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UFA of the Day: Ales Hemsky

Toronto Maple Leafs v Ottawa Senators

OTTAWA, CANADA - APRIL 12: Ales Hemsky #83 of the Ottawa Senators skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 12, 2014 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Francois Laplante/FreestylePhoto/Getty Images)

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Check PHT each weekday for the first four weeks of June for a new pending unrestricted free agent of the day. Today’s UFA of the Day is…

Ales Hemsky

Let’s kill two birds with one stone here. One, we get our UFA of the Day out of the way for today. Two, we can pass along the news that Hemsky will indeed be going to free agency.

Per TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the 30-year-old winger who started the season in Edmonton before he was traded to Ottawa was offered a three-year, $10 million contract by the Senators. He turned it down.

Hemsky had 13 goals and 30 assists in 75 games in 2013-14. His career year came in 2005-06, when he had 77 points for the Oilers.

Hemsky’s expiring contract paid him $10 million over two years. (You may recall the Calgary Flames had something to tweet about that.)

According to the Ottawa Sun, Hemsky is looking for “north of $5.5 million” per season, which is what he made in actual salary this past season, and quite a bit more than what the Sens reportedly offered him to re-sign.

The challenge for Hemsky (or his agent) is that, while it may be “a good year to be a UFA,” there’s a number of wingers (Thomas Vanek, Marian Gaborik, Mike Cammalleri, Jarome Iginla, Matt Moulson, etc.) for teams to pursue, at least compared to the number of quality centers and defensemen.