautious  - Key signings and surprising moves from around the league  This is your one-stop breakdown of the biggest NHL news and notes during free agency. No hype, no clickbait — just real analysis for real hockey fans.  👉 Subscribe for more NHL breakdowns and free agency updates!  #NHL #MitchMarner #VegasGoldenKnights #NHLTrades #TorontoMapleLeafs #hockeyanalysis   🎧 Listen on: Apple https://apple.co/49NGm2L | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM?si=icY7NEBvT7yZadv_JFlT6Q  💬 Follow for live breakdowns: X.com/primetimepk | Twitch.tv/primetimepk  | Kick.com/primetimepk  🔗 Support the Show:   - Tip Jar: https://streamelements.com/couchpotatodiary/tip (fuels more content!)   - Partners: C of Dead http://cofdead403.ca/ | Swift Energy https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm PROMO CODE: PKPrimetime for 25% Off!

Transcript

00:00so the NHL the free agency big day is always July 1st except for this year when apparently

00:13it was just June 30th because all of the moves happened on this day as a lot of big things went

00:22down so not envious of those who have to do the the six-hour marathons that are free agency day

00:30or anything like that but the big news is Mitch Marner as the biggest free agent is off to one

00:35of the biggest spenders generally at this time of year in the Vegas Golden Knights it is a sign

00:41and trade that allows Marner to go to Vegas for that extra eighth year at 12 million dollars a

00:46season so just a hair under 100 million dollars on the contract um obviously you love this from a

00:53Vegas standpoint um to to be able to bring in Marner and have in your top six uh Eichel Stone Marner

01:01Hurdle and then name a couple that is a very high level group to be going into this with and so

01:10obviously a huge moment for the Vegas Golden Knights and you kind of knew something like this was going

01:15to happen coming off of a series loss against Edmonton where goal scoring was a bit of an

01:20issue now if you are going to be looking at postseason performance uh and Mitch Marner yeah it's going to

01:28be a quick google search that's for sure if you're looking for positive things anyway but this does take

01:32some of the pressure off of him he also fits the Vegas style where like he can kill penalties he can go

01:38out there on the power play he can put up goals for this team he he does I think fit this identity

01:44of this vegan uh Vegas Golden Knights team and again you are seeing their dedication to bringing

01:49high level hockey players out to Nevada is it's second to none right now with what they are doing

01:55so I I think that this takes some of the pressure off of him um I think that if there are losses now

02:01in Vegas it is not going to be the same type of light that they were um under if it was Toronto

02:07quite frankly so I think that kind of checks the box for him it keeps him with a competitive hockey

02:12team and it makes Vegas like you look at the work that Edmonton's going to have to do and we'll get

02:17to Edmonton here in a second but you look at the work that Edmonton is going to have to do now

02:21and the work that Vegas has done I think it puts Vegas now ahead of Edmonton in the pecking order

02:29in the Pacific Division it is a sign in trade so going back to Toronto is Nicholas Waugh um as he's

02:35uh 15 goals 16 assists it's a three million dollar cap hit with a year left on it it's a strong

02:40depth forward option for them and should help out in that way um that they also bring in Michelli

02:46who has some interesting playmaking abilities so they have found a couple of depth options and as

02:53we'll talk about here in a second they might need a few more of those because the high level

02:58opportunities are dwindling away um so we'll talk about that here in a second back on the Vegas

03:06front though apparently they're not done as they have um found their way to being the front runner

03:11and maybe the only runner in the Rasmus Andersen sweepstakes he says according to uh reporting I

03:17believe it's Pierre Lebrun who has this uh Rasmus Andersen he doesn't want to go anywhere but Vegas

03:22and isn't going to sign an extension anywhere but Vegas as he is just copy and pasting the Noah

03:27Hannafin playbook so it it puts it puts the flames in a tricky position because if you look at the

03:34futures for Vegas there just aren't any the flames already have one of them in the draft pick next

03:39year and in terms of prospects we went over who these guys have as their main forward group you

03:46don't get that while also getting a just a cupboard full of elite level prospects that stuff doesn't

03:52happen so it is it it's going to be tough for the flames they're either going to need to get a third

03:59team involved which normally only happens for salary purposes but this might have to be just a

04:04legit three-team trade if they want to get back what they feel like is worthy or this is not going

04:11to be the deal that flames fans want and I I saw a lot of panic buttons being pushed about this

04:19situation right now situations can change but yeah it doesn't look awesome for the flames at this

04:24particular point and for Vegas if you're wondering how they make it work um Petrangelo with the statement

04:29today that did not seem like a human being that's going to continue playing hockey for a while so

04:33all of a sudden a lot of LTI are opening up with the Vegas Golden Knights so why must the Toronto Maple

04:39Leafs now get maybe a little bit creative if they want to make a couple of uh big splashes in free

04:44agency while the trio of big ones coming from Florida that we thought the Panthers could keep one

04:49maybe two of all three are sticking with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions Marchand signs for

04:56six years at 32 million dollars Ekblad signs for six years with a 6.1 AAV and Bennett does an eight

05:02by eight look the last couple of these seasons are going to be rough and I would suggest at some point

05:10at the back part of this Brad Marchand puts out a very similar statement to Alex Petrangelo and all of a

05:16sudden that's an LTIR number right on the bottom um of uh someone's puckpedia page because like there I

05:24look I think that he has done a phenomenal job of evolving as he follows along the aging curve

05:31and I think that he is a very smart hockey player but the NHL is the NHL man like at 43 I don't know

05:37but they're not doing this so that they can be awesome five years from now they are doing this

05:42so they can win another Stanley Cup next year and they'll just deal with whatever comes their way

05:47the fact that they are able to get all three of these done keep in Ekblad who will now probably be

05:52a panther for life keep in Bennett who I mean it's gonna be pretty close and those flames years are

05:58gonna be certainly forgot probably already have been um for most people and Brad Marchand it's not

06:03gonna get to the point where what he was a Bruin at one point but I mean you've kept these guys now

06:08around for a long term and to have this team that felt like it was almost perfectly constructed

06:14and thinking like oh man it's gonna be a bit of a bummer but uh yeah yeah yeah gonna have to adjust

06:19at some point to now keep all three of them that is a phenomenal bit of work for the the Florida

06:24Panthers and now if you are the Leafs or someone else who is looking for that big splash that identity

06:30Colorado I think goes into this as well this doesn't help and I like all of a sudden uh Brock Besser's

06:38agent very happy with how things are going today and I would suggest Nikolai Ehlers agent

06:45very happy with how things are going today so um this has been quite the progression for

06:53these players and now all of a sudden they become the the the best chair available when the music

07:01stops playing here in free agency because yeah it's um it's drying up out there pretty pretty quickly

07:07I would suggest um love chatting with all of you guys normally do these live on YouTube Twitch and

07:14kick uh but doing this one uh taped in a little bit later just because that is what the schedule

07:18allowed for today but uh as always you can share these videos with your friends and maybe a couple

07:23people who you don't like just to throw them off a little bit uh but make sure you hit that share

07:26button and if you're listening sorry in podcast form um yeah make sure you go out and uh share this

07:32as well as we continue to grow on these platforms other big news out in Canada as uh Evan Bouchard is

07:39staying with Edmonton for some big money as he signs a four-year deal worth 10.5 million dollars a

07:46season that is 100% the value that Bouchard provides on offense and it's about 30x what he provides on

07:55defense um they had to do this one there is no way you get to within a game and two games of the

08:04Stanley Cup final and have already the losses that they have and the adjustments they're going to have

08:10to make and let this guy go and think that you have made your hockey team better like it is just

08:18it's too many things you have to check off and is this probably too much for Evan Bouchard

08:23a y'all it is uh it takes some of the pressure off of Darnell Nurse who no longer has to be the

08:28highest paid player on the Edmonton Oilers blue line but I mean look like he is at his elitist

08:34levels Evan Bouchard is phenomenal and he is worth this money but a couple of those defensive plays

08:39and it's like god damn that's 10.5 huh this playoff run was big for him to get this and to justify it

08:45because of how well he did play through three rounds without Ekholm I do think he turned into a pumpkin

08:50at some point but it was good for him to show that it is just it is such a high cap number and I get

08:55the caps going up but generally with the cap going up you want that to allow you to better your team

09:01instead of well we're able to keep everything the same and we still don't have a trophy but it'll be

09:08fine um I guess they do technically have a couple trophies from the west final but um this is it's a

09:14move that just it stings but it is a move that I think you absolutely had to do and one more that

09:19that came down um Andre Kuzmenko sorry is sticking around with the Kings it's a one-year deal that

09:26makes all the sense in the world to kind of keep him motivated he turned this LA Kings team around

09:30and he was a dynamic that changed on the offensive side that made the Kings look like they could be a

09:37bit of a juggernaut in the west and on the run that they went on and through the first couple of

09:42games against Edmonton but then one failed clearing attempt one bad challenge and all of a sudden the

09:47Oilers are on a roll and they couldn't stop them but this was an important piece of that and look

09:52when he left Philly at the deadline it was almost signed sealed and delivered that that guy was

09:57going to be under a KHL contract next year so for him to help out for the Kings to utilize him in the

10:02way that they did all of it makes a ton of sense so keeping him around I think made a whole lot of

10:08sense as well a reminder if you are watching this you can get these podcasts up wherever you get

10:14your podcasts including Spotify and on Apple

10:17you

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