T
ThomasTomasz
Guest
With most of the top shelf free agents off the market, its time to take a look at which teams had the best off-season, and which teams had the worst.
Top 3 Off-seasons:
1.) Columbus Blue Jackets: Columbus came into the off-season knowing that they needed help scoring goals, and needing help on the power play. By trading for Jeff Carter, they finally get a player who can score goals like Rick Nash. They may play on the same line on a regular basis, or only on the power play, but Carter is an immediate upgrade across the board.
In addition to Carter, the Blue Jackets further improved their power play by adding James Wisniewski and his booming shot from the point. Columbus has long since needed that kind of player to man the point on the power play, and they now have him.
2.) Buffalo Sabres. The new ownership promised to spend, and they certainly delivered. Darcy Regier was able to shore up the Sabres blueline by making two trades- one to acquire defensive stalwart Robin Regehr (along with forward Ales Kotalik) from the Calgary Flames. The second was acquiring the rights to Christian Ehrhoff from the Islanders and promptly signing him to a 10 year, $40 million extension. The Sabres now boost one of the deepest bluelines in the league, with Regehr, Ehrhoff, Tyler Myers, Jordan Leopold and Andrej Sekera in their top five.
Besides bringing back Kotalik, the Sabres also added Ville Leino to a six year, $27 million deal. That was not the best deal, but in a weak market, the Sabres had to make it to add him to an already talented core of forwards. After years of sending talent away because they could not afford them, ownership needed to make this statement to the fans that they were serious, and they delivered.
3.) Washington Capitals. It might be my homer pick, but the Capitals were one of the busiest team so far this off-season. A draft night trade acquired two way winger Troy Brouwer from the Chicago Blackhawks. The Capitals lost Jason Arnott and Boyd Gordon to free agency, but replaced them with former captain Jeff Halpern and another tough two way forward in Joel Ward, who was in very high demand due to his playoff performance. The Capitals also signed Roman Hamrlik who, despite being 37, consistantly received the toughest defensive assignments in Montreal last season and can run the second power play unit.
What GM George McPhee is getting the most attention from is in net. The Capitals sent Semyon Varlamov (who had one foot into the KHL) to the Colorado Avalance for a first and second round pick. He admitted to being surprised to get that for Varlamov. Not to be outdone, he ended up signing Tomas Vokoun to a one year, $1.5 million deal (less than the extension Varlamov signed in Colorado) to play for the Capitals. Vokoun is one of the most underrated goaltenders in the league (who admittedly does not have post-season experience) and immediately gives the Caps a proven goalie in net.
Other random thoughts: The Blackhawks should be thought winners just for finding a taker for Brian Campbell's gigantic contract. I also really like the Kings' move to acquire Mike Richards and signing Simon Gagne. The Kings top six forwards are now very dangerous. The Wild made a very good move to acquire Dany Heatley for Martin Havlat. They add salary, but pushing the cap still isn't a concern and Heatley needed a fresh start- being paired with Mikko Koivu will certainly help him get back on track.
Bottom 3 Off-seasons:
1.) Winnipeg Jets. Their biggest move was re-signing captain Andrew Ladd to a five year, $22 million deal. Other than that, the Jets have added a few fringe players, some of whom have ties to the area. However, this is a team that needed to make a splash and still has to hit the cap floor. There were not many big options in free agency, but the trade market was active and the Jets didn't take advantage of it.
To be fair, the Jets could go 0-82 and no one would care. They are just happy to have hockey again in Winnipeg and will get at least a one year honeymoon.
2.)Phoenix Coyotes. They've lost another buyer, they had to trade the rights to their franchise goaltender and they have only signed two players who will be on the roster next year for certain- Raffi Torres and Mike Smith (who they hope will turn around his career.) The Coyotes did re-sign Keith Yandle to a contract extension, but Don Maloney is once again trying to find cheap options to fix holes on his team, only this time without Ilya Bryzgalov.
3.) Calgary Flames. They have a new GM in Jay Feaster, but the direction he intends to take the team is unclear. To start the off-season, he sent Robin Regehr to the Sabres, perhaps signaling the start of a long-awaited rebuilding process for the Flames. Then, Feaster counteracts that thought by re-signing Alex Tanguay to a multi-year deal, and they put in a serious offer for Brad Richards. How he takes this team is uncertain, but I will wager a guess that, if the Flames struggle again this season, then the rebuild will begin.
Other random thoughts: I think the NHL comes out as the biggest loser yet again. After last off-season, I thought they would be harder on contracts that circumvent the cap (like the deals Richards, Ehrhoff and Bryzgalov received.) Instead, we might as well not even have a cap if these deals will be allowed year after year. Speaking of Richards, I am unsure of his signing with the Rangers. It seems like just another "sign star player to a big deal in hopes that he fixes the problem" that Glen Sather is known for (and how he still has a job, I will not know.) I am also not sold on the additions by the Florida Panthers- they signed a whole lot of complementary players, but overpaid for Ed Jovanovski and still lack a go-to player on offense. Oh, and they signed Jose Theodore to start in goal next season.
Undecided:
This season, I have only one team that I don't know where to put them, and they are the Philadelphia Flyers. They finally got their franchise goaltender in Bryzgalov, but signed him to a massive deal. In order to sign him, the Flyers dealt both Richards and Carter. They did get back some nice young pieces, and signed Jaromir Jagr, but their offense is not looking as good as it did. Given that Richards and Carter were given up to provide the space needed to sign Bryzgalov and make other moves, I don't think it was a good move. They gave up too much offense in return for a goalie who has struggled in the playoffs the past two seasons.
Despite all that negativity, the Flyers still boost a great blueline and their forwards have a lot of potential- some of them can definitely step up this season. Also, as Roberto Luongo proved, a goalie who has struggled before in the playoffs can step up. He still had a rough post-season at times, but the Canucks finally made the Finals.
Top 3 Off-seasons:
1.) Columbus Blue Jackets: Columbus came into the off-season knowing that they needed help scoring goals, and needing help on the power play. By trading for Jeff Carter, they finally get a player who can score goals like Rick Nash. They may play on the same line on a regular basis, or only on the power play, but Carter is an immediate upgrade across the board.
In addition to Carter, the Blue Jackets further improved their power play by adding James Wisniewski and his booming shot from the point. Columbus has long since needed that kind of player to man the point on the power play, and they now have him.
2.) Buffalo Sabres. The new ownership promised to spend, and they certainly delivered. Darcy Regier was able to shore up the Sabres blueline by making two trades- one to acquire defensive stalwart Robin Regehr (along with forward Ales Kotalik) from the Calgary Flames. The second was acquiring the rights to Christian Ehrhoff from the Islanders and promptly signing him to a 10 year, $40 million extension. The Sabres now boost one of the deepest bluelines in the league, with Regehr, Ehrhoff, Tyler Myers, Jordan Leopold and Andrej Sekera in their top five.
Besides bringing back Kotalik, the Sabres also added Ville Leino to a six year, $27 million deal. That was not the best deal, but in a weak market, the Sabres had to make it to add him to an already talented core of forwards. After years of sending talent away because they could not afford them, ownership needed to make this statement to the fans that they were serious, and they delivered.
3.) Washington Capitals. It might be my homer pick, but the Capitals were one of the busiest team so far this off-season. A draft night trade acquired two way winger Troy Brouwer from the Chicago Blackhawks. The Capitals lost Jason Arnott and Boyd Gordon to free agency, but replaced them with former captain Jeff Halpern and another tough two way forward in Joel Ward, who was in very high demand due to his playoff performance. The Capitals also signed Roman Hamrlik who, despite being 37, consistantly received the toughest defensive assignments in Montreal last season and can run the second power play unit.
What GM George McPhee is getting the most attention from is in net. The Capitals sent Semyon Varlamov (who had one foot into the KHL) to the Colorado Avalance for a first and second round pick. He admitted to being surprised to get that for Varlamov. Not to be outdone, he ended up signing Tomas Vokoun to a one year, $1.5 million deal (less than the extension Varlamov signed in Colorado) to play for the Capitals. Vokoun is one of the most underrated goaltenders in the league (who admittedly does not have post-season experience) and immediately gives the Caps a proven goalie in net.
Other random thoughts: The Blackhawks should be thought winners just for finding a taker for Brian Campbell's gigantic contract. I also really like the Kings' move to acquire Mike Richards and signing Simon Gagne. The Kings top six forwards are now very dangerous. The Wild made a very good move to acquire Dany Heatley for Martin Havlat. They add salary, but pushing the cap still isn't a concern and Heatley needed a fresh start- being paired with Mikko Koivu will certainly help him get back on track.
Bottom 3 Off-seasons:
1.) Winnipeg Jets. Their biggest move was re-signing captain Andrew Ladd to a five year, $22 million deal. Other than that, the Jets have added a few fringe players, some of whom have ties to the area. However, this is a team that needed to make a splash and still has to hit the cap floor. There were not many big options in free agency, but the trade market was active and the Jets didn't take advantage of it.
To be fair, the Jets could go 0-82 and no one would care. They are just happy to have hockey again in Winnipeg and will get at least a one year honeymoon.
2.)Phoenix Coyotes. They've lost another buyer, they had to trade the rights to their franchise goaltender and they have only signed two players who will be on the roster next year for certain- Raffi Torres and Mike Smith (who they hope will turn around his career.) The Coyotes did re-sign Keith Yandle to a contract extension, but Don Maloney is once again trying to find cheap options to fix holes on his team, only this time without Ilya Bryzgalov.
3.) Calgary Flames. They have a new GM in Jay Feaster, but the direction he intends to take the team is unclear. To start the off-season, he sent Robin Regehr to the Sabres, perhaps signaling the start of a long-awaited rebuilding process for the Flames. Then, Feaster counteracts that thought by re-signing Alex Tanguay to a multi-year deal, and they put in a serious offer for Brad Richards. How he takes this team is uncertain, but I will wager a guess that, if the Flames struggle again this season, then the rebuild will begin.
Other random thoughts: I think the NHL comes out as the biggest loser yet again. After last off-season, I thought they would be harder on contracts that circumvent the cap (like the deals Richards, Ehrhoff and Bryzgalov received.) Instead, we might as well not even have a cap if these deals will be allowed year after year. Speaking of Richards, I am unsure of his signing with the Rangers. It seems like just another "sign star player to a big deal in hopes that he fixes the problem" that Glen Sather is known for (and how he still has a job, I will not know.) I am also not sold on the additions by the Florida Panthers- they signed a whole lot of complementary players, but overpaid for Ed Jovanovski and still lack a go-to player on offense. Oh, and they signed Jose Theodore to start in goal next season.
Undecided:
This season, I have only one team that I don't know where to put them, and they are the Philadelphia Flyers. They finally got their franchise goaltender in Bryzgalov, but signed him to a massive deal. In order to sign him, the Flyers dealt both Richards and Carter. They did get back some nice young pieces, and signed Jaromir Jagr, but their offense is not looking as good as it did. Given that Richards and Carter were given up to provide the space needed to sign Bryzgalov and make other moves, I don't think it was a good move. They gave up too much offense in return for a goalie who has struggled in the playoffs the past two seasons.
Despite all that negativity, the Flyers still boost a great blueline and their forwards have a lot of potential- some of them can definitely step up this season. Also, as Roberto Luongo proved, a goalie who has struggled before in the playoffs can step up. He still had a rough post-season at times, but the Canucks finally made the Finals.