Hey guys. I am very excited to be joining Jason here at armchairhockey.net, the best kept secret on the internet! (Now let us fix that!) He provides in depth analysis of all things hockey; hopefully I can contribute something here and there. To kick things off, here are some musings on the Free Agency Period in the same vein as Elliotte Friedman’s 30 thoughts (which happens to be the best blog in hockey.)
-The Florida Panthers certainly emerged as the biggest players during this year’s free agency period. Dave Tallon has acquired no less than 11 NHL players in the span of a few short weeks. Brian Campbell, Kris Versteeg, Thomas Kopecky, and Angelo Esposito were all brought in via trade while Jose Theodore, Scottie Upshall, Ed Jovanovski, Marcel Goc, Thomas Fleischmann, Sean Bergenheim, and Matt Bradley all signed as free agents. But how many more games will they win without Thomas Vokoun in net? The Answer: not many. It is easy to applaud Dave Tallon for his work so far this offseason, but the harsh reality is that he let his best player walk for nothing. Moreover not a single player brought in makes market value or less.
-On another note relating to Florida (and several other teams… cough… Buffalo…), NHL GM’s should be scared at the current trend of contracts/contract negotiations. Several years back Brian Burke and Kevin Lowe had a very public spat over offer-sheets. Well, old Burkie was right. Lowe essentially killed the “2nd” contract. Traditionally, talented youngsters would sign a 2-3 year contract after their initial ELC. A good example is Shea Weber signing a $4.5 mill 2nd contract. Compare that to what Drew Doughty is likely to sign for this off season. With the death of the 2nd contract, the NHL has seen a startling rise in the price tag for young players. The actions of a few GM’s this offseason, including Tallon, have simply jacked up the prices further. A new trend has been set, one in which mediocre free agents are wildly overpaid to allow a team to reach the new Salary Cap floor. These are two dangerous trends that need to be rectified in the next CBA.
-In what world does it make sense that Thomas Fleischmann makes only $500 000 less than Ryan Kesler? Or that Scottie Upshall makes $1 million more than Alex Burrows.
-Buffalo was another big player during this free agency period, although most of their moves were made via trade. Bringing in Christian Erhoff and Robyn Reghr should do wonders to insulate Tyler Myers on the back end. However it will be important for Buffalo to ensure Marc-Andre Gragnani is not buried in the depth charts. After all he did lead the Sabres in post-season scoring last year.
-Did I mention that Erhoff, a 50 point d-man, will be making $18 million over the next two seasons? For comparisons sake, Crosby will make $17.4.
-While Buffalo is now the highest spending team in the league, I would be surprised with a top-4 finish in the East. They lack star power up front and will have a tough time dealing with Philly, Boston, Pitty, and Washington.
-If Kevin Bieksa can continue playing like he did during the Canucks recent cup run, $4.6 over 5 years is going to look beautiful. James Wisniewski, a d-man cut from the same mould, signed for more money and more term in CBJ. Mike Gillis may be the best GM in the NHL when it comes to convincing players to take hometown discounts.
-Washington took huge strides in the East, establishing themselves as the sole team to beat. Retaining Brooks Laich was a must for GM George McPhee. Bringing in Joel Ward for some added grit/depth was a solid move. It also never hurts to have the best UFA goalie (and in my opinion a top 5 goalie in the NHL) ask to play for only $1.5 million. Based on the Vokoun move alone, George McPhee “won” Free Agency.
-While I was not surprised to see Dwayne Roloson re-sign in Tampa, I was surprised that Yzerman did not make a play for his future replacement. Cory Schneider and Jonathan Bernier are the most likely targets. However neither will come cheap. I don’t believe Dustin Tokarski is their answer.
-Sigh… another two years of Andrew Alberts. That being said, I don’t think the coaching staff can possibly deny Chris Tanev a full time spot on the Canucks roster this October. The kid has ice in his veins.
-I would give Mike Gillis a solid B for his efforts this offseason. My biggest fear was that the Canucks would not make any changes, unfortunately this largely turned out to be the case. However re-signing Bieksa, Maxime Lapierre, and Chris Higgins were musts in my opinion. I could have done without Andrew Alberts and Marco Sturm along with their combined $3.725 cap hit.
-While most of their moves were made via trade, Philly has to be mentioned here. Did any team do more to shake up their core? No. Did Philly improve as a team? Maybe. With so many moves it is difficult to tell. Right now I would say the first couple of months will be a big adjustment as they learn to live without Mike Richards, although they very well may have acquired Mike Richards 2.0 in Braydon Schenn.
-I cant wait for the first time Philadelphia plays in Pittsburgh. Maxime Talbot and Jaromir Jagr should bring food testers with them on that road trip.
-I was very surprised Winnipeg did not make more moves this offseason. I understand that there must have been a lot to deal with the relocation, but every team in their division got better (with the exception of Tampa, who was already much better). Bringing in some familiar faces in Tanner Glass and Rick Rypien was a start, but neither would look out of place as full time AHL’ers. Trading for Eric Fehr was a good move, but not enough. I foresee a rough season playing against Carolina, Tampa, Florida, and Washington.
-Glen Sather is at it again! The same guy who made Scott Gomez and Chris Drury $7 million per season players is getting ready to shell out $12 million to Brad Richards next year. I don’t care if his annual cap hit is only $6.66 million. Brad Richards is simply not that valuable. Both Henrik and Daniel combined will make $12.2 million next season. Good job Glenn.
-That “fair” cap hit may even come back to bite the NYR in the ass as there are rumblings that Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan could both be awarded similar deals in arbitration.
-Of all the years to take a player to arbitration, this year has to be the worse. What is Sather going to say when Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky’s agents point to the newly signed contracts of Ville Leino and Thomas Fleischmann? Under the current market prices, both players will fetch upwards of $5 million. Let’s hope everyone comes to their senses before the hearing and they get a reasonable deal done.
-My steal of Free Agency has got to be Zenon Konopka to Ottawa for 1 year at $700 000. This guy is a good Canadian kid who will fight, check, and chip in about 15-20 points a year playing on your teams 4th line. Oh yea, he is also one of the better faceoff men in the league. He instantly improves any team’s bottom 6.
-I will end my musings with Thomas Kaberle to Carolina for 3years and $4.25 million per. I have to say I am glad he got his money. He was one of the more reliable dmen in the league for a long time, despite playing on one of the worse teams in the league. Ron Wilson is a poor coach, and Kaberle should not take it personally that he did not succeed under him. With Kaberle and Joni Pitkanen manning the points, I could see a big boost in Carolina’s PP% this season.
Brad Richardson’s tying goal, with four Canucks and Cory Schneider within an arm’s reach, should never have happened. That a fourth-liner like Richardson can outwork Henrik Sedin, Alex Edler, Keith Ballard, and David Booth is, well, astounding. This is the second time in the past two playoffs that an eighth seed has knocked off a one seed (Habs in 2010), but this has already been an unpredictable playoffs (even for hockey standards). What’s worrying is that the Kings have dispatched the two-time Presidents’ Trophy champs so quickly, and that the series wasn’t won by talent, but by sheer focus and work ethic.
Talking prospects with hockey observers is an exercise in 
Kevin Connauton, Yann Sauve look to be keepers and Eddie Lack seems like a really great find, but the rest aren’t especially noteworthy. Nicklas Jensen appears to be the only notable from our 2011 class, and even then he’s not a prospect with a particularly high ceiling. You could already see the brimming optimism vancitydan has for Honzik, who has been compared to Pekka Rinne, although it had been previously established that Anthony was a Crosby type, further proof that player-to-player comparisons are ridiculous and futile. The same goes for Labate and Grenier – they’re projects at best.