Free Agency Thread

[Guest DatsyukianDeke13]

Yes. I would for sure have traded for Lombardi (not sure who) if we knew he would take a salary such as this. I think its pretty much a steal from the standpoint of age and his talent level.

Ummmm what? How do you figure? He is 27 years old and has been in the show for 6 years. Who could we possibly trade for him? Usually when ever a trade gets thrown out the usual suspects on this board are Fil, Huds, or Cleary. Hudler and Filppula are not only younger, but have more career potential and will put up more points while making around the same paycheck. Cleary would be the only viable option. However, who would accept a trade like Cleary for Lombardi?

Could you think of a trade that would work? I'm rather curious to see what the Red Wings could package together for Lombardi.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Could you think of a trade that would work? I'm rather curious to see what the Red Wings could package together for Lombardi.

Meh* Like I said not sure who. I don't know if anyone would take Clears for Lombardi but I don't really want Clears off this team as I am probably labeled a mega-Cleary slappy but I think this IF thing with Val gets overdone. We can only hope he elevate to the level we are all wanting him to. I love Val and Huds on the same line but Lombardi with the speed and ability would sure fit in nicely I think.

[Guest DatsyukianDeke13]

So here's where we're at:

Gagne is willing to waive NTC. LA is the only team that has been thrown in with his name.

No word on Kovalchuk.

BUF, ATL, CBJ are all interested in Bieksa.

Flyers may sign Turco

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Flyers may sign Turco

Would that put them with 4 tendies under contract????

[Guest DatsyukianDeke13]

Would that put them with 4 sieves under contract????

fixed it for ya

[HankthaTank 1,100]

fixed it for ya

too true

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

I'm lost...why would the Flyers trade Gagne?

[Guest Crymson]

To be fair, at this stage of their careers, I think Lombardi is better than both Cleary and Filppula.

Another thing that is never talked about when comparing salaries is the actual %age of cap hit and adjusting for inflation. For example, 6.7 million when Dat's signed for it, was a lot more of the cap then it is now, so it is only natural for each year the same quality of players would get more money.

Cleary and Filppula are both excellent two-way forwards. Lombardi is absolute garbage defensively.

[Travis 576]

I'm lost...why would the Flyers trade Gagne?

So they can sign more goalies.

[Original-Six 254]

I'm lost...why would the Flyers trade Gagne?

To make cap space so they can send a offer sheet to Niemi just to f*** with Chicago

And so they they can have more goalies.....like 5

[HankthaTank 1,100]

To make cap space so they can send a offer sheet to Niemi just to f*** with Chicago

And so they they can have more goalies.....like 5

Leighton and Niemi on the same team!!!! HOLY GAAOVER4 BATMAN!!!!!

[Guest Crymson]

I'm lost...why would the Flyers trade Gagne?

He's habitually injured. Check his stats.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

I honestly didn't see this thread until now.

Shows you how my week has gone.

There's been more moves than I expected, though.

[jollymania 162]

I honestly didn't see this thread until now.

Shows you how my week has gone.

There's been more moves than I expected, though.

lol you missed some epic stuff that got deleted

[Crashnburnluder 385]

Didnt see it in the recent posts... but Isles taking a Stab at Kovalchuk.... hmmmm

Linky

[king_malice 17]

Dreger reported a NHL source said Isles deal to Kovy is 10yrs x10mill

[Guest DatsyukianDeke13]

Didnt see it in the recent posts... but Isles taking a Stab at Kovalchuk.... hmmmm

Linky

That would be interesting if they could pull it off. However, it probably wouldn't pay out for years. They wouldn't have the support. Tavares has to mature and the draft picks need to develop. Keep in mind though, if Kirill Kabanov lives up to the hype, him, Tavares, and Kovalchuk could be deadly.

Dreger reported a NHL source said Isles deal to Kovy is 10yrs x10mill

is that right?

[Rice 42]

is that right?

$10 million per year, $100 million total.

[king_malice 17]

DarrenDreger One source suggests the Isles offer to be $10 mil x 10 yrs. Yikes!

[Original-Six 254]

Thats to much. No one is worth that much imo. Hard to build a legite cup contender with that much cap on one player. Not to mention the raise Kabanov (assuming he pans out) and Tavares will get after they come off their entry level contract.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

From Bleacherreport -

San Jose Sharks: Promising Offseason Takes a Turn for the Worse

by Andy Bensch

The San Jose Sharks began the offseason with a string of moves that not only made hockey sense, but made their fanbase happy.

With the trend of unheralded goaltenders succeeding in the NHL, the Sharks' front office (headed by general manager Doug Wilson) made their first critical decision of the offseason by parting ways with starting netminder Evgeni Nabokov.

Nabokov, who had been dominant in the regular season over the past decade, made over $5 million last season and wasn't going to take a discount to stay in San Jose.

Essentially, the Sharks knew they could only afford to bring back either Nabokov or star forward Patrick Marleau. Both are premier players in the NHL and it was obvious before this past season ended that each one will get the money they want somewhere, somehow.

It came down to one or the other and the Sharks stuck with their former captain who was the only Shark who played phenomenal hockey in the Conference Finals.

By re-signing Marleau and second line center Joe Pavelski in the same day, the Sharks were on track for an excellent offseason.

Former defenseman Rob Blake retired (Sharks get younger and better by subtraction), Nabokov is allowed to walk (even the biggest Nabokov fans have agreed with this move), and star forwards in Marleau and Pavelski were brought back for the long term.

Everything was going well in Shark land.

Until a couple of days ago.

When the San Jose Sharks re-signed defenseman Niclas Wallin, it was quite surprising to see the money given to a defenseman of his stature. You can see my full thoughts on the subject here :

The main problem with the Wallin deal ($2.5M, one year) is that he made $1.7M between Carolina and San Jose last season. Whether he was hurt or not, he clearly didn't outplay his contract and at his older age, he wasn't a candidate to be overpaid for in free agency.

San Jose didn't need to pay him this much money and combined with events that took place earlier today (the first day of free agency), this signing has prevented the Sharks from making more critical moves.

Thus far during the six hours of free agency, the only new free agent they have acquired is former Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyer backup netminder Antero Niittymaki.

While the Sharks were in the market for a cheap veteran goalie, Niittymaki has been signed to a two-year, $4M contract which is by far more than the Finnish netminder deserves.

Last year with Tampa Bay, Niittymaki made $600K and posted the following numbers:

Games: 49 Starts: 46 SV%: .909 GAA: 2.87

Conversely, fellow free-agent goaltender Chris Mason signed for $3.7 million over two years with the Atlanta Thrashers. His numbers with the St. Louis Blues last season are as follows:

Games: 61 Starts: 61 SV%: .913 GAA: 2.53

Clearly, Mason had the better season last year by the numbers. Now it can be argued that St. Louis wasn't as porous defensively as Tampa Bay; the career numbers from Mason to Niittymaki are even bigger of a discrepancy.

Mason's career save percentage stands at .914; Niittymaki, on the other hand, comes in at just .903.

Not only did the Sharks clearly overpay for Niittymaki because of the mediocre numbers he has posted compared to Mason, but because the market isn't in the favor of the goaltenders this season.

Cheap goaltenders are the ones having the most success in recent years, and there are bound to be goalies available deeper into free agency for much cheaper than what the Sharks signed Niittymaki.

But by making a move right out of the gate in the goaltender position, the Sharks not only show a lack of faith in the goaltenders already on their depth chart, but limit the money available to spend elsewhere.

It's not simply that Niittymaki and Wallin aren't capable of giving San Jose quality minutes next season (it is possible they live up to their contracts), but rather their contracts prevent the Sharks from re-signing and signing other, more dynamic/critical players.

And you can almost guarantee that neither Wallin nor Niittymaki would have made more money elsewhere in free agency and most likely they would have made less had San Jose not signed them to these deals.

Unfortunately, since the Sharks locked both these players into contracts earlier than necessary, they left themselves with less money to go after bigger holes on their roster.

Those holes are third line center/winger and a top-four defenseman. Not only have the Sharks missed out on almost all of the key free-agent defensemen (the majority of top rated free-agent defensemen have been signed today), but a key figure from last year's Sharks team is gone.

Manny Malhotra (who was reportedly throwing contract offers back and forth with San Jose about re-signing prior to today's free agency opening) is now a Vancouver Canuck.

Malhotra is reportedly going to make $2.5M per year for three years. While he only made $700k in his lone year as a Shark last season, he clearly outplayed that deal. And although it is understandable for the Sharks to have hoped Malhotra would want to re-sign for around $1.25-$1.75M per year, they should have done everything in their power to get him signed.

If his minimum asking price of San Jose was somewhere between $2-2.5 per year, the Sharks should have agreed to a deal because the 30-year-old center is worth every penny. His faceoff percentage was the best in the entire league last year and he scored a career high 14 goals while playing multiple different roles for the Sharks.

When they needed him to play on a scoring line, he performed admirably. When they needed him to win big faceoffs and play stellar defensively on the bottom two lines, he dominated.

He is one of, if not the most, versatile forwards in hockey.

And the Sharks came out and stated they would prefer to have a career backup netminder in Niittymaki and an aging slow defenseman in Wallin for a combined $4.5 million next season instead of Malhotra for $2.5 million?

Not only is that absurd, it's borderline crazy.

Wallin and Niittymaki combined to make $2.35 million last season compared to Malhotra, who, as mentioned previously, made just $700k.

Now Malhotra goes out and has a career year and earns a raise of 357 percent.

That makes sense; maybe he made a tad more than the average player of a similar skill set, but that is what happens when a professional athlete is sought after in free agency.

But neither Niittymaki nor Wallin were going to be sought after free agents. The Sharks bid solely against themselves to come up with these contracts.

And bidding against themselves cost them the ability to bring back a fan favorite in Malhotra.

A move of this fashion could prove costly for the Sharks as their roster has now gotten significantly worse on paper since the offseason began.

Not only have they failed to plug any holes they had from last season, but the loss of Malhotra has opened up a new one.

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

Cleary and Filppula are both excellent two-way forwards. Lombardi is absolute garbage defensively.

I question the amount of games you've seen him in recently. He may not be as good in his own zone, but he is no slouch.

[Guest Crymson]

I question the amount of games you've seen him in recently. He may not be as good in his own zone, but he is no slouch.

Well, let's see... I did see him in, you know, the entire seven-game playoff series the Wings played against the Coyotes.

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

Well, let's see... I did see him in, you know, the entire seven-game playoff series the Wings played against the Coyotes.

Considering your previous complaints about other posters here using small sample sizes to make assumptions, this defense is laughable. By that sample size, I could have made Bertuzzi out to be a 50 goal scorer this past December. Move on you pseudo-intellectual, move on.

Edited July 3, 2010 by EZBAKETHAGANGSTA

[crotty99 302]

Just saw this. Could apply to alot of GM's so far...

Edited July 3, 2010 by crotty99