Mikael Granlund, one of the most prominent free agent centers, signed a three-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks worth $7 million annually on Tuesday.
Granlund was already going to be a player to watch entering free agency with his most recent team, the Dallas Stars, facing a salary cap crisis that made it challenging for them offer anything remotely close to what the 33-year-old would receive on the open market.
It initially appeared that this particular free agency window could be a rather lucrative one for centers. And it was, but not in the way most would have intended with centers such as Sam Bennett, Matt Duchene, Brock Nelson and John Tavares remaining their current teams while Jonathan Toews signed with his hometown Winnipeg Jets.