NsHL Free Agency

[FlyersGM]

I've talked to several people and everybody has a different opinion. There is a lot of talent available, but a lot of it is older players on the decline of their careers. How do you feel the free agency period will be compared to years past?

I voted for controlled, as I believe things will be more down to earth and we won't see the 5 year 40 million dollar deals.

[CanucksGM]

I have said , i think there will be some great bargins, but the d-men will go higher than they are worth,thats my 2cents worth.

[ottawagm]

I would agree with that, I would also say that the NHL this summer wasn't very controlled. Especially defenceman, I feel that a lot of defencemen are overpaid in the NHL right now.

[CalgaryGM]

I'll have to agree with you Mike. The d-men will have a pretty good free agency period this time around, the goalies will do OK too, but the forwards will likely taking a back seat for the most part, with a few exceptions.

[FlyersGM]

ottawagm said:

I would agree with that, I would also say that the NHL this summer wasn't very controlled. Especially defenceman, I feel that a lot of defencemen are overpaid in the NHL right now.

That's true Dan, but I don't think the League as a whole did it. I just feel Toronto did it with Kubina, McCabe and with Kaberle during the season. You could make a case for Hal Gill also. Other then that though, I believe a few defenseman went pretty much for there value.

[Elite Sim News (ESN)]

I went with controlled, simply because I believe the free agent market this is is much deeper and more balanced than in years past. There will be plenty of talent available, especially with the defensemen and goalies.

Like I've said before, it still comes down to each GM and his team's financial situation. If you have the resources to go after a certain free agent who happens to fill a need for your squad I can see you throwing some jack at that guy. Having said that, I would also agree with Mike's assessment. There will be bargains to be had, but you will still have your top level players getting paid as such. Age will come into play, but you still have to pay for talent.

Just my penny of a thought.

[coloradogm]

I think GMs will overpay once again. Thats one of the reasons I plan on doing little during free agency. I may go after players to round out my AsHL roster or sign a player for depth but you will not see the Avs very active in this year's market.

[ottawagm]

Mckee, went way above, I feel Briere got a ridiculous contract. Especially in comparison to what was giving to Nagy. Thought the Arbitration was fairly brutal this year.

[formerDevilsGM]

I voted High Spending, I just dont thing GM's will be able to back off when the bidding sky rockets and also fact that I am the Evil empire and resemble all that is evil in the NsHL...

GM Los Esteinbrener.

[LAKingsGM]

Wow, two Steinbrenner's in the same division. That's scary.

[ColumbusGM]

I've heard that there's a player out there with more than two GMs willing to pay over $11,000,000 per season for him.

That alone answers the question.



On a side note though: Toronto did not overpay for Kaberle, McCabe or Kubina. You can feel free to look to Boston with the retarted contract to Zdeno Chara, or even to Ottawa with the contract to Wade Redden to see who's overpaid. $4,250,000 for Tomas Kaberle is an absolute steal, and $5,750,000 is less than what other teams paid for lesser calibre players (Ed Jovanovski getting over $6,000,000). Kubina is overpaid for the role he'll be in (3rd defender) but not for his talent level/what others were offering. Kubina took a million dollars less per season (or so the news outlets/his agent/him said) to sign in Toronto.

Toronto actually made out like bandits with the deals they pulled off. All three of those defenders could have landed one, or two million more in the open market.

[Elite Sim News (ESN)]

Seeing how I have lived near Tampa for the better part of 20 years, I've had the opportunity to watch the Lightning from the horrid start. I can tell you this much about Pavel Kubina, he's already become a better player than I ever thought he'd be. His first couple years in the NHL were worse than awful. He had no clue what the hell was going on out there. However, he has progressed his game on both ends of the ice and is becoming a very capable defenseman.

When I first heard the terms of his deal with Toronto, I thought the Leafs paid too much for him. However, is there a decent free agent in the NHL that people don't think is overpaid when they sign a new deal? Now that I've had time to reflect upon the free agent happenings of the NHL, Kubina's deal is actually pretty fair for both sides. The only issue I have with Kubina at this point is sometimes he's a bit of a moron and takes some rather questionable penalties. Aside from that, he skates pretty well, has good vision, plays much better in his own zone and he has pretty good skills with the puck. His offensive production was down last year, but I would expect his numbers to be much better this year.

As for the B's and Chara's new deal, I don't think it's a bad investment at all. I see the Bruins in the same situation as my beloved Hawks a year ago with Aucoin (who's 4 mil a year deal is pretty good also) and Khabibulin. The Hawks and Bruins have been on the decline not only on the ice, but off it as well. You will have to drastically overpay to get the better players to come. I think when you look at the likes of Chara, Stuart and Mara in Boston you have a the makings of a pretty good defensive corps. Getting Savard to sign on was a good move also (a bit pricey, but you have to pay for talent). Factor in Phil Kessel's arrival and Hannu Toivonen and an oft underrated Tim Thomas in net, Boston has the potential to make some noise this season. Whether they will or not remains to be seen, but I can guarantee the buzz around the Bruins now is MILES ahead of where it was at the end of last season, and for the current state of the B's (and Hawks really) that can't be a bad thing.