With the free agent frenzy winding down after a few weeks of furious signing/trading/rumors, it’s time we take a look at how the chips have fallen. Granted, we won’t know how all of this will shake out until we have a chance to see the teams next season, but as we’ve always done, lets speculate!
Winners:
Los Angelas Kings: This one seems fairly agreed upon. The Kings were a young team with a ton of talent that is on the right side of 25, so we expected them to go after some veteran leadership, and they did. The snagged one of the NHL’s good guys in Ryan Smyth, and they even overpaid to bring in the former Oiler and Avalanche and his 20-30 goals per season. It’s nice to see L.A. trying to put together a solid team. Add to their budding defensive core the signing of Rob Scuderi, resigning Jack Johnson to a pretty cheap contract (1.4 m/per) I see these guys putting together a much better season.
Toronto Maple Leafs: These guys put together some of the most dismal seasons in recent memory over the last few years. They gave up 239 goals last season, tops in the league, due to a young, unstable group of D-Men, and did nothing to bulk up and compete with the growing teams in the east. Bring in Brian Burke and suddenly they look like a hockey team again. Garnet Exelby and Colton Orr add some grit and size to a team that seemed unable to hang with the Montreal’s and Boston’s of their division, and they shored up their defense with the addition of Mike Komisarek. Add to that they grabbed Jonas “The Monster” Gustavvson from Sweden and they look like they’ll improve over last year. It remains to be seen if Burke tries to get a big return on Kaberle, but my gut tells me he’ll be a Leaf next year.
Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay faced a season of tough injuries and tough breaks. They still have Vinny, one of the most dominant players in the entire league, they still have St. Louis who will probably be dangled come trade time, and a good stable of young players like Stamkos and Lashoff, these guys have a decent squad. Add to that Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker, and they look better on the Blue line, at least on paper. Don’t discount the addition of Antero Nittymaki as a back up to the emerging Mike Smith and the drafting of the huge Victor Hedman.
Jay Boumeester: Here’s a guy who claimed he wanted to stay in Florida, blah blah blah, and yet wore a huge smile when his rights were traded to Calgary. From a middle of the pack team to a Western Conference Contender, he gains a ton of confidence knowing he’ll be playing along side the likes of Dion Phanuef and Jarome Iginla, and will put up a career year in stats. Don’t forget he’s making roughly 6.7 mill a year to play in Calgary.
Tim Thomas: This one happened quite a while ago, and that’s one of the reasons he’s a big winner. Going into the playoffs, Thomas knew he had the respect and confidence of his team, and he signed a huge deal worth 5 mil for 4 years after proving his worth as a grinder type goalie who never gives up on a play. At 35, he’s sure to start winding down, yet the team felt it was in their best intrest to lock him up even with “Goalie of the Future” Tuukka Rask waiting in the wings. Big win for the Vezina winner.
Marian Gaborik: It’s strange to me how this guy, who despite the major adoration he’s gotten from the fans and media, is able to get 7.5 mil a year. since the lockout season, he’s played 70+games once, he’s had 1 40 goal season, and he’s had a 3 page list of injuries that his aging body can’t seem to recover from. He’s still only 27 years old, but to give him Hossa money seems a waste. Thank god for him there is the New York Rangers who love to spend money on guys who haven’t proven anything.
Losers:
Chicago Blackhawks: This team seemed to fall apart as Free Agency began. They lost one of their emotional leaders in Martin Havlat due to an issue involving the GM Tallon and his firing. They replaced him with Marian Hossa who had an unknown shoulder injury, and after the signing they find out they’re losing him to surgery likely until December. Not only have they alienated the players who came in under Tallon, they’ve ticked off a great number of their fans. With the violation around offers with the UFA’s and the rediculous contract they offered Hossa, this team is going to have a good number of questions going into the next season.
Montreal Canadiens: This opinion may not be shared by many, but after days and days of free agent signings, I’m not sure even the Montreal Canadiens know what they’re going to do when they hit the ice next season. To their credit, the Canadiens got agressive after a monster let down in their centenial year. Parting ways with Captain Alexei Kovalev, team leaders in Saku Koivu and Mike Komisarek, and many of the free agents they’d signed they year before (Robert Lang, Alex Tanguay), they tried to make steps to improve a club that had lofty expectations a year ago, and a fan base that demands perfection. I’m afraid that all they’ve done is bring in high priced (possibly overpaid) players in Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta, and some D line replacements in Hal Gill and Jarslov Spacek that aren’t going to bring the same level of physicality or intimidation that Komi brought. This one could change if the team gels, but to me, with a relatively new coach, an unproven and on the edge goalie, and new ownership, this team maybe made too many moves, and it appears their not done.
New York Rangers: The Rangers are a constant staple for what not to do as an NHL franchise, as they consistently over pay for players that didn’t reach the lofty heights they reached for with their previous teams. Signing Gaborik for around 38 million for 5 years seems to many like a good deal, but when considering that he’s only had one 70+ game season since the lock out, and averaging around 50 points a season for his career (437 pts in 8 NHL seasons) I’m not so sure he’s worth the trouble. His hip injury is the type of injury that is destined to be an achilles heel, and something I’d not be comfortable with over a 5 year span. Considering that they paid nearly 3 million for Ales Kotalik, a perenial 20 goal scorer who can’t be counted on for more than 40 or so points, and that the big man Nik Antropov signed with Atlanta, and I think the Rangers are losers at the deadline.
Phil Kessel: I hate to see Kessel on the short end of the stick here, but after weeks of free agency, and no offer sheets, Kessel is still dangling in space. He had major surgery that’s going to require months of rehab, and should be ready a few weeks into the season. That being said, the Bruins leading goal scorer last year is having a tough time finding a club. The Bruins have no cap space left to sign him, and unless they dump a huge contract (Patrice Bergeron or Michael Ryder) then they’re looking at trading him. He’s not getting the offers he’d like, and the other players of his goal scoring caliber are making an average of 6.5 mil a year. Whether or not you believe the NHL is pushing it’s teams to hold out on their free agents to drive prices down or not, it seems that Kessel is losing out every day he remains a free agent.
Rick DiPietro/Dwayne Roloson/Martin Biron: It’s clear that the Islanders have lost faith in their franchise goalie. First they went out and got 37 year old Dwayne Roloson who’s been a nice surprise over the last two seasons in Edmonton. Roloson deserves to start in this league, but with the additional signing of Biron, someone is going to be the odd man out. Whether the Islanders look to trade one of the three (which seems unlikely considering DiPietro’s trade value can’t be too high, Roloson is up there in age, and Biron is a career backup who’s time in Philly proved he can’t handle the starting job for even a decent club) remains to be seen. All I know is that this is going to be a mess come the season, and it can’t end well if the roster looks like this for longer than a few weeks.
From the Blue Line 