TSN’s Gino Reda spoke with Darren Dreger and Chris Johnston for the first episode of Insider Trading of the new season, and Johnston addressed Moritz Seider’s situation:
From the TSN.ca transcript:
GENO REDA: It’s the season debut of Insider Trading. They are the Insiders, Darren Dreger and Chris Johnston. Gentlemen, NHL training camps are opening up across league this week, and there are some big name restricted free agents still waiting for contracts. One of the biggest names out there right now, C.J., is Jeremy Swayman. At last word, Swayman and the Bruins were miles apart on a new deal. Any updates on that front?
CHRIS JOHNSTON: Well, what I can tell you as of early Tuesday evening, anyways, it was described as ‘status-quo’ in these talks, and I think the timestamp is important because this is an hour-by-hour situation with the camp opening in Boston on Wednesday. Obviously a lot of urgency trying to get the No. 1 goaltender of the Bruins signed, and really, this goes back a long time. They’ve been working at this file for quite some time trying to find an agreement on, what I think, has been focused on a long-term deal. You have to wonder if they can’t quite get there, if they can’t bridge that gap, maybe they find something a little shorter to get to a solution here. But certainly, this is a big one around the league.
Another situation worth monitoring is in Detroit, where Moritz Seider, the defenceman for the Red Wings, remains unsigned as well. The talks there had been focused on an eight-year contract, the maximum allowable, just as his teammate Lucas Raymond signed. But it sounds like now it’s going to be something a little shorter, and the reason for that is the Red Wings have been reluctant to pay anyone more than the $8.7 million per year that captain Dylan Larkin gets. I think one way to maybe get Seider into the mid-eights, or somewhere below that number is to do a six or seven-year deal, and so look for that as they look to get him signed and in camp here as soon as possible.
