A Scout’s Take on Duclair, Athanasiou & Other Non-Qualified Free Agents

“Pretty surprising.”

That’s what an NHL scout told me about the number of talented RFAs not qualified on Wednesday who became UFAs.

Obviously, a flat cap and pandemic-related revenue concerns played some role.

On the other hand, some of these RFAs are more sizzle than steak.

“He’s an empty player.”

Which freshly-christened UFA — Anthony Duclair, Andreas Athanasiou, Vinnie Hinostroza, Nick Cousins, or Dominik Kahun — was this scout talking about?

The scout also added extra thoughts about Brendan Perlini and Troy Stecher.

This, by the way, concludes my San Jose Sharks free agency preview — besides the aforementioned UFAs, I received exclusive reports about 24 other UFAs from assorted NHL scouts.

Curious what the scouts think about Mikael Granlund, Craig Smith, Erik Haula, Evgenii Dadonov, Carl Soderberg, Jesper Fast, Vladislav Namestinikov, Josh Leivo, Tyler Toffoli, Bobby Ryan, Michael Grabner, Kyle Turris, Alex Galchenyuk, Cody Eakin, Colin Wilson, Conor Sheary, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jimmy Vesey, Mattias Janmark, Michael Frolik, Pat Maroon, Tyler Ennis, Vladimir Sobotka, or Wayne Simmonds?

You won’t find this much detail anywhere else!

Scouts Talk Dadonov, Granlund, Smith & Other Top UFA Forwards

Scouts Talk Sharks & Bargain UFA Forwards

Scouts on How Potential Buyout UFAs Would Fit Sharks

A Scout’s Argument for Bobby Ryan

A Scout’s Argument Against Signing Michael Grabner