from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Trade bait, bridge candidates, and future superstars that need to be locked up ASAP.

The 2023 class of restricted free agents offers a smorgasbord of situations.

And while several potential ’23 RFAs avoided the drama and uncertainty by signing well in advance of expiry (Mathew Barzal, Roope Hintz, Dylan Cozens, Matt Boldy, and Stuart Skinner among them), plenty of intriguing young talents remain unsigned.

As these RFAs look to bank off their platform seasons and owners wrestle with slow-to-rise salary cap, many tense negotiations (or trades?) are still on deck.

The situations in Winnipeg, Ottawa, New Jersey, New York, and Anaheim are particularly interesting.

Here’s where things stand with the top 12 RFAs of 2023 as July 1 fast approaches.

continued and a good read if interested in the topic...