Who are the winners so far?
I haven’t been following this UFA period as closely as blogs like Kukla’s Korner or Spector’s Hockey, but it doesn’t take much to note who the winners are so far.
Here they are in my opinion in no particular order…
Los Angeles Kings
After doing nothing on the first day much to the frustration of their fans despite plenty of money under the salary cap, GM Dean Lombardi has really stepped it up over the last 48 hours. The team signed four players on July 1st including former Red Wings’ player Kyle Calder (2 years for a total of $5.5 million). Michal Handzus, former Blackhawks’ center, signed a four year contract worth $16 million (Chicago “replaced” him with former Wing Robert Lang). Lombardi added defenseman Tom Preissing to the roster for $2.75 million per season over four years. He then went and signed Ladislav Nagy, a left wing, to a one year deal worth $3.75 million.
”I think today we’re a better hockey team,” Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said on a conference call. ”We got some good hockey players. I might look at one other thing. We certainly have the flexibility of going forward after this year.”
The Kings came up empty Sunday on the first day of the free-agent signing period, but Lombardi said Monday made up for it.
”I’m glad we didn’t have to fall to Plan C,” he said. ”Once the big boys went, so to speak, we were ready. I’m glad we did move quickly. We’re sitting here today, the most important thing is we’re looking at cap space in years two and three. That’s what I’m keeping my eye on.”
Lombardi called Handzus ”the key guy.”
Today, they went out and got Brad Stuart, a defenseman for the Calgary Flames last season, in a one year deal worth $3.5 million. The Kings also re-signed RFA goaltender Jason LaBarbera for another two years. Financial terms have not yet been disclosed.
While LA didn’t go out and sign a huge free agent, they have added quite a few decent players that will help them rise from the bottom of the NHL. If it wasn’t for their goaltending situation, I would predict an even better season for the team.
New York Rangers
Well, the team spent like the big market that they are on day one of free agency landing both Chris Drury AND Scott Gomez. Drury signed a five year deal worth $35.25 million, which includes making $7.1 million in his first two seasons with the Rangers. Gomez signed a slightly longer contract for seven years when he will make $51.5 million. In his first season with the team, he’ll make $10 million.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Rangers general manager Glen Sather said. “We ranked them both as number ones, and we never expected to get both of them.”
The team now must work on signing RFA goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and UFAs Sean Avery and Brendan Shanahan.
Philadelphia Flyers
While I definitely believe that the team threw too much money at the free agents it signed, the team shouldn’t suck as much as it did this year. Before the start of free agency, the team traded for exclusive negotiating rights for Predators’ Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen, who were both signed by the Flyers. Then on the first day of free agency, the Flyers landed Danny Briere with a whopping eight year contract worth $52 million! They also traded for the Oilers’ Jason Smith and Jeffrey Lupul. I still believe the team has a ways to go before being a truly competitive team, but they are definitely taking a step in the right direction.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks signed two former Red Wings’ players, Mathieu Schneider and Todd Bertuzzi, and re-signed one of their own, Brad May. GM Brian Burke learned that captain Scott Niedermayer is leaning toward retirement (decision has still not been made yet) and quickly went out and signed Schneider in case he does. If Niedermayer does return, the team will have a lot of money in their top four defenseman and starting goaltender.
Yesterday, Todd Bertuzzi’s agent called Burke to see if the Ducks had any interest with signing him. At that point, he knew he was not happy with what the Wings had to offer and would sign elsewhere. They agreed to a two year contract worth $8 million. Apparently, Bertuzzi is the Ducks’ new forward as they also believe Teemu Selanne will be retiring.
They then re-signed May for another two years. If Niedermayer and Selanne do retire, I don’t believe their replacements are better players. However, if one of the two stays, the team will definitely have upgraded. Burke is also taking a big risk signing Bertuzzi to a two year contract, but it makes an already physical team even grittier and the risk could really pay off for them.
Colorado Avalanche
The team had plenty of room under the salary cap and made it known with the signing of left winger Ryan Smyth (to the envy of plenty of Wings’ fans) and defenseman Scott Hannan. Smyth agreed to a five year deal for $31.25 million. Captain Joe Sakic apparently gave Smyth a phone call, which helped persuade him to sign with the Avs. Hannan signed a four year deal for $18 million. The team bolstered both their offense and defense with two solid players.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins didn’t make any big splashes this offseason, but added two quality veteran players for more reasonable salaries to supplement the team’s young talents. The team is also working on a contract extension with Sidney Crosby. Winger Petr Sykora and defenseman Darryl Sydor both signed with the Penguins on Monday. Sydor’s contract is for $2.5 million per year over two seasons. In addition, they re-signed two other players.
Also, the Penguins brought back goaltender Dany Sabourin as Marc-Andre Fleury’s backup after he spent part of last season with Vancouver. The team also re-signed defenceman Rob Scuderi.
The first two days of free agency proved unexpectedly busy for the Penguins, who kept rising star defenceman Ryan Whitney by giving him a US$24 million, six-year contract.
Losers…
- New York Islanders.
- Buffalo Sabres.
- Edmonton Oilers.
- New Jersey Devils (although they did pick up Zubrus and Rachunek, but they aren’t as good as who they are replacing- Rafalski and Gomez).
- Nashville Predators.
Where do the Wings stand?
Whether you think Brian Refalski is better than Mathieu Schneider or not, the team still has a solid defense and should once again have a top notch goaltender in Dominik Hasek. They did lose Todd Bertuzzi, but I wouldn’t have wanted to pay him $8 million over two years either so I’m okay with that decision. Unfortunately, we lost a big power forward and one of our gritty players. GM Ken Holland has an interesting decision to make over which forward to sign out of those still available and the options seem to be dwindling rather quickly this year.
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5 Responses to “Who are the winners so far?”
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July 4th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
You gotta believe that if the Kings could do it again, they would’ve signed Manny Legace instead of moving 2 draft picks for Dan Cloutier (was there ANYONE who thought that was a good deal when it happened?). They’d be a solid playoff team next year (might not go anywhere, but still…solid) with Legace in goal.
That blueline is ridiculous though:
Blake, JMFJ, Priessing, Stuart, and Vishnovski? They’ve got the makings of a pretty nice power play, no? JMFJ & Blake have bombs, and Priessing and Stuart are good passers.
They have done a nice job…..
July 5th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I think the Caps deserve to be in this group. None of their signings were sexy, but they signed two significant upgrades for the two linemates of the league’s most dynamic young goal scorer. Nylander is the puck-carrying center iceman that Ovechkin has never played with. His entire career has been spent playing with centers who are really RWs (Dainus Zubrus, Chis Clark, etc). Now he has a true playmaker who knows exactly how to enable high skill linemates (look what he did with Jagr). Kozlov provides a 25 goal scorer with some bulk to play the other wing. Not only is he a better goal scorer than any RW Ovechkin has played with, but his signing allows Semin to lead the 2nd line and give the caps two scoring lines.
The Poti signing was an over-pay, but he’s a top 4 defensemen who will also be a major upgrade to the Caps woeful power play. The Caps top 3 needs this offseason were 1) a play making center, 2) a goal scoring RW and 3) a puck moving defensemen. The filled all 3.
July 6th, 2007 at 12:37 am
Packer487- With JMFJ now on the roster, I may secretly root for the LA Kings (at least in their division). Their defense is pretty sweet and their offense seems to be improving. But they need some good goaltending. And bad.
JP- Yes, the Caps did do pretty well this week. I won’t lie, I really have not been able to watch any of the Caps recent acquisitions play due to the current schedule and my lack of Center Ice. So I guess I knew of the big names and “forgot” the quality but lesser known players like the ones the Caps signed. What kind of impact do you think your acquisitions will have on your team this next season?
July 6th, 2007 at 9:30 am
As I said above, the impact of these signings is 3 fold. First, it gives Ovechkin two improved linemates. Considering the kid has put up 200 points in his first 2 NHL seasons playing without a true center and without a threatening RW, providing him with both of those things can only mean good things. Because of our two 1st line additions, Chris Clark (a steady veteran 2-way winger) can move down to the 2nd line. That 2nd line will now be MUCH stronger than it was last year. The Caps #2 center last year was Kris Beach. He sucked horribly, and has since been cut. Now their #2 center is going to be 19 year old rookie phenom Nicklas Backstrom. Backstrom put up a point per game in the low scoring Sweedish Elite League last year as an 18 year old. Adding Clark to that line with a rookie and a kid who put up 38 goals in his first full season (Semin) will make a big difference. He’ll give them the balance and veteran grit the line demands. If he weren’t there, we’d be looking at #2 prospect Eric Fehr or someone like scrappy Matt Pettinger filling out the line. Clark is a definite upgrade and a MUCH better fit. And when you recall that the 84 goals put up by the Ovechkin/Semin tandem trailed only Lecavalier/St. Louis and Kovalchuk/Hossa in tandem scoring in the entire NHL, and then you realize both guys just received improvements to both of their linemates PLUS an upgrade to the defense on the #1 PP unit they both work on, you can see the potential this team has to score A LOT of goals.
Poti’s signing finally gives the Caps a PP quarterback. Nicky Lidstrom he ain’t, but he’s a 40-50 point scorer with a nice shot. And he’ll also be a top 4 defensemen (quite possibly in the 1st pairing). Defense is clearly the Caps’ achilles heel. They are loaded with good prospects, but the short-term outlook is sketchy. Finding a way to add one more veteran defensive defensemen would go a long way for this team.
In terms of prognostication, I really do think the Caps have put themselves in the playoff discussion. I’m not ready to predict they earn a spot, but they are now definitely in that group of teams along with Florida, Philly, Toronto and Carolina who can say “If we stay healthy and catch a couple breaks, we’re going to earn a 7-8 seed”. And given the youth of the team and the depth of the farm system, things only look to improve going forward.
July 6th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
I completely forgot that Backstrom had finally signed with the Caps. That’s a big help in of itself. Thanks for explaining the improvements that it would bring the Caps and hopefully your team will be contesting for a playoff spot (or already earning one) come the end of the regular season!