Saturday’s opening of NHL free agency wasn’t exactly the frenzy that we’ve seen in past years. Plain and simple, the big names just aren’t there.
When Kevin Shattenkirk, one of the top offensive defencemen in the league — but not exactly the most recognizable player — is the centrepiece of free agency, then you can understand why this year’s crop of free agents had zero chance of living up to the hype.
Despite that, we can still anoint free agency winners and losers up to this point.
The Rangers are in the win column, thanks to the Shattenkirk deal, and the hometown discount (four years/$26.6 million) they got him for.
The Maple Leafs filled a couple of holes via free agency, and get a thumbs up on the signing of stay at home D-man Ron Hainsey and fourth-line forward Dominic Moore. Plucking winger Patrick Marleau out of San Jose was an interesting move, in that they gave the soon to be 38 year old a three year contract worth $18.75 million dollars. Marleau will add more scoring up front and will easily be the oldest man on the ice for the Leafs.
Karl Alzner is a nice addition to Montreal’s blueline, and at $4.6 million, the dollars aren’t out of whack. He’ll replace Alexei Emelin, who was taken by Vegas in the NHL expansion draft. But I can’t call the Habs winners unless they re-sign talented forward Alexander Radulov.
Good on the Canucks to bring aboard centre Sam Gagner for the next three seasons. He should provide secondary offence to a franchise that has leaned heavily on the Sedin twins.
Florida is smart to let the seemingly ageless Jaromir Jagr look for another home while signing forward Radim Vrbata to fill the offensive void.
Pittsburgh gets a checkmark for re-signing offensive defenceman Justin Schultz but losing forwards Nick Bonino to Nashville and Chris Kunitz to Tampa Bay will hurt their scoring depth upfront.
Picking up big centre Martin Hanzal was a nice signing by the Dallas Stars and I also like Detroit’s acquisition of Stanley Cup winning defenceman Trevor Daley.
There’s no way Anaheim was going to let blueliner Cam Fowler walk away, inking him to an eight-year, $52-million package, and he’s well worth that price if he continues to play like he did this past season.
Is Brian Elliott the answer in goal for the Flyers? Philly fans are hoping so, especially after losing Steve Mason to Winnipeg. Both franchises have been plagued by inconsistent netminding for years.
Mr. Game 7, Justin Williams, is back in Carolina more than a decade after leading the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup. I like the signing, but Williams and the Canes won’t be playing in any Game 7s anytime soon.
The Capitals overpaid to keep defenceman Dmitry Orlov, but they had to. Six years, $5.1 million per, just about doubled his previous salary. But at 25, and already on the top pairing, Washington believes Orlov can grow into one of the league’s best offensive defenders.
The biggest losers, however, are the Colorado Avalanche. GM Joe Sakic still hasn’t unloaded talented forward Matt Duchene, and his marquee free-agent acquisition is washed up backup goalie Jonathan Bernier. Enjoy your 2018 draft lottery pick Colorado.
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