Slim Pickings on the Open Market


Although Ilya Kovalchuk's status remains up in the air following the NHL's maneuver to reject his pact with the Devils, I thought it would be a great time to take a look at the remaining UFA's on the market and to gage whether a single one of them would be in line for a raise on their next contract.

Upon first glance, things do not look promising.

Here is the short list of players left on the market who made $2 million or more on their recently expired contracts:

Player | Pos. | 09-10 Cap Hit


Paul Kariya - F - $6M
Marty Turco - G - $5.7M
Kim Johnsson - D - $4.85M
Jose Theodore - G - $4.5M
Vesa Toskala - G - $4M
Vyacheslav Kozlov - F - $3.66M
Willie Mitchell - D -$3.5M
Mike Modano - F - $3.45M
Freddy Modin - F - $3.25M
Denis Grebeshkov - D - $3.15M
Ruslan Salei - D - $3.025M
Andy Sutton - D - $3M
Jonathon Cheechoo - F - $3M
Patrick O'Sullivan - F - $2.95M
Mike Van Ryn - D - $2.9M
Alex Frolov - F - $2.9M
Randy Jones - D - $2.75M
Tom Preissing - D - $2.75M
Owen Nolan - F - $2.75M
John Madden - F - $2.75M
Mathieu Schneider - D - $2.75M
Teemu Selanne - F - $2.65M
Jay Pandolfo - F - $2.5M
Fernando Pisani - F - $2.5M
Jere Lethinen - $2.5M
Scott Walker - F - $2.5M
Lee Stempniak - F - $2.5M
Aaron Ward - D - $2.5M
Raffi Torres - F - $2.25M
Darcy Tucker - F - $2.25M
Doug Weight - F - $2.2M
Alex Ponikarovsky - F - $2.105M
Marek Svatos - F - $2.050M
Jeff Halpern - F - $2M
Bill Guerin - F - $2M


As you can tell, it's slim pickings out there.

Aside from Alex Frolov and Lee Stempniak, I can't quite picture anyone on this list asking for nearly the same amount of cash to lace 'em up in 2010-11.

Realistically, many of these players are well over the age of 30 and are in the twilights of their careers. The cash they have been paid as of late is more for the experience they bring to the locker-room rather than their on-ice contributions and, as you glance at the list of the rest of the list of available UFA's on Capgeek, it becomes quite clear as to why this summer's free agency has been more of a lamb then a lion.

The truth of the matter is that, with many teams pressed against the cap and others scrambling simply to reach the cap floor, the quality of talent that remains on the free agent market won't do much to help any of the 30 teams round out their roster. That 'final piece' that many teams attempt to seek out during the off-season quite simply is not there this time around, and that is why many of the fans who are clamoring for their respective teams to hurry and make some moves, need to step back and be happy that their club hasn't already made a move that could very well compromise their teams success during the upcoming year.

Yes, it is likely that a great portion of the remaining UFA's will get signed up before the puck is officially dropped in October, but that doesn't mean that you're going to like it.

Take a look around. Familiarize yourself with the fact that there simply isn't much out there and then feel relieved that things have been as quiet as they have.

We always want to see alot of action during the off-season, but when it comes down to it, you don't want to see anything happen during the summer that will harm your team during the winter.

And so, we wait.

Yup, the Kovy "domino" has triggered a minor rush of signings, but, honestly, with little in the ways of impact players available on the market, what's the rush to lock up all these middle of the road players anyways?

Truly, it comes down to satiating the fanbases, but I will tell you why the NHL has hit a road block with the lure of their off-season.

Restricted Free Agency.

As my friend, Eric Engels, always likes to point out, the day Ryan Kesler received his offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers was the day that killed the "2nd contract". And I don't think he was wrong.

The trend that has become ever so popular with GM's of late, but usually quite the opposite with fans, is that of teams locking up the highly skilled, yet pending, UFA's before they ever hit the market. This has essentially killed off the luster of a once enthralling scene and turned the excitement of watching your team build through the summer into a nothing more than a passing interest.

Now, if we were to make the RFA's a part of the summer signing bonanza, what a fan fest we would have.

Here is the list of the top 20 RFA who have yet to be resigned:

Player | Pos. | 09-10 Cap Hit

Erik Johnson - D - $3.7M
Blake Wheeler - F - $2.85M
James Wishniewski - D - $2.75M
Carey Price - G - $2.2M
Bobby Ryan - F - $1.9M
Peter Mueller - F - $1.7M
Sam Gagner - F - $1.625M
Andrew Ladd - F - $1.55M
Devin Setoguchi - F - $1.246M
Andrew Cogliano - F - $1.133M
Martin Hanzal - F - $980K
Nicklas Grossman - D - $975K
Ben Eager - F - $965K
Paul Ranger - D - $933K
Christian Hanson - F - $925K
Bryan Little - F - $900K
Mason Raymond - F - $883K
Brock Trotter - F - $875K(*rumored to have bolted for the KHL)
Ryan Parent - D - $855K
Matt Niskanen - D - $850K


When comparing the two lists, it's easy to see why the UFA market has been so dull this summer.

If the offer sheet had not killed the traditional value of the "2nd contract" then perhaps we would be seeing less of a pay-day for the restricted free agents and more of an emphasis on them actually waiting until they are UNRESTRICTED to receive their big-dollar contracts.

But, of course, the tradition went to the way-side as offer sheets quickly saw to it that all successful younger players began to see UFA dollars well before they were actually set to become UFA's.

But, I digress. The fact remains that the CBA was created in such a way to protect a team from losing its younger stars. And it has done that well. Only a handful of offer sheets have been thrown around since the activation of the CBA, and even fewer have been successful. Yet all the while, the threat of the offer sheet has helped the values of "2nd contracts" sky-rocket.

It's confusing, and perhaps a bit boring and annoying for fans, but the summers have been getting quieter in the NHL, and, in my opinion, I believe that the league's focus shifting to the younger generation has played a major role in that.

Don't get me wrong, I am in complete favor of the youngsters taking over the game and bringing new levels of speed, talent and grit to our game, but the reality that the younger players are getting alot more of their money before they get to the exciting possibility of becoming an unrestricted free agent, is precisely what is killing the excitement of the NHL's summer free agent frenzy.

It's always easy to call out the quiet teams during the summer for failing to build up their club through free agency, but it's hard to fault them when the pickings are this slim.

I hesitate to go all the way in saying that this is the sole reason for this summers boring free agency period, but there is no doubt in my mind that it has been a major factor in keeping many of your favorite teams from making the moves they want to.










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