REPORT: LAST free agent must sign TODAY or will miss the ENTIRE season

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Ryan
December 1, 2022 (2:17 PM)

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A few years ago we saw the Toronto Maple Leafs go right down to the wire with their Restricted Free Agent William Nylander, who ended up signing at the last minute and it appears we could have that same situation happen this year.

The National Hockey Leagues deadline to sign a Restricted Free Agent is today at 5pm EST and if the player is not signed before then he is not eligible to play this season.

The last RFA to yet to get signed is the Ottawa Senators Alex Formenton.

It's deadline day for Alex Formenton: The #sens restricted free agent must sign a contract by 5 p.m. ET in order to be eligible to play this season.� Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 1, 2022

Many speculated that Formenton was involved in the 2018 World Juniors sex scandal as he is one of the only players to not make a public statement regarding the situation and nothing has been said about him for the majority of the season so far.

Last season Formenton scored 18 goals and 32 points In 79 games and could add some valuable scoring to a Senators team thats lacking it right now.

NHL Insider Darren Dreger had this to say about Formenton and his situation last month:

"Well, they're not moving very far and this has been a real quiet stalemate between Formenton and the Ottawa Senators. Two options here: you either sign Alex Formenton and keep him with the Ottawa Senators, or you trade him to get him back in the NHL. Some believe a trade is more likely and I suppose Europe, long-term, could be an option as well."

One major issue the Ottawa Senators could have with this signing, is if you remember the William Nylander situation, while his salary/cap hit is only $6,962,366, due to him signing so far into the season, his cap hit for the first year of the contract was $10,277,778. The Senators currently have $5,421,407 in cap space, but over 7 million is 'currently' free'd up because of Norris' injury. If he returns and Formenton does get signed, they could have a problem.