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Free Agency Grades: Updated 7/10/09
By admin | July 10, 2009
Here is my version of a Free Agency Report Card for each NHL team.
B+ to A+ = Made there team drastically better than last season
C to B = Didn’t really do too much to better or worsen their team
F to C- = Either did nothing and lost players or just made awful moves.
ANAHEIM DUCKS
Players Added: Luca Sbisa, Joffrey Lupol, Saku Koivu
Players Lost: Chris Pronger
Players Re-Signed: Scott Neidermayer, Erik Christiansen
Comments: Solid free agency period from the Ducks. They lose Pronger which is an enormous loss for their blue line which basically only played two defensemen for the majority of games. Pronger is gone and they have yet to replace him. They add Joffrey Lupol which will only help their offensive game. If they add a solid defensemen, their grade will/would be much higher. This is a team that if Hiller is ready does not need many upgrades.
Update 7/8/09: The addition of Saku Koivu is huge for the Ducks. Not only does he bring a decent amount of potential points, he brings over leadership that the young Duck offense can really use. Very good pickup and only for one year, so if it doesnt work out, there was not much risk taken.
Grade: B
ATLANTA THRASHERS
Players Added: Nik Antropov, Pavel Kubina, Tim Stapleton
Players Lost: Garnet Exelby, Colin Stuart
Players Re-Signed: Chris Thorburn
Comments: Atlanta only improved their team so far this offseason. For a team that no star players want to go to, that is saying a lot. Bringing in Nik Antropov, who apparently is close with Ilya Kovalchuk was a good move even though the price was high. Bringing in Pavel Kubina only makes their defense better. The only thing that would have made the Thrashers offseason better is if they traded Kovalchuk away for 4 1st round picks and some prospects. Lets face it, they have to trade him away sooner or later before they get nothing for him. I expect him to be gone at the trade deadline.
Grade: B+
BOSTON BRUINS
Players Added:
Players Lost: Steve Montador
Players Re-Signed: Mark Recchi, Byron Bitz
Comments: Not too impressed with the Bruins so far. Yes, they are a great team and do not have to do too much, but they have done nothing to improve their team. They also still have enormous salary cap issues and either Phil Kessel or Patrice Burgeron need to go. I expect a Kessel trade relatively soon and their should be more than enough offers to consider for him.
Grade: C
BUFFALO SABRES
Players Added: Steve Montador
Players Lost: Jaroslav Spacek
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: The Sabres are an absolute joke franchise in my opinion. They have a fan base that wants to go to war with this team and management constantly makes zero moves to improve their team. I have come to the opinion that they simply just do not want to win. They constantly let their talent walk and never bring in any replacements other than prospects in their system. When they do sign their talent, they give them contracts that they arguably don’t deserve (Vanek, Miller). Assuming noone throws an offer sheet at Drew Stafford and the Sabres re-sign him, their grade will increase to a D-, but right now they are just a joke.
Grade: F
CALGARY FLAMES
Players Added: Jay Bouwmeester, Fredrik Sjostrom
Players Lost: Jordan Leopold, Adrian Aucoin, Mike Cammalleri
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Amazing pick up in Bouwmeester and they gave up basically nothing to get him. This only stacks their already solid defensive crop. But losing Cammalleri is huge and they have yet to replace him and probably will not due to salary issues. Bouwmeester will add a ton of offense to the Flames, but not enough to replace Cammalleri’s output. I can not really say the Flames are better off today than they were yesterday.
Grade: C+
CAROLINA HURRICANES
Players Added:
Players Lost:
Players Re-Signed: Erik Cole, Chad Larose, Jussi Jokinen
Comments: Yes, I know they did not do much to improve their team drastically, but the players they re-signed are absolutely huge for the Canes. Cole, Jokinen, and Larose are very important players for this team and if they lost out on all three of them, they would be in a tough situation. Solid offseason so far, but I expect some more minor moves to improve this team.
Grade: B
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
Players Added: Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky, John Madden,
Players Lost: Martin Havlat, Sami Pahlsson, Nikolai Khabibulin
Players Re-Signed: Dave Bolland, Kris Versteeg
Comments: Obviously one of the busier teams so far this offseason, almost every move is absolutely brilliant for the Hawks. They gain Hossa (from their rival Red Wings), which is a definite upgrade from Havlat. They gain Bolland and Madden which also only improves their team. They also steal Kopecky from the rival Red Wings. Losing Khabibulin is the only thing stopping the Hawks from getting an A+. Huet is good, but is he ready for a starting position for the whole season? The Hawks improved their team while stealing players from the only team standing in their way in the Central…..those evil Red Wings!
Update 7/8/09: Re-signed Kris Versteeg. After that whole debacle of almost losing him. This is a very good move.
Grade: A
COLORADO AVALANCHE
Players Added: Craig Anderson, Kyle Quincy, David Koci, Tom Priessing
Players Lost: Ryan Smyth, Tyler Arnason, Ian Lapierriere
Players Re-Signed: Peter Budaj
Comments: Yikes, where to start. The Avs sign Budaj and Anderson which basically shows me that they have no intention of making a serious push at anything with two “backup” goalies. They trade away Ryan Smyth and bring back two decent defensemen which tells me that they are doing whatever they can to keep the goals against down, but not doing anything to raise the goals for total.
At least they brough in Koci, which is their frugal attempt at putting fans in the seats. Yay, Avs fans get to see more fights! Hopefully they do Sakic a favor and let him go to a contender and give him one more run at a cup, because he is not going to see it in Colorado for a minimum of 5 years or so.
But, the Avs maybe be learning from the Penguins, Islanders and Lightning. Lose for a few seasons and snag franchise players in the first few picks of the draft. If that is the case, then Avs fans suck up a marginal team for a few years and you will be rewarded….
Update: 7/7/09: Joe Sakic era is over…..shit.
Grade: F
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
Players Added: Sami Pahlsson, Mathieu Garon
Players Lost:
Players Re-Signed: Rick Nash
Comments: Huge signing in Rick Nash. Columbus will riot if/when Nash ever leaves town. They bring in Pahlsson who I simply am not too impressed with, but I guess their team is better because of it. They still need a star center for Rick Nash eventually if they ever want to make a push farther. But they made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season, which was amazing. So take baby steps Columbus, don’t do anything too drastic.
Grade: B
DALLAS STARS
Players Added: Karlis Skrastins, Alex Auld
Players Lost:
Players Re-Signed: Jere Lehtinen, Sergei Zubov
Comments: The Stars have their hopes for Swedish superstar goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. If they land him, their grade will increase, but right now they bring in a decent defenseman only and resign two of their older, yet fan favorites. I expected a bit more from the Stars this offseason. Joey Niewendyk is still warming up his GM chair. He doesn’t want to take too many risks yet.
Grade: C+
DETROIT RED WINGS
Players Added:
Players Lost: Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky, Mikael Samuelsson, Ty Conklin, Jiri Hudler
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Wow, crap, yikes, shit… The Red Wings got their asses handed to them so far this offseason. I expected them to either sign Hossa and lose all of the other players or lose Hossa, but then have the room to sign the other players. What do the Red Wings do? Lose everyone.
Jiri Hudler and Ville Leino still have to be signed, so assuming nothing goes wrong there, the Red Wings are not totally in the dark.
But lets face it, this is still the Red Wings. They will throw some prospects that we have never heard of in there and they will be superstars soon enough. But they did absolutely nothing on paper to improve their team so far so I have to come down with a harsh grade.
Update: 7/8/09: Lost Jiri Hudler to the KHL. Yikes the Red Wings are having a rough offseason….and they’ll probably win the Presidents Trophy somehow next season.
Grade: F- (yes it is possible)
EDMONTON OILERS
Players Added: Nikolai Khabibulin, Dany Heatley
Players Lost: Dwayne Roloson, Ladislav Smid, Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner
Players Re-Signed: Jason Strudwick
Comments: Tough position here for the Oilers. I can’t totally rip them apart because they want to make their team better, but Dany Heatley isn’t letting that happen. They would have been given an A+ if they could have landed him. Getting rid of Penner would be a good thing and giving up Cogliano would have hurt, but if Dany Heatley would have came back in the deal, wow watch out Northwest! Hemsky and Heatley would have been amazing to see….and if they can add Jagr at this years trade deadline. Wow that would have been awesome!
Jagr - Hemsky - Heatley
Wow that is beautiful. Hemsky would have 2239582305923 assists. Hemsky would have to learn to be a center though.
Khabibulin is the head scratcher here. They give up Roloson who was amazing for them for an equally old Bulin Wall. Not very impressed with that move.
Grade: B- (for effort)
FLORIDA PANTHERS
Players Added: Scott Clemmensen, Jordan Leopold
Players Lost: Jay Bouwmeester, Craig Anderson
Players Re-Signed: David Booth
Comments: Finally the Bouwmeester era is over in Southern Florida. They also added Clemmensen to replace Anderson which is a solid pickup. We have seen that Clemmensen is more than capable of taking over in the case of injury. The Booth re-signing is the biggest move for the Panthers. This kid has star written all over him.
I think they crippled themselves by asking too much for Bouwmeester at last years trade deadline, any only bringing in Leopold and a 3rd is a disappointment but at least that fiasco is over with. Solid moves for a team that we really did not expect much from.
Grade: B
LOS ANGELES KINGS
Players Added: Ryan Smyth, Rob Scuderi
Players Lost: Tom Preissing, Kyle Quincy
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: I expected much more from the LA Kings. Do star players really not want to go there? Why are they not in more rumors for Heatley? He has said he would go there. If I were the GM I would package Jack Johnson and anything I could to make that deal happen.
They struck out on Gaborik and Hossa….but bring in Ryan Smyth. No offense Ryan, you are a good guy and great player, but like I said, go after Heatley rather than bringing in Smyth.
Adding Scuderi makes that young defense even better, but they still have nothing real to help Kopitar and their goaltending is a joke.
Grade: C
MINNESOTA WILD
Players Added: Martin Havlat, Greg Zanon, Shane Hnidy
Players Lost: Marian Gaborik
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Losing Gaborik obviously hurts, but we all expected that. Bringing Havlat in replaces Gaborik somewhat, but lets face it, Havlat is just as fragile as Gaborik with less potential upside.
I could see the wild bringing in Saku Koivu to unite the Koivu brothers which would be a good thing, but I am not seeing really how the Wild are a better team. But at least they are trying unlike some other teams.
Grade: B-
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Players Added: Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Mike Cammalleri, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Paul Mara, Travis Moen.
Players Lost: Mike Komisarek, Alex Kovalev. Soon to be lost: Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Wow where to start? I am beyond impressed with Scott Gomez and Mike Cammalleri. Yes the Gomez contract sucks, but he is still an amazing player who might put up career numbers with Cammalleri and his buddy Brian Gionta.
Sortof impressed with Brian Gionta. Great player to bring in, but the contract is brutal. Not impressed with losing Komisarek for Gill and Spacek. I would have given Komisarek the money given to Gill and Spacek. Komisarek is a better defenseman than both Gill and Spacek combined. The Canadiens love losing amazing defensemen. One would think they would have learned after Souray and Streit.
The big question is going to be is Gomez, Gionta, Cammalleri > Tanguay, Koivu, Kovalev? I think so but not by much. The success of the Canadiens is going to come from Carey Price and I just do not believe he is the real deal. The Canadiens in my opinion are filling in the cracks when they need to replace the whole driveway. They desperately want Carey Price to work and I simply don’t think it is happening.
Update 7/10/09: Added Paul Mara which will only improve their defense, toughness, and powerplay. Very good pickup. Added Moen as well who is a great character guy.
Grade: B+
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Players Added:
Players Lost: Greg Zanon
Players Re-Signed: Steve Sullivan, Joel Ward
Comments: Good signings in bringing back two fan favorites in Sullivan and Ward. The loss of Zanon hurts and they have not replaced him. They still have yet to bring in any offense to replace Radulov either. I expect some more minor moves from the Preds, but nothing that is going to push them into serious contention.
Grade: C+
NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Players Added: Yann Denis
Players Lost: Brian Gionta, John Madden, Scott Clemmensen
Players Re-Signed: Johnny Oduya
Comments: This is similar to the Red Wings. I want to rip them apart for doing nothing, but we all know they will find a way to probably win the stacked Atlantic, make it into the playoffs and make a splash like usual. But lets face it, the Devils have done absolutely nothing to improve their team. They will probably bring up some prospects who will fit into the system perfectly though. But like the Wings, I have to come down harsh on the grade.
Update 7/10/09: Added Denis to backup Brodeur which is always good.
Grade: D-
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Players Added: John “Franchise” Tavares Dwayne Roloson
Players Lost:
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: The Roloson signing was a shocker. At first you think “wow the Isles are bringing in a very good backup for Dipietro” then reality kicks in and there is a very good chance that Roloson will have the starting role for the majority of the season for whatever reason.
Lets face it Isles fans, you are in complete rebuilding mode. Take this year slowly and make sure Tavares works into the system in every way you need him to. That is the only thing you need to worry about this year.
Grade: C
NEW YORK RANGERS
Players Added: Marian Gaborik, Donald Brashear, Tyler Arnason, Ryan McDonagh, Chris Higgins, Brian Boyle, Ales Kotalik
Players Lost: Scott Gomez, Colton Orr
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Another team who made a ton of moves this offseason. Shedding Gomez for anything basically guarentees a minimum of a B grade. The fact that they brought in Marian Gaborik and Chris Higgins guarentees a minimum of an A grade for the Rangers. Then they bring back Ryan McDonagh when Glen Sather took advantage of Bob Gainey’s brainfart. This kid has franchise defenseman written all over him and supposedly has more of an upside than Marc Staal.
They then bring in a head scratcher in Tyler Arnason, but after much thought and analysis I have concluded that he will not play one NHL game for the Rangers and is only there to help with prospect development in Hartford and/or in case of injuries. So as long that is the case, I will not deduct anything for that move.
The only thing stopping the Rangers from receiving the only A+ in this years free agent frenzy is the Donald Brashear signing. This is similar to the Red Wings signing Claude Lemieux or the Red Sox signing Derek Jeter. I know he is an offensive upgrade from Colton Orr, but I would not be surprised if Brashear hears boos all season long from the Ranger faithful. This guy is absolutely hated at the Garden.
I know some people are ripping on the Rangers for the Gaborik contract, but the Rangers basically traded Gomez for Gaborik. Can anyone honestly say that is a bad move? Let’s face it the Rangers will spend to the cap every season no matter what and giving $7.5 to Gaborik instead of Gomez is a huge upgrade.
Update 7/9/09: Rangers sign Ales Kotalik for $3 Million per season for 3 years. Absolute brilliant move to sign him. Rangers obtain a basically guarenteed 20 goal scoreer, someone who should drastically improve their powerplay and he is money on the shootouts which could very well add 10 points or so potentially to the Rangers season ending point total.
Supposedly the Rangers arent done yet either. Rumor is that Nik Zherdev is done as a Ranger so a trade will most likely happen soon. The Rangers have drastically improved their entire team all around and managed save money while doing so. Brilliant offseason so far.
Grade: A/A+
OTTAWA SENATORS
Players Added: Alex Kovalev Ladislac Smid, Dustin Penner, Andrew Cogliano
Players Lost: Dany Heatley
Players Re-Signed: Chris Neil
Comments: Shit……
Update 7/6/09: Ok, so the Sens make a good move with signing Alex Kovalev to a 2 year deal. This brings a bright light into Ottawa; something that was desperately needed with the whole Heatley fiasco going on. Once the Heatley situation is settled, their grade will obviously change.
Grade: C
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Players Added: Chris Pronger, Ian Lapierierre, Ray Emery, Brian Boucher
Players Lost: Mike Knuble, Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: I absolutely love the direction the Flyers are going. They are going back to the Broadstreet Bully days. Their team is full of absoulte monsters, outside of Daniel Briere. Adding Pronger is absolute huge for a division that has stars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Gaborik, and Zach Parise walking around.
The only head scratcher is their signings of Ray Emery and Brian Boucher. Not impressed there at all. I would have brought back Martin Biron or attempted to trade for a better goaltender rather than bringing those two in.
Update 7/7/09: Pronger signs a 7 year deal worth $35 Million per. That is a good deal assuming he is playing at his current level 7 years from now. I would have waited for him to at least put on a Flyers jersey for a game before extending him. Neither hurts nor helps their grade.
Grade: B+
PHOENIX COYOTES
Players Added: Adrian Aucoin, Vernon Fiddler, Jason Labarbera
Players Lost: Jim Balsillie
Players Re-Signed: Petr Prucha
Comments: They aren’t the Hamilton Coyotes yet so that is a huge plus. As for their offseason moves, nothing too drastic. The only major head scratcher is bringing in Labarbera rather than giving Montoya the official backup position. I don’t understand that move at all.
Grade: C
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Players Added: Mike Rupp, Jay McKee
Players Lost: Hal Gill, Rob Scuderi
Players Re-Signed: Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Craig Adams
Comments: The Pens don’t have much room to mess around because of their salary cap issues. We all expected Scuderi to take a payday that the Pens couldn’t afford. That is the only major loss so far. I am shocked that Bill Guerin decided to come back rather than calling it quits after winning the Cup. Fedotenko also took a paycut to come back which speaks volumes about the franchise.
Assuming young guys come in to fill Scuderi’s hole, I think the Pens aren’t in bad shape at all. The only question is the Rangers and Flyers drastically improving around them. But you always in good shape with 2 of the top 5 players in the world on your team.
Update 7/10/09: Adding Jay McKee could be brilliant or a bust. He was amazing in his Buffalo days, but has done nothing in St. Louis. I expect him to fit perfectly in Pittsburgh assuming he can stay healthy.
Grade: B+
ST. LOUIS BLUES
Players Added: Ty Conklin
Players Lost: Jay McKee
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Not much news in Blues country. They have a great young team which is only going to improve. If Paul Kariya can stay in the lineup, I expect the Blues to make a splash in the playoffs again.
Grade: B-
SAN JOSE SHARKS
Players Added:
Players Lost:
Players Re-Signed: Ryan Clowe, Rob Blake, Kent Huskins
Comments: There is still time for some big trades to happen for the Sharks. Heatley? As of right now the Sharks in my opinion have drastically over-payed for the three players above they re-signed. Not very impressed. But, it would have been worse if they let them walk.
Grade: C+
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Players Added: Mattias Ohlund, Matt Walker, Lukas Krajicek, Stephane Veilleux, Antero Nittymaki
Players Lost:
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: A team that on paper should be much better than the 2nd worse team in the NHL. Adding Hedman and Ohlund is huge for their weak defense. Assuming Vinny isn’t dealt and comes back to his normal form, the Lightning could easily jump to the top of the division and possibly the Conference.
Update 7/8/09: Signed Stephane Veilleux. Solid all-around player. Doesn’t really harm nor help their grade dramatically.
Update 7/10/09: Added Nittymaki who will serve as a solid backup to Smith.
Grade: A-
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Players Added: Mike Komisarek, Colton Orr, Garnet Exelby, Colin Stuart, Francois Beauchemin, Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson
Players Lost: Pavel Kubina, Tim Stapleton
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Komisarek is definitely a step in the right direction, but I expected much more from the re-building Leafs. Maybe they just lost out on the big names this year, but Burke disappointed me. He isn’t someone who appears is patient enough to wait years for success.
Haven’t the Leafs been in re-building mode for seemingly a dozen years now? I know its only been since the lockout, but when are they going to bring in some forward stars? Nik Antropov is the best their prospect pool has developed in recent years and that is pretty sad.
The Leafs didn’t trade the world to move up for Tavares, so I expected them to go strong for the Sedins at least. Maybe they can have all of the Canadiens leftovers…Kovalev, Koivu, Tanguay.
Update 7/6/09: The Leafs bring in Beauchemin who is a very good defenseman. Good move to boister the Toronto blue line even more, but that still will not put the pucks in the net. Offense anyone?
Updated 7/7/09: Potentially signed a franchise goaltender. This guy has been compared to every good goaltender ever. If he is even a fraction as good as people say, this is a great pick up for the Leafs and a huge step in the right direction.
Grade: B+
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Players Added: Mikael Samuelsson, Aaron Rome, Andrew Raycroft
Players Lost: Mattias Ohlund
Players Re-Signed: Sedin Twins
Comments: The Sedin’s signing is a much needed relief in Canuck Country. Adding Samuelsson at a great price must feel good as well. Losing Ohlund hurts though and there is no immediate replacement in sight right now. The Canucks can use another big name forward other than Sundin.
Update 7/6/09: Signs Andrew Raycroft who is a very solid backup for Mr. Luongo and can play if the unthinkable happens.
Grade: B
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Players Added: Mike Knuble, Brendan Morrison
Players Lost: Donald Brashear
Players Re-Signed:
Comments: Adding Knuble and getting rid of moron Donald Brashear are both great moves for the Capitals. Assuming Varlamov is the answer for their goaltending issues, that solves much of what was expected to be their offseason issues.
They still are lacking on their defensive defensemen. Adding someone like Komisarek would have propelled them to the team they want to be.
Grade: B
Update 7/10/09: Added Brendan Morrison today. Good candidate to fight with Nylander for the # 2 center position.
Topics: 2009 Free Agents |
July 11th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Bruins adds: Steve Begin, Drew Fata, Dany Sabourin
Bruins losses: Steve Montador, Shane Hnidy
Players retained: David Krejci, Mark Recchi, Byron Bitz, Matt Hunwick (arbitration), Johnny Boychuk
July 12th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Sergei Zubov has not yet been signed by the Stars.