As of August 14, 2019, several big name restricted free agents still remain unsigned by their respective teams. This list includes Mitch Marner of Toronto, Kyle Connor and Patrick Laine of Winnipeg, Brayden Point of Tampa Bay, Mikko Rantanen of Colorado, Matthew Tkachuk of Calgary, Brock Boeser of Vancouver, Travis Konecny of Philadelphia, and Zach Werenski of Columbus. As training camp approaches with these players still without a contract, the ripple effects will be felt by their respective teams into the season, and we could see an RFA traded if terms are not reached by both sides.

Marner is the biggest name of the group. After a 94 point season last year, he is expecting a significant pay raise from his entry-level contract. Reports have said that Marner is asking for $11 million plus and a five-year term, similar to teammate Auston Matthews' deal, which allows him to enter unrestricted free agency after this contract is up. Toronto reportedly wants Marner to sign for a longer-term in order to control his cap hit for a longer period of time. If this squabble continues, the Leafs will be without Marner's talent going into the 2019-20 season, just like William Nylander's holdout from last year.

Point is coming off of a 92 point season for the Lightning, but a disappointing postseason. Playing in Florida, a no state income tax haven, Point is likely to be signing for a lower cap hit than Marner, who plays in high tax Canada. Point's impact reached superstar level alongside Nikita Kucherov in 2018-19, and any time missed this year due to a contract holdout will affect the potent Tampa offense significantly. Tampa is also not far from the cap limit, so they may prefer a two-year bridge deal for a lower number even if it means paying Point much more later.

Connor and Laine are in an interesting situation with the Jets, who are coming off of a disappointing season that ended in the Round 1 of the playoffs. Connor had a much better campaign than Laine, but Laine is the high ceiling goal scorer who put 44 in the net in 2017-18, which makes both of their contracts hard to negotiate for the Winnipeg management. The Jets had to shed talent in the offseason (Trouba, Myers, Chiarot, and Tanev), so they have $18 million in cap space to sign Laine and Connor, meaning they should be able to get this done before October.

Calgary has just $8 million to sign Tkachuk, who is probably seeking that or just over that amount. Calgary may be forced to make a trade to dump salary or risk Tkachuk holding out into the season, which would hurt not only their offensive production but also their defense, as Tkachuk was a member of their shutdown line.

Vancouver has only $5 million to sign Boeser, who has scored 26 and 29 goals the past two seasons, meaning he is worth over $6 million in all likelihood. Like Calgary, Vancouver will have to make a roster move to get salary off of their books to stay under the cap.

In the cases of Philadelphia, Colorado, and Columbus, all have over $12 million in cap space to sign Konecny, Rantanen, and Werenski respectively, but a long holdout near the start or into the season could certainly affect their production for the entire year. It shouldn't be a problem to get these contracts done, but it is concerning for these organizations that contracts haven't been finalized yet. Rantanen's contract will be trickier considering the 87 points in 74 games he had last year, meaning he will want a ton.

In all of these cases, players who hold out into the year will certainly affect team chemistry, production, and overall results. If terms are not met, they could be traded elsewhere in the league, which would have a huge ripple effect on the entire NHL landscape.