On a Wednesday, former Bruins power forward Nathan Horton boarded a commercial airliner and flew to Columbus, Ohio. Just another July day fro Horton. When the plane landed, me met with the Columbus Blue Jax front office dignitaries. Presumably, they took Horton on a tour of their facility , then talked some more. When the meeting concluded, Horton went back to the airport, hopped on another flight, then traveled back home. Later that night, I asked Horton's agent, Paul Krepelka, if Horton would be visiting with the Sabres. The agent emailed me back and said:
"There are no scheduled trips planned to Buffalo at this time"
On that same day, Minnesota Wild UFA center, Matt Cullen, conducted several conference calls with several different NHL clubs who are interested in procuring his services. As an aside, I'm told that the Sabres were one of the teams.
Cullen told the Star Tribune that it was kind of awkward having to speak with so many teams while he was still technically employed by the Wild. The 36 year old will officially become a UFA today at Noon EDT.
“I’m just waiting to hear what Minnesota’s doing, but in the meantime, I’ve taken some calls from other teams,” Cullen said.
“It’s a weird deal the way it’s set up now and I’m just trying to go into this with as open as a mind as possible. Chuck’s been very up front and honest with me and I’ll continue to do the same thing with them and keep communicating.
“At the same time, I just have to field these calls and do that side of it too because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ll just see how many offers I have and see what I have for options here, and as the next couple days go on, I’ll get a clearer picture at to what they are and take a little time and figure out a decision.”
Welcome to the New NHL, where the player and his agent, are singing for their supper, so to speak.
Today, when the clock gongs high Noon in the East, you won't be hearing about or witnessing first hand a free agent frenzy, like you have in the past. Instead, what will happen is a more organizes, less energized roll call of roster moves that were slowly and methodically negotiated during the brand new, two-day UFA interview period that has been taking place since Wednesday. UFAs to be, like Horton and Cullen, have been active participants in their own recruitment and subsequent negotiating processes. The player is more involved now than ever before. Gone are the days when at Noon on July 1, the UFA's agent phones him while he's at the lake house in Muskoka, riding Sea Doos with the family. The old paradigm (was the standard until this year) was the agent would collect the offers from the frenzied market (ie: Brad Richards Sweepstakes) and present them to the would-be buyer, the UFA. The frenetic pace was dizzying to try to keep up with as bidding wars would erupt between several teams for the same players. All of the business of hockey was actually being done, in rel time, on July 1. It was considered tampering if teams contacted players before the exclusive July 1 UFA signing period. many teams obeyed the UFA tampering riles, while many others threw caution to the wind and cheated their asses off. The thought process that many teams adopted was: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'. Besides, its cheatin' only if you get caught". The blurred lines of ethics met commerce. many teams got their desired UFAs. Many teams lost their desired targets due to dirty pool.
Those days are gone. No more power lunches on the private jet of the billionaire owners. The players have to fly commercial now. No more expensive gifts and recruitment enticements. No more gimmicks .
This year's UFA market is more of a transparent marketplace. The players and agents are less pressured into having to make slip-second decisions. When the two day interview period began at Noon on Wednesday, the players became active participants in their own contract negotiations. The UFAs and their agents have been collaborating in a less stressful environment. Many of this year's UFAs, if not all, right now know exactly where they are going to be employed next season. They know what the offers are in the marketplace. They know which teams are serious and which are just tire-kicking because they have spoken directly with the teams themselves. Horton will be a Columbus Blue Jacket. He get a nice pay raise on a 6-7 year deal. Its not likely that Cullen will end up re-signing in Minnesota. he'll likely land in the East (Buffalo is a real possibility) and will earn a three year, $10 million deal. Val Filppula has many suitors (Buffalo one of them). Filppula will command $5 million per season for 6-7 seasons. David Clarkson, the former Devils forward, will sign a long term deal in either Toronto, Edmonton, or Ottawa. Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson will likely be staying put on a one year contract in the $5 million range. However, Detroit are interested in Alfie, too. Boston are lurking in shadows for Alfie, too.
This new system will have its share of glitches and controversies, too. Teams that think they had a deal in place with a UFA on Wednesday or Thursday could possibly lose their UFA target come Friday, before the market opens. Teams cannot sign players until the clock strikes Noon on July 5. Which means that a UFA who went to bed with on the 4th of July with a contract in principle with one team could easily awaken to two better offers the next morning that he and his agent have to invest time in and consider. There are no officials signed contracts until Noon Friday, therefore, its technically not a deal, but rather an "agreement".
When the UFA market opens at Noon EDT today, don't expect a stampede or a feeding frenzy. The pace will not be helter skelter. Instead, it will be civilized and orderly.
It will be more like a picnic than a feeding frenzy.
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So, the Nashville Predators were a contender for Danny Briere. In the end, Briere signed a two year deal in Montreal.
The Preds are looking for a play making centerman and Derek Roy may be their man.
Roy is UFA today and its a lock that he will not be re-signed by the Vancouver Canucks.
Hard to believe that Roy is just 30 years old.
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