In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on the best remaining unrestricted free agents.
Todd Cordell
On defense, it's Jake Gardiner. He is so far above the rest of the class that it's not even worth getting into.
There can actually be a debate up front so I'll focus on that. My choice is Micheal Ferland.
He has averaged 21 goals and 45 points per 82 games over the last two seasons. Those numbers are not a byproduct of a lot of ice time – he has been efficient. Ferland averaged 1.94 points per 60 minutes (5v5) in that window, which is more than the likes of Tomas Hertl, Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin and Anze Kopitar, to name but a few. His on-ice numbers were strong across the board as well.
Yes, playing a good chunk of minutes with Johnny Gaudreau + Sean Monahan and then Sebastian Aho + Teuvo Teravainen helped the cause. It'd be ignorant to suggest otherwise. But it wasn't a one-way street – those duos benefited from him as well.
In 2017-18, Gaudreau + Monahan's Goals For% was ~8% higher with Ferland than without.
In 2018-19, Aho + Teravainen's Goals For% was ~10% higher Ferland than without.
Ferland is productive, he hits like a truck, and he doesn't sink a team's underlying numbers. He should be scooped up sooner than later.
James Tanner At the risk of flaming the most ignorant among us, the best player available - if you believe in measuring anything - literally anything - is Jake Gardiner.
In fact, after Artemi Panarin, he's arguably the best UFA of this year, including Matt Duchene.
Gardiner, over time, will have great offensive and defensive 5v5 impacts. He would probably be more popular if he didn't share a name with the city where he play's most unpopular highway.
Or if reading in our society wasn't something only a few people bothered with.
He is truly the most underrated player in NHL history - he should be considered a superstar.
Hard to believe he's still available, until you start to look over some of the moves NHL GMs have made recently.
Bottom line: if you believe at all that hockey is a game that can be measured and accurately evaluated, then Jake Gardiner is a top pairing defenseman in the prime of his career, available for free.
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