For those of you who thought that the title to this post meant an entire page dedicated to the likes of Lebron, D-wade, Bosh, or Pierce...go elsewhere. It went fairly unnoticed, as always in hockey, that NHL Free Agency also began at midnight on July 1. Now the NHL won't have the marquee class of free agents that the NBA has to offer this year, but it's still going to be a very interesting few days. Already, there has been plenty of movement from teams in both conferences, and defensemen are the hot-ticket. I'll just add my general thoughts on some of today's moves and some remaining free agents:
Gonchar, Pittsburgh, Ottawa:
Losing Gonchar was a big blow to the Pens, no question about it. Their d-corps last year, if you take Gonchar away, was one of the worst in the entire NHL. He's a good powerplay quarterback and is an elite puck-mover from his own end...those types of guys don't grow on trees. So, needless to say, Ottawa picked up a pretty valuable player on the first day of free agency. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, recovered very nicely. Yes, they overpayed for both Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek, but that's not to say that they aren't good players. Martin is similar to Gonchar...not as good, but similar. Michalek is a guy that the Penguins definitely needed last year, when they lost Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi in the offseason. He'll be a good stay-at-home, physical type guy, and he's one of the league's premier shot-blockers.
Goalies:
Really no huge surprises in the goaltending department on Day 1. Chris Mason signed on with Atlanta and should be the starter there, Dan Ellis is heading into a starting role with the Lightning, and Johan Hedberg, Martin Biron, and Alex Auld will head into their familiar backup roles. The one somewhat weird signing on the day was Antero Niittymaki signing for 2 years, $4 mil with the Sharks. I certainly would not think that the Sharks would settle for him as their starting netminder, yet they already have a capable backup in Thomas Greiss at a much cheaper rate. The Sharks figured to be a player for Tim Thomas in a deal, or Marty Turco/Jose Theodore via free agency. Something to keep an eye on I guess...
Jokinen:
This, hands down, was the most baffling move I saw. The Flames gave up Matt Lombardi and their 2010 first-round pick to get Jokinen a season and a half ago, and he absolutely flopped. He was completely ineffective during their stretch run, and they traded him last year to the Rangers for scraps and salary dumps. I've always been a Sutter fan in general, not just Darryl, but all of them. But Darryl has made bad decision after bad decision the last two to three seasons in Calgary, and other than the Phaneuf trade, this one is the worst.
The Blackhawks:
You knew they had to trim down their championship-roster for next season because of their salary cap troubles, but they have gone beyond what I think anyone expected. I criticized their trade of Dustin Byfuglien last week, and I remain critical of the decision to move Big Buff. But, given his cap situation, it appeared he was the guy that needed to go. But, within the last two days...we've seen Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd join Byfuglien on the bus out of the Windy City (Ladd, by the way, will actually be joining Buff in the fantastic hockey city of Atlanta). I think Stan Bowman made two great deals this week with Versteeg and Ladd. He got a forward with huge upside in Viktor Stalberg from the Leafs, and then he netted a 2nd rounder and a solid prospect defenseman in Ivan Vishnevsky from the Thrashers for Ladd...not bad for a days work. But when you go big picture, you start to realize that maybe they didn't need to sell Byfuglien for 50 cents on the dollar. The biggest crime here is the poor contract management from the last 3 years in Chicago. They wouldn't have had to go through any of those deals if they had just taken care of Cristobal Huet already and either buried him in the minors or sent him to Europe (that cap hit needed to be off the books the day after the parade). Then you have Brian Campbell, who - while a good player - wasn't worth at the time and will never be worth the ludicrous contract awarded to him by Chicago a few years ago. Yea, they won the Cup, so they did something right, but the Blackhawks have made some outrageous mistakes in the past years and they will pay for it.
Kovalchuk:
I thought a few weeks ago that Brian Burke and the Leafs would make an enormous push to get the best free agent available, but it appears not. They traded for Versteeg and signed Colby Armstrong, so they'll likely have plenty of money already tied up this offseason and won't have enough to make a realistic offer to the Russian. Having said that, it looks like it's LA or the KHL for Kovalchuuk.
And finally...
The Bruins:
It amazes me the amount of speculation that is going on surrounding Tim Thomas' situation. He isn't going ANYWHERE! I can't believe people are talking about how the Flyers, Sharks, Capitals, or 'Hawks would entertain a deal for a 36 year old, injury-prone, $5 million dollar goaltender! Especially considering the fact that you have to pay the guy and give the Bruins an asset in return. I won't spend too much time on Tank, because all the speculation is...speculation. Marc Savard is other news, because he's actually got a chance to be shipped off. Aside from the concussion that he suffered last year, Savard is a very attractive center for a lot of teams. When healthy, he is a premier playmaker. He plays in all situations (only sparingly on the PK) and he's a 90 point player (again, when healthy). Add that to the fact that he's incredibly affordable! Contrary to mass-media belief (Tony Mazz), Savard has a very, very friendly cap-number. Most 90 point players are counting as much as $6 or $7 mil against their teams cap figure, Savard sits at only $4 million! That number, in itself, makes Savard the most attractive piece on the trading market right now. He's not going to Toronto for Kaberle, because the secondary pieces in the deal would be a mess (Toronto views Kaberle as having higher value, same with the Bruins and Savard). I heard a rumor of Savard to Calgary for Robyn Regehr, which is a nice coup for the Bruins if they can pull it off. But, as I said above, the Flames are a bunch of morons and just dedicated cap space to Olli Jokinen, which likely closes the door on any Savard trade. That leaves the Islanders, Kings, Rangers, and Nashville as possible destinations for Savard. He could land up somewhere else, but I would think that those teams have the highest interest. From what I've heard about Savard's relationship with other Bruins, and the team questioning his commitment, it appears as though a deal is very realistic. He's a great offensive player and he's got a cap-friendly contract, but losing a "fairy" like Marc Savard wouldn't be the worst thing for the team (especially if a guy like Regehr is the return). But, if he's kept, having a premier playmaker centering Horton isn't the worst thing either.
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