Perhaps its a compulsion of sports or political experts to analyze every event in terms of determining winners and losers, but its usually a good opportunity to hear analysis from a non-biased (or at least a less biased) party. You see it on any given Sunday morning in the national political talk show programs like NBC’s Meet the Press or CBS’s Face the Nation or even cable television’s Hardball with Chris Matthews on CNBC or The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, heck even toss in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. Politcians and political pundits evaluate the effect of a political leader’s actions, inaction and talk about whether it helped or hurt them politically. Its an awful lot of minutia and semantics as the conservative pundit gives their perspective and the liberal pundit attempts to counter and vice versa. It can be the best and worst of what makes politics interesting or annoying depending on your point of view. A scandal here, a contentious issue there and you usually end up with a rousing debate which makes you want to get into an argument yourself, while the show’s host seems to simply enjoy stirring the pot. In someways it resembles your favorite NHL team’s message board as fans sound off on what they feel is great and what they feel is messed up. Very few times do all fans agree so more often than not a great discussion is usually wrought from it.
Every year the financial publication, Forbes announces the values of every major sports franchise and prognosticates about the league’s overall economic health. I am not going to speculate much about the economic success of the 5 teams that make up the NHL’s Northwest Division, but I will examine their roster moves in terms of trades and free agency. Yes I realize that a lot can happen between now and the opening of free agency but by all matters of measure, the free agency period really has frozen to a near standstill as just 5 players were signed as free agent the last 4 days alone. The lack of activty is a side effect all the long term deals that have been made the last few seasons, which now has GM’s looking to trade simply for reasons of re-establishing some level of flexibility under the cap. If you look at the division, most of the rosters look fairly complete with some only very minor tweaks to remain. I will evaluate each team’s current roster and judge whether they’re a winner or a loser this offseason in terms of the changes to its lineup. The asterisks denote players acquired by post-season trades or free agency. All of the salaries listed are according to nhlnumbers.com.
Please Click “Read More” to Continue Reading This Article…
Minnesota Wild – $54.2 Million (20 players)
LW – Martin Havlat ~ $5 Million
C – Pierre-Marc Bouchard ~ $4.25 Million
*C – Matt Cullen ~ $3.5 Million
C – Mikko Koivu ~ $3.7 Million
RW – Guillaume Latendresse ~ $2.5 Million
RW – Chuck Kobasew ~ $2.5 Million
LW – Antti Miettinen ~ $2.5 Million
LW – Andrew Brunette ~ $2.5 Million
*LW – Eric Nystrom ~ $1.4 Million
RW – Cal Clutterbuck ~ $1.5 Million
C – Kyle Brodziak ~ $1.1 Million
C – James Sheppard ~ $803,000
*RW – Brad Staubitz ~ $550,000
RW – Mark Parrish ~ $928,000 (buyout)
D – Marek Zidlicky ~ $4 Million
D – Brent Burns ~ $3.8 Million
D – Nick Schultz ~ $3.6 Million
D – Cam Barker ~ $3 Million
D – Greg Zanon ~ $2 Million
D – Clayton Stoner ~ $550,000
G – Niklas Backstrom ~ $6 Million
Departures:
D – Shane Hnidy ~ ??
D – John Scott ~ to Chicago
LW – Derek Boogaard ~ to New York Rangers
RW – Petr Sykora ~ to the KHL
C – Andrew Ebbett ~ to Phoenix
RW – Owen Nolan ~ ???
The tension in the organization is starting to show, and the once thought impervious ship that was the Wild organization and its legions of fans waiting for the opportunity of owning season tickets are a way of the past. The bragging about the “Wild Warming House” seems like ages ago, and when you combine two mediocre seasons in a row where the team wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs but not bad enough to get a Top 5 pick in the NHL Entry draft has steadily drained the team of the momentum it started with 10 seasons ago. Since its the 10th season for the franchise, expectations have steadily risen and fans want to see their team making their way to the post season every year, not just every so often. The previous administration of majority owner Bob Naegele Jr. and General Manager Doug Risebrough have been replaced by former Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold and new GM Chuck Fletcher who are working steadily towards fixing much of the malaise the previous managment brought with it as they were content to make big profits. Fans are no longer buying the “Greatest Hockey Fans in the World” Kool-Aid and even last year you could start to see some people dressed as empty seats. Unfortunately, the bad contracts signed by Risebrough have really tied the hands of Chuck Fletcher and severely limited the flexibility the team has in making moves. Although hardly a situation unique only to the Wild as you could see by the paltry amount of Entry draft day trades, Minnesota was not able to really go after the biggest name free agents and instead had to settle for 2nd tier type of players (i.e. less expensive).
Chuck Fletcher showed excellent resourcefulness, re-signing Guillaume Latendresse to a very reasonable 2-year, $2.5 million per season deal, and then managed to land Moorhead, Minnesota-native Matt Cullen and grinding left winger Eric Nystrom. Cullen and Nystrom provide speed, grit and a level of versatility lacking in some of the Wild’s forwards from last season. It did not come without some casualties as the Wild was forced to allow fan-favorite Derek Boogaard to leave to the New York Rangers to a 4-year deal that will pay him $1.6 million per season. Team jersey sales will likely take a bit of a dip because of this, and Minnesota also allowed tough defenseman John Scott to leave for Chicago. Minnesota will be having its toughness needs served by Brad Staubitz (whom the team acquired for a 5th round pick), who is no stranger to fighting but is no where near as intimidating as the ‘Boogeyman’, it remains to be seen if he can be as effective a deterrant as Boogaard was over teams taking liberties with the Wild’s skill players. This will be the first time in franchise history the team is without a true heavyweight enforcer on its roster. Minnesota also lost the hardworking Andrew Ebbett, who just wasn’t able to emerge into a 2nd line center the team sorely needed. Jilted winger Petr Sykora was barely a member of the team so his departure is more of a footnote than anything else. One last possible salary cap casualty, is veteran winger Owen Nolan. Nolan brought a great seasoned presence to the teams and has been fantastic for the team to have in the lockerroom. The Belfast, Northern Ireland-native did not provide as much offense this year as he did in 2008-09, but he gave this team an element of sandpaper that it needed. He may re-sign, but he may wish to go to a team that has a better chance to win the Stanley Cup.
The Wild still have a few roster spots that are open, with a 7th defenseman position likely to be fought over by youngsters Marco Scandella, Nate Prosser and perhaps Tyler Cuma as well. The most glaring roster need is at backup goaltender, where incumbant Josh Harding is looking to leave, but with such a cluttered goaltending market the Wild were unable to find any takers for the Regina, Saskatchewan-native. I’d expect Harding to be re-signed to a one-year deal but the team must give him more starts just so other teams (potential suitors) can see him play and perhaps if he does well enough he can create some interest in the process and even fetch a trade.
Judgement: Winner, the Wild did not have many moves to make but most would’ve been pleased the team was able to add Cullen but being able to sign hard working Eric Nystrom was a pleasant bonus. It certainly was not a giant splash but it addressed some needs and in free agency its all about acquiring solutions. Some NHL experts like ESPN‘s E.J. Hradek thought the Wild overpaid Cullen and Nystrom, and to a certain extent I agree but it wasn’t like Minnesota gave out a ridiculous overpayment like the contracts to Brent Sopel or Jeff Finger were. Minnesota could also gain some additional salary relief if Pierre-Marc Bouchard continues to suffer from post-concussion symptoms, and if so could be placed on long-term injury which would free up 80% of his salary cap space for the team to spend.
Calgary Flames – $60 Million (23 players)
RW – Jarome Iginla ~ $7 Million
C – Daymond Langkow ~ $4.25 Million
C – Matt Stajan ~ $3.5 Million
LW – Rene Bourque ~ $4 Million
LW – Niklas Hagman ~ $3 Million
*C – Olli Jokinen ~ $3 Million
RW – Ales Kotalik ~ $3 Million
*LW – Alex Tanguay ~ $1.7 Million
LW – David Moss ~ $1.3 Million
LW – Nigel Dawes ~ $142,000 (buyout)
C – Mikael Backlund ~ $875,000
LW – Curtis Glencross ~ $1.2 Million
*LW – Raitis Ivanans ~ $600,000
*RW – Tim Jackman ~ $550,000
*C – Ryan Stone ~ $500,000
D – Jay Bouwmeester ~ $6.6 Million
D – Robyn Regehr ~ $4 Million
D – Cory Sarich ~ $3.7 Million
D – Steve Staios ~ $2.2 Million
D – Adam Pardy ~ $700,000
D – Mark Giordano ~ $1.075 Million
D – Staffan Kronwall ~ $500,000
G – Miikka Kiprusoff ~ $7 Million
G – Henrik Karlsson ~ $500,000
Departures:
RW – Chris Higgins ~ to Florida
LW – Eric Nystrom ~ to Minnesota
C – Craig Conroy ~ to ???
RW – Jamal Mayers ~ to ???
RW – Brian McGrattan ~ to ???
Tabloids like Star love to speculate and promote scandals with an army of papparazi photographers to catch celebrities at their worst and then relish dragging their names through the mud. On occasion, they would also report on truly bizarre stories that attested to sightings of aliens from outer space, long-thought dead individuals like Adolf Hitler or most of all Elvis Presley, or the odd mutant like Batboy. If there has been a team whose moves fit into the ‘strange but true’ category its the Calgary Flames. The Flames surprised just about everyone by signing heavily criticized underachiever Olli Jokinen as well as Alex Tanguay who looks to have declined further since his first failed stint with the organization. Despite Jokinen’s parting shots to the team after being dealt in a deadline deal this spring, he took a $2 million paycut to return. Yet, why bring back two players who by all accounts failed to deliver? Even Flames General Manager Daryl Sutter who is probably feeling as though his job is in jeopardy (at least he should) did not have a real good answer to that question other than to say he’s happy they’re back. Sounds to me like a GM who has run out of ideas to explain why his team continues to underachieve. In Sutter’s defense, team captain Jarome Iginla endorsed the moves, saying both will help add some offense to a team that struggled all too often to score.
Iginla’s comments, while providing perhaps a little comfort to fans on the Red Mile really do ignore some glaring problems the organization faces. As you can see, the Flames by my math should be over the salary cap. This means the team will have to trim salary in some fashion before training camp begins. Unless the Flames are going to unload a medium-sized to big contract like that of grossly overpaid defenseman Cory Sarich they will have a tough time both getting under the cap and yet still having room to re-sign Ian White who impressed during his limited time after being acquired as part of the Dion Phaneuf trade. Another perplexing situation that got E.J. Hradek almost irate on NHL Live was the decision to waive Ales Kotalik just after acquiring him in the Olli Jokinen trade deadline deal. Kotalik looked lost and was very ineffective, but it seems silly to place him on waivers along with his 2-year deal at $3 million per season. If the Flames do buyout his contract as they are expected to, they will have a $1.5 million cap hit in Kotalik’s honor through the 2013-14 season. Even a buyout will bring the team just under the cap but they won’t have enough room left over to re-sign White. Just another reason to question Daryl Sutter’s decision making apart from the many other pitfalls he’s faced in his tenure as the team GM both with the underachieving team as well as the revolving door of coaches the last 3 seasons alone. The Flames also added tough Latvian-born enforcer Raitis Ivanans and rugged forward and former Minnesota State-Mankato star Tim Jackman to their lineup as well as oft-injured center Ryan Stone.
With Calgary’s salary basically tapped out it will give the team very little flexibility if injuries begin to ravage the lineup. The Flames look to be flickering out as a serious contender to challenge for the Northwest Division title, and Daryl Sutter the man who many credited with taking the team out of the cellar may be the very individual responsible for its implosion.
Judgement: Loser, the team brought back two players who were both big underachievers. While their contracts are much more modest in this 2nd chance opportunity, both players are very inconsistent and the team could again find itself disappointed and looking to deal one or both. When a GM’s best ‘solution’ is to try something that failed you have to call into question their creativity at the very least. The Kotalik buyout may help in the short term but it does little to address the long-term problems this team has had from having poor return via the NHL Entry Draft.
Colorado Avalanche – $36.14 Million (18 players)
C – Paul Stastny ~ $6.6 Million
C – Matt Duchene ~ $900,000
RW – Milan Hejduk ~ $3 Million
LW – Cody McLeod ~ $1 Million
*C – Daniel Winnik ~ $900,000
C – Ryan O’Reilly ~ $900,000
LW – T.J. Galiardi ~ $637,000
RW – David Jones ~ $850,000
LW – David Koci ~ $575,000
RW – Brandon Yip ~ $700,000
D – Scott Hannan ~ $4.5 Million
D – John-Michael Liles ~ $4.425 Million
D – Kyle Quincey ~ $3 Million
D – Adam Foote ~ $1 Million
D – Kyle Cumiskey ~ $675,000
D – Ryan Wilson ~ $530,000
G – Craig Anderson ~ $2.125 Million
G – Peter Budaj ~ $1.25 Million
Departures:
D – Brett Clark ~ to Tampa Bay
D – Ruslan Salei ~ to KHL??
LW – Darcy Tucker ~ ??
C – Stephane Yelle ~ ??
Occasionally you’ll hear the saying, “being young has its rewards” and that is certainly true of the Colorado Avalanche who have just 3 players currently signed that are over of the age of 30; Milan Hejduk (34), Adam Foote (38), and Scott Hannan (31) in its lineup. The biggest benefit from being one of the youngest teams in the league is that you have a roster full of relatively cheap players by the nature of their entry level contracts. For now it means the Avalanche have alot of young talent earning NHL experience and also a very sizeable amount of cap room if they wish to spend near the ceiling. With the crowds in Colorado struggling to get around 14,000 per game at Pepsi Center team ownership may be pleased by staying well under the cap. The team was very quiet in free agency signing in hard working centerman, Daniel Winnik the Avalanche added a player who is a determined competitor and is basically a poor-man’s Ryan O’Reilly.
The Avalanche surprised just about everyone, but the real key to their success apart from the stellar play between the pipes by Craig Anderson, who entering the final year of his contract where he collected a very modest $2.15 million salary was the fact this team simply outworked most of the teams that they played against. A hot start was parlayed into an improbable playoff bearth, but despite racing out of the gate the Avalanche just snuck into the playoffs as the 8th seed. Colorado still has some contracts of significance still in negotiation to restricted free agents Peter Mueller and Chris Stewart who had a breakout season last year. The Avalanche realize that while they benefit greatly from having such a large number of cheaper, younger players on its roster it realizes that the day will soon come when all of that young talent will want a sizeable raise. The decision to pass on aging veterans like Darcy Tucker, Stephane Yelle, and Ruslan Salei not only saves the team money but also gives their younger players more ice time to hone their game.
Judgement: Winner, this grade does not seem all that right when you consider all they did was add Daniel Winnik, another hard working and fairly young player to their lineup but their biggest accomplishment was staying away from acquiring higher priced free agents that may compromise their ability to keep their young and talented core intact in the next few years. So the real reason this team gets a ‘winner’ rating is because it managed to be patient and not lose focus on what made this team so successful and have such a bright future. Perhaps the most accurate way to descibe Colorado’s actions in free agency is they didn’t do anything to screw up with what good they had going on in the Mile High city.
Edmonton Oilers – $45.217 (20 players)
C – Shawn Horcoff ~ $6.5 Million
LW – Dustin Penner ~ $4.25 Million
RW – Ales Hemsky ~ $4.5 Million
LW – Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson ~ $900,000
RW – Jordan Eberle ~ $875,000
RW – Ryan Jones ~ $975,000
LW – Linus Omark ~ $875,000
LW – Taylor Hall ~ $900,000
C – Robert Nilsson ~ $83,000 (buyout)
*C – Colin Fraser ~ $825,000
RW – Zach Stortini ~ $800,000
*C – Alexandre Giroux ~ $500,000
*LW – Steve MacIntyre ~ $500,000
D – Sheldon Souray ~ $4.5 Million
D – Tom Gilbert ~ $5.5 Million
D – Ryan Whitney ~ $4.5 Million
*D – Jim Vandermeer ~ $2.3 Million
*D – Kurtis Foster ~ $1.8 Million
D – Ladislav Smid ~ $1.4 Million
D – Taylor Chorney ~ $785,000
D – Jason Strudwick ~ $700,000 (estimated)
G – Nikolai Khabibulin ~ $3.75 Million
Departures:
C – Ryan Stone ~ to Calgary
C – Mike Comrie ~ ??
RW – Fernando Pisani ~ ??
C – Ethan Moreau ~ to the Columbus Blue Jackets
The story of the Oilers the last 3 seasons is similar to that of the Colorado Avalanche, or at least Edmonton fans hope so. After languishing in complete mediocrity for the last 3 seasons, they hope the Avalanche formula of handing over the load to a bevy of young talent will rejuvenate the team and a fanbase that has been forced to watch some miserable hockey the last few seasons. If there is any benefit to being as bad as Edmonton has been is the high draft picks they’ve accumulated and turned into some impressive choices most notable being the first player selected in this year’s Entry Draft, Taylor Hall. The Oilers free agents followed this trend of staying young, as they added gritty forward Colin Fraser who became a salary cap casualty in Chicago, and decided to give skilled Alexandre Giroux a shot to prove he can be more than just an American Hockey League scoring machine. To go along with Fraser’s grit Edmonton also brought back enforcer Steve MacIntyre as well as hard-nosed defenseman Jim Vandermeer and along with incumbant tough-guy Zach Stortini the Oilers now have a little more edge to their lineup. While not free agents, the addition of the team’s draftees in the aforementioned Taylor Hall, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Jordan Eberle, and YouTube sensation Linus Omark give the team a significant boost of skill and likely scoring ability. Whether they’ll show poise beyond their years or look like a deer in headlights remains to be seen. Gilbert Brule has filed for arbitration, but will likely be with the team next season, but that is not so clearcut for Andrew Cogliano who seems to have had a falling out in the organization and trade rumors have swirled about him.
One player who the Oilers do not wish to see back is defenseman Sheldon Souray who made it be known he wants to be traded. Yet, with a hefty $4.5 million salary for the next two seasons there was little interest in the blueliner with a cannon of a slap shot who can’t seem to stay healthy. The Oilers put Souray on waivers but no one claimed him, and this puts Edmonton in a tough spot as if they were to buy him out they would be on the hook for a $2.25 million cap hit through the 2013-14 season. At this point the Oilers can absorb that money fairly easily but like Colorado will wish to save all the room they can to be able to sign its large young core when its entry level deals expire. The Oilers still want to have a big shot on its blueline so they signed former Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster to a two-year deal that will pay him $1.8 million per season. Foster had an outstanding season for the Tampa Bay Lightning that for the most part went unnoticed by most in the league. Edmonton bought out Robert Nilsson who steadily wore out his welcome after coming to the Oilers in the Ryan Smyth trade to the New York Islanders.
The Oilers’ lineup is less than perfect as they are still paying a fairly sizeable sum to Nikolai Khabibulin who is a member of the team in name only as he’s been hurt throughout most his current contract thus far. Edmonton seemed to find some confidence in Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers who wore down after a while, while former 1st round pick Devan Dubnyk will also challenge for the backup spot. Both goaltenders are restricted free agents and it could comedown to who is forced to accept a two-way deal that may end up being the odd man out. Nevertheless, the fact of the matters is that Edmonton is still well under the salary cap and its has more than enough to resign its last few players at large without placing it directly underneath the ceiling.
Judgement: Winner, the Oilers kept their focus as they attempt a Colorado-like culture change both on and off the ice to let the youth earn their stripes rather than sheltering them too much by holding onto aging or ineffective veteran talent. No real big splashes to speak of in the additions of Fraser, Giroux, MacIntyre, Vandermeer and Foster but they simply help add a bit more experience to what will be a young and dynamic team next season. Give Oilers’ GM Steve Tambellini credit for not allowing all of those available cap dollars to burn a hole in his pocket.
Vancouver Canucks – $57.43 Million (20 players)
LW – Daniel Sedin ~ $6.1 Million
C – Henrik Sedin ~ $6.1 Million
C – Ryan Kesler ~ $5 Million
*C – Manny Malhotra ~ $2.5 Million
RW – Mikael Samuelsson ~ $2.5 Million
LW – Alexandre Burrows ~ $2 Million
LW – Darcy Hordichuk ~ $800,000
C – Rick Rypien ~ $550,000
*LW – Jeff Tambellini ~ $500,000
*RW – Victor Oreshkovich ~ $625,000
*D – Dan Hamhuis ~ $4.5 Million
*D – Keith Ballard ~ $4.2 Million
D – Kevin Bieksa ~ $3.5 Million
D – Sami Salo ~ $3.5 Million
D – Alexander Edler ~ $3.25 Million
D – Christian Ehrhoff ~ $3.4 Million
D – Andrew Alberts ~ $1.3 Million
D – Aaron Rome ~ $700,000
G – Roberto Luongo ~ $10 Million
G – Cory Schneider ~ $900,000
Departures:
G – Andrew Raycroft ~ to Dallas
C – Pavol Demitra ~ ??
D – Willie Mitchell ~ ??
D – Brad Lukowich ~ ??
D – Shane O’Brien ~ ??
C – Ryan Johnson ~ ??
C – Kyle Wellwood ~ ??
RW – Michael Grabner ~ traded to Florida
RW – Steve Bernier ~ traded to Florida
It is all about the here and now for the Vancouver Canucks. Sick and tired of being the forgotten west coast power because their games start after midnight for those living in the East, they wanted to make a name for themselves fast and were very aggressive in free agency and trades to boost its already formidable blueline. The team made the biggest draft day trade, in dealing its 1st round pick to the Florida Panthers as well as Michael Grabner and Steve Bernier for former Minnesota Golden Gophers’ star and Baudette, Minnesota-native Keith Ballard. The Canucks were not done there as they also managed to sign western Canada’s Dan Hamhuis to a six-year deal that will earn him $4.5 million a season. Hamhuis is a safe and steady but mobile defenseman who can help out at both ends of the ice, while Ballard is a smaller smooth skating defenseman who loves to dish out hits and help support the rush. These moves give the Canucks one of the most solid bluelines in the NHL and will do much to help protect franchise goaltender and team captain Roberto Luongo who is set to make a ridiculous sum of $10 million next season (although his cap hit is just $5.33 million).
The moves to add Ballard and Hamhuis do have its consequences, meaning it likely will be unable to re-sign stalwart defenseman Willie Mitchell (although some experts question his long-term health based on his concussion history) as well as key role players in Ryan Johnson who was a rock as penalty killer, and feisty defenseman Shane O’Brien. Johnson especially was an unsung hero on the team and his willingness to put his body in shooting lanes on the penalty kill will be sorely missed. Yet the Canucks may think they addressed his departure by signing veteran centerman Manny Malhotra to a three-year deal that will pay him $2.5 million per season. Malhotra will never be a bit point getter, but his ability to play a variety of roles as well as his reputation as a good lockeroom-guy may be even more worthwhile.
If there is a looming cloud hanging over this team is the reality that many of its core players will be free agents next summer. Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (who was a revelation last year), Kevin Bieksa, Sami Salo, and Andrew Alberts are all set to be unrestricted free agents after the conclusion of the 2010-11 season. With Ballard and Hamhuis as well as Alexander Edler signed to long-term deals it is extremely unlikely they’ll be able to re-sign most of this list of UFA’s back for the 2011-12 season. With Mason Raymond filing for arbitration that will leave the Canucks extremely close to the cap ceiling (just over $2 million in cap space left before Raymond’s arbitration settlement not factored in) with almost no wiggle room at all.
Judgement: Loser, it may seem as though I’m being harsh to the Canucks for providing the biggest splashes free agency and trade-wise in the entire Northwest Division as they work to defend their title, but to be direct they may have just set in place the pieces for their own demise. The amount of long-term contracts will could really hamper the Canucks ability to sign some of its talented young players; and dealing away promising sniper Michael Grabner further diluted an already thin pool of prospects. The Canucks may just win in the short-term but trouble looms in the long-term.
Well that’s that, feel free to add comments as to how you think free agency shook down for the teams of the Northwest Division and I look forward to seeing what you think.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
