After today’s flurry of moves, Nikolaj Ehlers has arguably become the top pending free-agent forward available. Commanding plenty of interest already, Murat Ates of The Athletic lists the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals as known suitors. He also mentioned the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it’s incredibly unfeasible given their salary cap circumstances.
It’s unlikely to be an exhaustive list, but, notably, the three prominent teams listed come from the Metropolitan Division. It’s been known for several weeks that the Hurricanes were looking to make a significant addition this summer after falling short in another postseason appearance. With limited cap space themselves, the Capitals and Rangers may be engaging in some gamesmanship, and merely making life more difficult for their intra-division rival.