The NHL’s Free Agency period started at noon last Friday and it has been crazy. Here’s a quick summary.
Courtesy: Getty Images
The biggest surprise of the weekend was Daniel Alfredsson leaving the Ottawa Senators after 17 years. He was the longest serving captain in the NHL, but opted to leave the Sens for Detroit as he saw the Red Wings as a better shot at getting a Stanley Cup. There were murmurings of Alfredsson talking with other teams like the Bruins and Stars, but no one thought he would pack it up and move on. The Red Wings also landed free agent center, Stephen Weiss. Weiss has been stuck on a poor Panthers team his entire career and now has a real shot at proving he can be a top center in the league.
Vincent Lecavalier signed with Philadelphia for five years.
Daniel Briere signed for 2 years in Montreal.
Nikolai Khabibulin signed with Chicago. Which is a steal at $1M for a year.
Derek Roy signed with St. Louis.
Jarome Iginla signed with Boston for a year. At the deadline only a few months ago, Iginla and the Flames had a deal set with the Bruins, but Iginla chose the Penguins at the very last second.
Matt Cooke signed with the Minnesota Wild. I hope they enjoy paying fines for the next 3 years.
New Jersey landed Michael Ryder and Ryan Clowe to top off a successful week after acquiring Cory Schneider in a trade.
Valtteri Filppula signed with the Lightning for $5M a year. I hope he’s worth it.
Nathan Horton signed a huge deal in Columbus for 7 years at $5.3M a year. With a history of injury, this is one of the worst signings of the day. Horton is a great player, but he was also playing with complimentary players on the Bruins.
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed David Clarkson in what may be the worst signing of the day. Clarkson had become a top power forward in the league, but a 7 year contract for a 29 year old who’s game is that physical? I smell buy out in two years.
The ‘feel-good’ story of the day was the New York Rangers signing Dominic Moore to a one year deal. Moore took a leave of absense for about a year for personal family reasons. I’m not getting into it, but he’s back now, and I wish him the best of luck – he deserves it!
There were a few trades as well, and not little ones, as we saw a blockbuster involving Boston and Dallas. Boston traded Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley and Ryan Button to Dallas for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Matt Fraser and Reilly Smith. This is a HUGE trade. A blockbuster of sorts that will give the troubled Seguin a fresh start as Dallas’ top center. Seguin was heavily criticized by Boston GM Chiarelli about not being professional enough. The 21 year old scored 1 goal in 22 playoff games this year, but was tied on the team with 70 shots. Loui Eriksson is one of the most underrated scorers in the league and his impact with Boston will be tremendous. Great trade for both teams.
The Ottawa Senators, after losing their long time captain in Daniel Alfredsson, traded a first round pick, Jakob Sifverberg, and Stefan Noesen to Anaheim for Bobby Ryan. It was a steep price to pay, and they might regret it, but Ottawa had to make a move like this to bolster their offense. Anaheim got a steal.
Dallas also picked up Shawn Horcroff from the Edmonton Oilers for Philip Larsen and a 7th round 2016 pick. Horcroff was the captain of the young Oilers team and also one of the more talked about centers entering free agency. Dallas landed two great players this weekend.
Buffalo picked up Henrik Tallinder from the Devils for Riley Boychuk. A smaller traded, but one that brings Tallinder back to Buffalo where he had more success.
Minnesota traded Devin Setoguchi to the Jets for a second round pick in 2014.
Montreal traded Philippe Lefebrve and a 7th rd pick to Florida for tough guy George Parros.
The Washington Capitals:
Almost every team in the league made moves this weekend. 29 of 30 teams either made trades or signed free agents and rookies – all except the Washington Capitals.
Courtesy: Yahoo Sports
The Capitals, up against a wall with the lowered salary cap, said goodbye to Mike Ribeiro (Arizona Coyotes), Matt Hendricks (Nashville Predators), Jeff Schultz (L.A. Kings) and Joey Crabb (Florida Panthers), and said hello to no one. With only $8M in cap room and having to re-sign RFA’s Karl Alzner and Marcus Johansson, the Capitals have zero room to do anything. The loss of Ribeiro as the second line center is the biggest void to fill. Ribeiro did well last year, but his numbers declined rapidly in the second half of the season and he was non-existent in the playoffs, however, he was the Caps only source of offense in the first half of the season.
What are the options?
1. Sign someone! The wealth of centers in the free agent pool is now down to Mikhail Grabovski. Grabovski was bought out by the Maple Leafs, and it left an ugly stain on Grabby’s sleeve as he told off the Leafs organization during his last interview. He’s a good offensive player, but not sure if he’s the two-way guy the Caps need. He could be the replaement the Caps have needed since Semin left, but, as seen with Ribeiro, his lack of defensive skill could hurt the Caps.
Nik Antropov is available. He’a big center with offensive upside, but I see him as a slower Grabovski.
There’s also Damien Brunner from Detroit. The Red Wings have yet to sign him and the Caps could be interested – but he’s a winger.
Same with Mason Raymond out of Vancouver. He’s got the grit the Caps need, but he’s a winger.
The Capitals could bring David Steckel back which would give them decent depth on the third and fourth lines. Steckel is also one of the best face-off men in the league.
Then there’s Jaromir Jagr. He’s a winger as well, but also brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership. Not sure how badly the bridge was burned when he left Washington the first time, but you never know.
2. Use what assets the Caps have.
Brooks Laich, Mathieu Perreault, Marcus Johansson? All three of them will be used this year if the Caps can’t find that #2 center via trade or free agency.
If the Caps chose to do nothing, which is very possible, they’re going to have a very long season ahead of them. But they also don’t have much of a choice. The salary cap rescrictions are keeping them from doing much anything, which could be interesting come the trade deadline this season. If the Caps are not in a position to make the playoffs, it could spell the end for players like Jason Chimera (UFA next season), Mike Green (two years left), Joel Ward (two years left), Martin Erat (two years left), Eric Fehr (two years left), John Erksine (two years left) and Michal Neuvirth (two years left). Most of these guys will have just one year left on their contract come the trade deadline, and most of them could be shipped out. Mike Green makes just over $6M a year and could bring the Caps a healthy dose of prospects and/or draft picks – but that is all speculation for another time.
The summer is still far from over and the FA period is just getting started. The best of the best are all snatched up, and the Caps are handcuffed, but their needs must be met if there is to be success.
More to come…
