Vladimir Tarasenko still waits on NHL job, Friedman reports

Vladimir Tarasenko is still hoping for an NHL job, according to Elliotte Friedman, and he is not the only big name in that spot.

Friedman reported in Sportsnet on October 30 that Tarasenko, Patrik Laine, Nick Leddy, Reilly Smith and James van Riemsdyk are among those still hoping for NHL employment. The 2026-27 season is already underway, and that is a lot of experience on the outside.

Tarasenko has played 906 NHL regular-season games across six clubs: St. Louis, the Rangers, Ottawa, Florida, Detroit and Minnesota. Players with that kind of résumé usually have a landing spot by now.

Smith has 988 games over 15 seasons, with stops in Dallas, Boston, Florida, Vegas, Pittsburgh and New York with the Rangers. Leddy has 1074 games and 423 points as a defenseman, and he has yet to play a game this season.

Here is how the careers of the four with sheet-confirmed totals stack up.

Laine is the outlier. He has 537 games over 10 seasons with Winnipeg, Columbus and Montreal, which makes him the youngest résumé of the group by a wide margin.

A 1074-game defenseman and a 906-game winger without a contract in November is strange. Somebody will need a body on the blue line or a veteran in the top six before long, and these are the names the market has so far passed over.

Who blinks first on the NHL free-agent leftovers?

Friedman's note is a snapshot of what teams have chosen to do, and for now it points to hesitation rather than demand.

Elliotte Friedman noted that Tarasenko, Laine, Leddy, Smith and van Riemsdyk are among those still hoping to find NHL work.

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Van Riemsdyk's name rounds out the list, and nothing in the report says any of the five has a deal in place. As of Friedman's October 30 note, all five are still waiting on a call.

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