Entering the offseason, Mathew Barzal and Pierre-Luc Dubois were the top restricted free agents.
It remains that way over two months later.
As has been the case the last few years, the RFA market has moved slowly for the top guys. But with the NHL season looking increasingly likely at this point, the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets have to really hammer things away with their young star centers.
And according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, the Columbus-Dubois and New York-Barzal talks have been positive.
"With Dubois, his agent Pat Brisson, who was on our podcast this week, said that talks suddenly over the last little while here started to pick up with the season looking like it was going to return," LeBrun said Thursday on TSN's "Insider Trading." "And I spoke with Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen and he said it was a priority to get Dubois signed before training camp started. He was confident he would do so, and certainly it seems like there's a lot of positive vibes in that negotiation."
"Meanwhile, Barzal and the Islanders, the agent is veteran J.P. Barry -- they've had constant communication between the two sides throughout all of this. They've talked short-term, medium-term, long-term deals. Again, getting a positive vibe out of that negotiation and we'll see where that goes."
Both teams have the cap space to get these deals done, so it really is just a matter of finding common ground on term and money. That, of course, seldom is an easy task, but one all parties seem up to.
