Friedman: Staal extension with Rangers helps Boychuk, Green, Petry

Elliotte Friedman was on Calgary’s Sportsnet 960 on Friday morning.

As part of a larger discussion on Marc Staal’s pending contract extension with the New York Rangers:

“The second thing is, it just thins out the unrestricted free agent market for defensemen a little bit more. Now you’re down to Johnny Boychuk, Mike Green, Jeff Petry. Those are probably your lead guys. I just think that if you’re the agent for those guys, you’re smiling a bit more today because the leverage you have just went up a little bit.”

Source: Sportsnet 960/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

NYR closing in on 6 year extension worth about $5.7M AAV on Marc Staal...first to report was @NYP_Brooksie. Maybe not today, but soon.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 16, 2025

On Staal -- agreement in principle is in-place. Now the lawyers get paid.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 16, 2025

NYR clearly made Staal number one priority. Not much conversation yet (if at all) with St. Louis/Stepan/Zuccarello, etc. Wanted to keep D.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 16, 2025

Related: McKenzie outlines Capitals' potential trade timeline for Green

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