Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Will RFAs Sign Before The World Cup? Does It Matter?

08/29/2016 at 7:33am EDT

from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

The calendar still says it’s August so it’s a little hard to ponder the thought that training camps for the tournament start in one week. On Sept. 5, Jack Eichel will be among those gathering in Montreal for Team North America, joining the likes of Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Aaron Ekblad, Nathan MacKinnon and Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Matt Murray.

Crosby and Team Canada work out in Ottawa. Finland, featuring Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, will open workouts in Helsinki. Russia, whose roster includes new Buffalo defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, will work out in St. Petersburg. South Buffalo’s Patrick Kane will among those working out for Coach John Tortorella at the Team USA camp in Columbus.

Ristolainen is one of a handful of unsigned restricted free agents who are expected to play in the tournament despite their contract status, as the NHL and NHLPA are combining to insure those players. The list also includes Team North America duo Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary) and Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg) and Russia winger Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay).

Teams would certainly prefer their players to be signed before heading to the tournament and it will be interesting to watch if things progress with those four players this week.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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