NHL Free Agency Thread

[killgod]

With July 1st creeping up quickly, here's a look at the top free agents on the NHL market

Top 30 NHL Free Agents

Player|Position|2008 Club|2008 Salary|Age
Jay Boumeester|D|Florida|4.8M|25
Marian Hossa|RW|Detroit|7.5M|30
Marian Gaborik|RW|Minnesota|7.5M|27
Daniel Sedin|LW|Vancouver|3.5M|28
Henrik Sedin|C|Vancouver|3.5M|28
Mike Cammalleri|RW|Calgary|3.6M|27
Martin Havlat|RW|Chicago|6M|28
Mike Komisarek|D|Montreal|1.9M|27
Alex Tanguay|RW|Montreal|5.3M|28
Nikolai Khabibulin|G|Chicago|6.7M|36
Mattias Ohlund|D|Vancouver|3.5M|32
Brian Gionta|RW|New Jersey|4M|30
Saku Koivu|C|Montreal|4.7M|34
Derek Morris|D|New York R|3.9M|30
Alex Kovalev|RW|Montreal|4.5M|36
Todd Bertuzzi|RW|Calgary|1.9M|34
Nik Antropov|C|New York R|2.1M|29
Erik Cole|LW|Carolina|4M|30
Mikael Sameulsson|RW|Detroit|1.2M|32
Johnny Odyua|D|New Jersey|600K|27
Dennis Seidenberg|D|Carolina|1.2M|27
Keith Tkachuk|C|St. Louis|4.5M|37
Bill Guerin|LW|Pittsburgh|4.5M|38
Rob Scuderi|D|Pittsburgh|725K|30
Robert Lang|C|Montreal|4M|38
Samuel Pahlsson|C|Chicago|1.4M|31
Chris Neil|RW|Ottawa|1.2M|30
Mike Knuble|RW|Philadelphia|2.8M|37
Francois Beauchemin|D|Anaheim|1.6M|29
Christian Backman|D|Columbus|3.4M|29

 

[killgod]

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/team.php?team=DET


I think Red Wings fans are out of their f'n minds if you think Hossa is coming back.

There's very little room unless a big trade is made, Franzen's and Zetterberg's salaries go up by a combined 6.4 M

Much like in Pittsburgh, Guerin probably won't be back at the money he made last year cause of Malkin's jump in salary.


Last year's cap was what...56M? It's not going up this year....

 

[nesper]

i would wager the majority of wings fans would not want hossa back for anything above of 3mil a year his complete vanishing act in the finals will not sit well around here. hudler is easily their top priority. kopecky will be gone. I dont know how stable samuellson chance at returning is be it wings choice or his. outside of a defensemen i dont see them making a big splash on the market at all. at 33 i dont see conklin staying

 

[killgod]

wr50l and I are debating it on MSN.

he thinks they can do it.

I don't.


To break it down, it's expected the 09/10 cap to be around 55M, a lil smaller than last year.

At that rate, the Wings have 4 Forwards, 1 Defenceman and 1 Goalie spot to either re-sign or find a new player.

With just 3.8M available that's no easy feat. Figure Howard backs up Osgood, so that's 700K. Down to 3.1M.

They could bring up Adelbaker and Helm to fill in for a couple of those bottom end forwards, but they combine for 1.4M.

Basically Hossa's cap hit would have to be sub 1M to make it work. Which would only mean a FEW league MAXIMUM cap hits down the road, if they give him the money he wants/deserves

That's just insane and the Wings are much smarter than that.


Not to mention I'd expect to see Franzen in arbitration in a couple years, the guy is a top line forward and 3.9M is brutally low.

 

[nesper]

the only way franzen ends up in arbitration is if they are not playing in the finals multiple years. its a long term deal that can always get bumped up. i do see helm and abdelkader getting some time with the wings this year probably permanant for helm maybe with abdelkader.

edit: franzen is 5th highest paid wing only behind lidstrom, zetterberg, datsyuk and rafalski not much room for him to bitch .

 

[Ravin]

Some how I hope to god the Pens resign Rob Scuderi. With the $4.5M they will get from Guerin's contract, I hope they at least offer Scuderi $2M or around that. The guy, IMO, won game 6 for the Pens and is a solid defensive dman.

And I agree that Hossa coming back is looking like a fat chance in hell. And you know, it looks good on the little bastard. Now he'll end up on some 4th-7th place team and not win a cup again. I hope he never wins a cup so this one will haunt him for the rest of his playing career. But there is no way he is going to take under $3M, let alone $1M from the Wings, so he should start packing his bags now and get moving.

 

[warrior9669]

Pens need to resign Scuderi and Gologoski. Satan and Sykora can go.

 

[Ravin]

Satan is probably going to be let go. Guy was sent down to the AHL, so I don't see them in a big hurry to resign him. Sykora I can see them resigning because he is good with the Malkin line. It just all depends what they want to do next year. Kunitz/Crosby/??? and then you have Fedetanko, Sykora and Satan who, between the three of them, made up the second line with Malkin. Now with Talbot becoming a new star, they can move him up.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Cats need ONE, just ONE of the top forwards this year...for Christ's sake...make it happen.

Give me Cammalleri or Havlet...please, Lord...make it happen.

Otherwise J-Bo is gone...if Calgary can make him fit, that is where he's go, but it'll be REAL TOUGH for Calgary to do it.

Craig Anderson is probably gone, too. He wants a starting job.

Cats will need to re-sign Eminger and Skrats...if they don't, we need a top 4 D-Man.

 

[Ravin]

Calgary should really try to resign Cammilleri. He was a good fit on that team, and with Iginla and Jokinen, they have a legit #1 line, following with Langkow and whom ever else they feel like making their second line out of.

It wont happen, but I would say Toronto should look into the services of JayBo, because he would be a good partner with Scheen. But Jay probably wont go to another horrible team when he is capable of being #1 on a cup contender. Hell, might be something for the pens to look since I believe Gonchar is up soon as well.

I really do think the leafs need to look at this list of players and try and get a few of them. They need a big name forward on the team now that they have cleaned house.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Calgary's problem is they are going to be tight with money...I'm not sure if they are going to put a self-imposed cap on things either, but if I were a betting man, Camm isn't going to be there next year.

JayBo's options are supposedly limited considering the team's he wants to go to. JayBo has informed Martin that he was definitely leaving, but who knows what the new ownership and GM will do...may be they shun the idea of the self-imposed cap and spend some dough on the kid, although, I doubt it. Supposedly, they are trying real hard to trade JayBo's rights...but considering his comments during the playoffs, that he won't sign until FA starts, makes the Cats leverage little to nothing. We'll end up with nothing and I am unsure of where exactly he'll go, because he will want 7-8M and the number of teams willing to dish that out might be few. I think the Flyers might be interested.

Supposedly, well...at least before Martin went north, the Cats were looking at Havlet, Sullivan, Gionta...but, it looks like we'll definitely be bringing up Repik, might use Ellerby as a D-Man on the main roster this year. Mayyyyybe Matthias (bad year last year)...but damnit, I just want ONE legit, bonafide front line forward from this years FA crop, that has some real good fits, like a Havlet.

 

[nesper]

one of the local online "paper" type deals says the wings will resign mccarty to play in grand rapids, really i dont see that unless they are feeling really charitable and want to help him pay off his gambling debts.

to bad wisniewski is RFA he probably would come at a home town discount.

 

[Ralnakor]

I honestly would love to see the Wings let Hossa go and grab Beauchemin and bring up Helm and Abdelkader permanently.

 

[killgod]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282198

It appears as thought the Vancouver Canucks will have to break the bank if they want to hold on to the Sedin brothers.

According to a report on Swedish website expressen.se, Daniel and Henrik Sedin are looking for identical 12-year contracts worth $63 million each, similar to the one signed by fellow countryman Henrik Zetterberg with the Detroit Red Wings.

While the twins enjoyed solid seasons with the Canucks last year, co-leading the team in scoring with 82 points each while each adding 10 points during the Canucks' playoff run, they have yet to reach the same level as Zetterberg who captured the Conn Smythe trophy last season while leading his Red Wings to the Stanley Cup.

The brother's have expressed an interest in remaining in Vancouver, while the Canucks' have stated that it is a priority to re-sign the twins, however it is believed that a $63 million price tag is much more than general manager Mike Gillis would be willing to spend.

According to the article on expressen.se, neither the Sedin's, nor their agent J.P. Barry would comment on the report.

The brother's each earned $3.75 million this past season and are scheduled to become unrestricted free-agents July 1st.

 

[wr50l]

$5.25m in cap for each of them sounds pretty good for the Canucks. Having said that, the contracts would obviously be front loaded. Nevertheless in cap terms that's pretty viable if you ask me.

 

[Ralnakor]

We already have so much money tied up in defensemen it's ridiculous.

I'd rather put half the money into him than what we'll have to pay to keep Hossa.

 

[T.Dot]

Bouwmeester is going to be interesting to watch simply because I can't see him fitting on any team besides Ottawa, also I tihnk Hossa will be back in Detroit with the Sedins going back to Vancouver.
Leafs sign Khabuilun (sp?) even through he'll suck, also Gaborik to Vancouver is rumored as well as Havlat or Cammelleri to Washington

 

[killgod]

Bouwmeester is going to be interesting to watch simply because I can't see him fitting on any team besides Ottawa, also I tihnk Hossa will be back in Detroit with the Sedins going back to Vancouver.
Leafs sign Khabuilun (sp?) even through he'll suck, also Gaborik to Vancouver is rumored as well as Havlat or Cammelleri to Washington

you have any logic behind these random assumptions?


you do know players have salaries and there's a cap involved right?

and why on earth the Leafs would want a 36 year old goalie while rebuilding...

 

[wr50l]

you do know players have salaries and there's a cap involved right?

Glen Sather doesn't. So why would he?

 

[killgod]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282319

Reinprecht to Florida, signs 3 year deal.

Some guy back to Phoenix.

Phoenix also locked up Prucha for 2 years.