There's not a heckuva lot of talent remaining in this year's NHL UFA pool, which isn't unusual two weeks after the free agent frenzy began, although it wasn't a particularly deep pool this season.
James Mirtle has been keeping track of the remaining UFAs, and as you can see, there really isn't much to choose from.
Still, there's a few gems still available, perhaps for bargain prices the longer they remain on the market.
For scoring forwards, only Peter Forsberg, Teemu Selanne and Alexei Yashin remain. The first two could retire while Yashin is apparently miffed over supposed "low ball" offers and could play in Russia next season.
The best checking center would be Mike Peca, provided he can avoid the injuries that have plagued him in recent years.
Martin Gelinas and Mike Johnson appear to be the best checking wingers still available.
There's still a few good defensemen remaining, with Danny Markov, Andy Sutton and Ossi Vaananen likely to attract interest in the coming days from teams seeking blueline depth.
Not a lot of depth in goaltending, but Ed Belfour, Curtis Joseph, Alex Auld and Robert Esche could attract some interest.
I keep hearing all these rumours that Selanne might go to Philly. Where did these rumours come from? I think Forsberg will play for Modo. Forsberg seems to do this every year, i think he enjoys trying to portray this mysterious image and make himself some type of cult figure where nobody knows what he is going to do. He is like the Marlon Brando of hockey.
Yashin has only hurt himself, by being greedy and going after a ridiculous contract a few years ago and not being able to live up to it. Ofcourse GM's are going to be cautious about giving him too much money. Why would he go to Russia? and play for about 300 grand a year and all the glamour and appeal that playing hockey in Russia brings. And people say Edmonton is bad, imagine playing against Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the middle of January in Siberia. He will sign with some NHL club, i bet around 2.5 mill a year on a one to two year contract.
Last edited by WildGophers on July 14th at 12:37 PM.
I have no respect for Yashin. He's proven to everyone he's not worth as much as he made with the Islanders, but obviously he still entertains fantasies that he plays as well as ever and deserves all the money in the world. He needs a wakeup call.
I honestly think Forsberg will retire and so will Selanne, they both have done what they want and have no reason to continue, if it was for the love of the game, there wouldn't be hesitation. I honestly do think Lindros is one of the best out there, Peca is pretty good and on certain teams I'd even say Allison. Everyone is harping on Yashin, but he will get signed. If and thats a big IF, he plays up to potential, he'd be great on any teams second line. I think the best way to approach the situation would be an incentive based contract. A base salary of about a mill and a half, half a mill if he plays 50 games, half a mill if he scores 30 goals, half a mill if he gets 50 points and so on and so forth. Say someone does sign him to a contract of that stature for this season and he produces, well then the team wouldn't mind paying him for attaining those goals, and he'll have proven what he's worth. I honestly wouldn't sign him to more then a one year deal though......I'm sure some edmonton fans will say they'd have to pay him 6 million to play there though.....
Some good points here. It's my understanding the Selanne rumors started in a Finnish newspaper. They make absolutely zero sense and is anyone else annoyed that the basis for half the rumors in hockey appear to be "well, so and so is also Ugandan and they played in the International Bocci Ball League" etc. While I'm sure guys like to play with people they are truly friends with, and while countrymen certainly have a potentially powerful bond, I think it's way overdone. If Selanne does come back, it's only to defend the Cup in my view. I also agree with the point about Forsberg. I never saw him returning after this past year and I've seen nothing yet to make me change my mind.
As for Yashin, an incentive-based contract is a great idea assuming he'd sign it. Unfortunately he's still acting like we should all be thankful he's in the game. I realize everyone's entitled to whatever they can get, but it's patently ridiculous that he'd bank all that money from the Isle and then quibble over a one-year deal on the lower end. It's tough getting paid what you're actually worth when you're not used to it I suppose. He'll have to accept a deal of that kind to get signed in my opinion.
This list is very sparse, agreed. Still a surprising amount of blueline depth available, as well as at least three guys where I had to remind myself they were still actually playing. Yes, that means you, Luke Richardson. There's a potential Edmonton homecoming..don't they need a few more blueliners? Ha, ha.
If the oilers did sign Richardson, I guarentee some would be defending it as a good depth move and it would ensure edmonton to have the best blue line in the league....some people.
As I mentioned before, this coming week for most teams means the start of "development camp" for prospects. GM's will be watching intently to see if this years camp holds any up and coming stars or players who really have the potential to shine. A team like the leafs who haven't had a draft pic because they seem to trade them for...Luke Richardson or Yanic Perrault, will hold open try outs ala Philidelphia Eagles, hoping Marky Mark shows up with the funky bunch LOL. Seriously, I think it'll be quiet for a little bit as teams will see what kind of prospects they have coming up and if they don't see anything they like, they'll sign the "left overs" soon.
Remember though, last year, Yanic Perrault wasn't signed until a little while into the season, and he played great. I wonder who the leafs will give up for him this year at the deadline.
1) Our blog has discussed the Yashin situation on several occasions. Our conclusion is that we doubt he will actually go back to Russia. http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/07 /7-11-news.html#links
2) He may be a lazy slug, but after a decade + in North America he has become accustomed to the higher standard of living. We doubt he and his GF/wife carol Alt would want to return to the 3rd world, that is Russia.
I really wish the Lightning hadn't ####, blued and tatoo'd Luke Richardson. Our weak sister defence obviously could have used his services, skates of lead or not. I mark this abuse a serious flaw in Coach Tortorella's otherwise mostly stellar leadership. It was frustrating to wish for some NHL calibre defence and a captaincy of more mighty character, whilst Luke was scratched with painful regularity. I honestly don't see how the Bolts can just cast him aside like old, dull skates.
Selanne won't be going to Philly, who are just barely under the cap. The rumors were out because he is good friends with Kimmo Timonen. Not happening, he'll either retire or resign for one year with the Ducks. I'm sure Burke knew something before he signed Bertuzzi.
I think the Isles would be a good fit for Jason Allison, since they still need another center. They can play JA with Satan and either Hilbert or Bergenheim for their 2nd line. I doubt they'll bring Peca back
I wonder if Buffalo would want Peca back, or maybe Boston would want him
If the Flyers can get Berard for a minimum contract, which is possible considering theinjuries he's had, he'd be a good pickup as a mobile d-man the team seems to be lacking after Timonen.
I bet the Jackets sign Tanabe, since they're lacking a mobile d-man
Will Bryan Murray trade either Peter Shaefer or Martin Gerber to free up enough space to bring in an offensive winger for their 2nd line ?
Where is Andy Sutton going to wind up ? The Isles or Sharks I think would be the favorites.
1) If Phillie wants to 'improve' their defense the best way would be to unload Hatcher! Whether by trade (who'd want him and his bloated salary!?!) or send him across the parking lot to play for the Phantoms.
2) It frees up 3.5 mil in cap room, to allow Holmgren to add a more mobile defensemen. BTW we're not sold on Biron being a huge upgrade in goal. He has NEVER been a #1 tender before. Will he be able to carry te load, or be this season's version of Martin Gerber?
I had really hoped the Canes would have made more of a statement in the UFA market, although I think Hamilton will end up being a great pickup and re-signing Scott Walker was a huge move. The Canes had tried signing Allison a few years ago but had concerns about his durability (and asking price.)Afeter watching him in Boston, though, I would be willing to give him a shot with an incentive-laden deal.
I really hope no one signs Yashin-no player with that bad attitude should be rewarded with playing in this league...
I thought if the contract was signed prior to age 35, it doesn't count against the cap if the player's demoted to the minors. It's a very similar situation to the Rangers and Kasparaitis' contract, isn't it?
Believe it or not, the Flyers were actually pleased with the way Hatcher came around last season. This is probably hard to believe given the fact that he had such a difficult year adjusting to the new rules in 05-06, but they really liked how well he performed on the penalty kill.
He was actually considered one of the league's better penalty killers last season, which is impressive considering how bad the team was as a whole. Talk all you want about his speed, but he is still a good positional player, particularly when the team is a man down.
A lot of Philly fans turned on him when he struggled in his first year with the Flyers, but the guy has come around. And even though he isn't the fleet-footed defensive player that's all the rage these days (which are overrated in a sense, but that's the topic of another post altogether), he is a player that I would argue the Flyers really need to hold on to for the way he plays in his own zone. I wouldn't have thought so a year ago, but I've turned into one of his biggest supporters. This may actually be cause for me to write an actual post defending him in the near future.
P.S.- Spector, it turns out you were right about that whole thing with the Flyers shopping Pitkanen and I was wrong (though I may still be right about Gauthier getting traded away to clear cap space). Don't ever let anybody say that FlyeredUp doesn't admit it when he's wrong.
A player who is in the second or later year of a contract that was signed when he was age 35 or older (as of June 30 of the league year in which the contract became effective), counts against the cap, regardless of his playing status. If he's playing in the minors, his salary minus $100,000 counts against the cap.
NHLSCAP.com is an excellent site for all things salary cap related!
The Hatcher situation notwithstanding, the Flyers lack the money to sign anyone of note other than a fourth-line grinder, and that's assuming Rathje does not return. Biron might not have everyone convinced, but I think he made a lot of believers with his performances against Philly. At the very least, he's not going to make the mental mistakes that Flyers goalies of the recent past have.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
