First up we will look at the losers. This years biggest loser has got to be the Phoenix Coyotes. They just spent a combined $9,500,000 on three centers (Horcoff 4.5, Morrison 3.0 and Conroy 2.0). None of which I want playing on my top two lines for any prolonged period of time. Yes the Coyotes were short up the middle heading into free agency, but that is far too much money for these guys. I think maybe half that amount wouldn’t have looked bad. The bottom line here is that I wouldn’t be shocked to see a couple buyouts a year or two down the line from this bumper crop of signings. Next on my list of losers is the Detroit Red Wings, what are they thinking in hockey town? Just under $10,000,000 for Michael Ryder, Wade Radden, and Andrew Ladd. I honestly don’t think Ryder’s own mother would have paid the 4 million to have Ryder. 2.9 million for a defenseman that used to be good when he played with a giant. Atleast it’s not the 6.5 Sather paid. While I don’t think that the Ladd signing is horrible I just think it’s a little too much for what Ladd has shown to this point in his career. While Buffalo could still match the offer I think they would be best letting Ladd walk. Of course there is a small chance that Ladd could make me eat some crow here, but for now I’m going to stick with my opinion that he is over paid. One last loser before moving onto the winners of this years silly season. My choice for a third loser is the Florida Panthers. I know most probably weren’t expecting this but here is why. The Panthers didn’t really sign anybody of significance and had some bad luck in the undrafted free agent lottery. What they did do was match the 3 million dollar offer sheet to Matt Moulson. Yes Moulson had a great year last year, but this one stinks of a one year wonder to me personally. Yes Moulson could make me eat crow in a big way. I don’t think though that it would be because of his god given talents. It would be more based on the fact that his NHL club doesn’t appear to know what it’s doing and will never acquire or develop any players to move ahead of him on the depth chart. That being the case he might just get enough ice time on a crappy team to make me look bad and Brock look like a genius. If it was me running the Panthers I would have found a better way to spend the $3,000,000. Oh wait one more loser for the period. Flyers GM Alvaro, I don’t know maybe you were on vacation, or maybe you were sick in the hospital. If not then, the least you could have done was respond to the agents regarding the offer sheet to Tanner Glass. The agents put a lot of time into this, and to not send a response is pathetic. Not only is it a slap in the face to the agents, but I think it’s insulting the other 29 GM’s that sent in offers, and responses to their own players.
My first winner for this year is the New Jersey Devils. While signing Teemu Selanne for 4.5 million might be a slight overpayment I think for one year it’s worth it in a big way. Have you seen the group of wingers these guys now have? Probably the best group in the entire HFNHL. On top of that they brought back Brandon Prust for not much money and let Bruno Gervais walk after receiving a 1.5 million offer sheet, which he is unlikely to live up to. My next winner or should I say winners is Vancouver, Calgary and San Jose who really stole the show during the undrafted free agent lottery. Of the 35 lotteries for players these three clubs managed to win a combined 16 of them. That is almost half of the lotteries. Not only are they the winners for the amount of lotteries that they won but they also signed most of the guys that might actually be worth the money it took to get into these lotteries. One last winner for the free agency period, and my choice is the Carolina Hurricanes. These guys managed to bring in five serviceable players for a combined 6.8 million dollars. While names like Fehr(resigned), Ward, Mair, Ellis, and Meech may not be sexy or exciting to anybody they are all solid pickups for reasonable dollar amounts. For a team rebuilding adding a couple inexpensive veterans for leadership is not a bad idea. Also bringing back Fehr who plays in a high octane offense could prove to be a very smart move at 2.5 million.
Watch out for my season previews as the season approaches, also on the agenda more rumors, trade reviews and whatever else might be worth while writing about.
