| Subject: Free Agency Preview |
Author:
Steve Gandour
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Date Posted: 09:19:25 03/06/05 Sun
There are three keys to building any championship hockey franchise. The first is in drafting well. Not just the drafting, but developing those picks. The second is to make shrewd trades to help strengthen your club. In both stages a certain amount of skill and luck is required.
But arguably the most exciting part of any hockey year comes with the third stage. The signing of free agents, ironically, requires considerably more money then it requires skill or luck. It however does require the ability to market your team and city to the players and their agents.
This year there are many key free agents on the market. Names like Paul Kariya, Scott Stevens, Cory Stillman, Brendan Shanahan, Daryl Sydor and Felix Potvin will command large contracts and draw heavy competition from amongst the contending teams. However free agency is more then just the best going for the highest price. It is the key minor signings to tweak an already elite team, or that one missing piece to make a fringe team a real threat. It is the veterans signing on a young team to finish their career as a teacher and mentor to future stars.
So without further ado, lets began our preview of this years free agent crop!
Unrestricted Free Agents...
Centers
Yanic Perreault - Offensive center heads this weaker free agent pool at center.
Despite his small size and skating flaws, his scoring ability and general all around offensive instincts make him a valueable asset. An amazing faceoff man, Perreault also has great leadership and experience to offer to a potential team.
Derek Armstrong - Derek is what you would call a multiple tool forward. His skills range from a fast and intense competitor to being a decent playmaker, scoring threat and even defensive specialist.
Robert Reichel - Robert brings a plethora if experience to the game from his international play to his NHL experience. He offers good playmaking skills while remaining a defensively sound center. His scoring is way down from his earlier days but he still can chip in at opportune moments and has good speed.
Joe Juneau - a veteran underrated defensive specialist, Joe will be one of those sleeper signings that won't seem significant at the time but may be a huge move for a fringe team or even a top contender just looking to tweak.
Mike Eastwood - Any team losing out on Juneau but looking for the same defensive awareness, checking skills, and faceoff ability would be lucky to pounce on Eastwood. He may be overlooked by many teams initially though.
Erik Rasmussen - Physical defensive forward is mostly known for his ability to rough house and intimidate the opposition forwards. He can be a dominant checker and grinder in the corners.
Chad Kilger - Kilger will bring Intensity, Strength and Leadership to any team lucky enough to sign him, but like Rasmussen his usefulness is limited to just the physical checking role. Still that is a role of use in the GWHL.
Andrei Nikolishin - An enigma, a player with all the pure skills you could want in a practice, but come game time he disappears. Faceoff skills and playmaking skills are significant enough to make a few teams take a peak... and his leadership and experience may get him a shot at a bench spot.
Shaun Van-Allen - A gifted skater with speed, and some surprising offensive instincts. His playmaking abilities are sound, and he has good defensive skills as well. That combination along with his Experience and Leadership make him a very underrated free agent on the market. He could fit in nicely on any third line.
Left Wingers
Brendan Shanahan - A veteran power forward who plays intense, scores regularly and can bring so much to the table including in his own zone. A huge piece to any puzzle and one asset many top teams will likely pursue.
Dave Lowry - A veteran defensive specialist with loads of experience and leadership to offer, a great pickup for any team, but also a potential sleeper
Jody Shelley - Just a goon, but one with great defensive awareness. Strength and defensive ability, a grinder and checker and fighter. Not bad combinations to have on a 4th liner. Can protect a teams star by ensuring respect, and yet is not a liability to have on the ice.
Luc Robitaille - At his age, his play is in heavy decline. His speed is almost all gone, and his offensive skills have dropped far fast. However with his experience and leadership he might get a chance on a rebuilding young team to help with the rookies.
Mike Leclerc - Another grinder who can perform a physical role, as a shadow and also as an occassional contributor offensively. Good size and all around play make him a nice third line asset for most teams.
Paul Kariya - What can be said about Paul that is not known? This smaller but super skilled forward can dart up and down the ice, can deke through most teams defenses, and when healthy has a dynamic offensive presence that makes fans hold their breath each time he gets the puck.
Shawn McEachern - Shawn brings speed, playmaking, scoring, experience and leadership all to a dynamic package of offensive instincts and abilities. So what is the flaw in his game? He has defensive liabilities that his next team will suffer
from.
Stu Barnes - A veteran forward with speed, skating ability and some playmaking assets, Stu Barnes is another lesser name free agent that could make some team very happy.
Shayne Corson - One of the best most experienced shadows in the game, Shayne exudes leadership skills, however his days of offensive play are few and far between now. He still could make an asset for a young team looking for a veteran leader to teach the kids.
Rem Murray - The speedy forward brings a diverse portfolio of skills to the table. His playmaking and scoring while moderate at times paired with his solid defensive abilities and experience and leadership gifts could make him a nice small addition.
Peter Worrell - Strength and Intensity are what Peter bring to the table, pure and simple. A team feeling like it is getting pushed around, or whose stars get cheap shots taken at them, that is the team that will benefit most from Peter's services.
Gary Roberts - Another great veteran power forward in this free agent group, Gary brings a great drive to the net and scoring ability to the game. His experience and leadership on and off the ice make him a threat everytime he gets the puck. A huge asset for most any playoff team, or even for a rebuilding team wanting their young stars to learn the game from a veteran of the rink wars.
Cory Stillman - What can't Cory bring to the table for his new team? He is a very gifted playmaker who is a fluid skater and handles the puck as if it is on a string.
Cory also is defensively gifted and has a great scoring touch. He also brings loads of experience and leadership to the table.
Right Wingers
Brad Tapper - A very unique free agent on the market, Brad brings just two things to the table... and no not intensity and strength. Brad brings scoring and defensive abilities to the mix. A very good defensive winger, with very sound
scoring ability.
Darren McCarty - Darren brings leadership, heart and a physical presence to every game he plays in. A good checking line grinder with the occassional contribution on the score sheet.
Georges Laraque - A very strong punishing checker with a head for the net and a
knack for getting into fights. Georges will bring toughness instantly to any team.
Jamal Mayers - Jamal is an interesting mix of speed and strength not often attributed together. He brings playmaking skills and some defensive ability into the mix as well. Could be used on a third line by some teams.
Jaroslav Bednar - A gifted defensive forward, Jaroslav brings a little bit of playmaking skills to the mix as well.
Landon Wilson - Landon brings a nice blend of everything to the table. A tough checking forward, Landon knows his role in the defensive end, but is also a useful asset offensively at times as well.
Mariusz Czerkawski - With his best days behind him seemingly, Mariusz still brings a great mix of speed and veteran savy to any team who lands him.
Mike Keane - A veteran checking line forward with loads of experience to offer. May not draw any attention from top teams, but a young team could do far worse by way of veteran leadership in the dressing room and on the ice.
Paul Healey - An underrated defensive forward who can play physical at times too.
Scott Young - Scott brings a plethora of skills to any team. Defensive ability, scoring, playmaking and leadership to boot.
Rob Dimaio - An intense defensive forward who brings experience and leadership to the table.
Todd Harvey - An intense defensive forward who brings experience and leadership to the table.
Valeri Bure - A very gifted speedy offensive forward, Valeri is a threat on the ice whenever he has the puck, but is a liability in his own end.
Kelly Buchberger - A veteran checking liner, Kelly brings experience, leadership, and toughness to any team looking for an asset on and off the ice.
Dallas Drake - An intense forward who can be a useful scorer, he brings experience and leadership to the ice as well.
Trevor Linden - An all around package, his intensity and physicality can be huge assets alone, but mixed with his defensive awareness and nose for the net make him very valueable. Add in his experience and leadership and it is no wonder some say he is the best right winger available in this years crop.
Defense
Alexander Khavanov - An offensive defenseman with good hockey sense, but a liability in his own end.
Boris Mironov - Mostly just an offensive dman, Boris brings good transition hockey skills to the ice, starting rushes and he has a good hard shot.
Curtis Leschyshyn - A veteran defenseman who brings leadership and experience to the table, Curtis still has very solid defensive zone presence.
Darryl Sydor - Another veteran dman who brings mostly offensive skills to the table. Darryl is a very useful powerplay point man and offensive catalyst.
Eric Cairns - Size, size and more size. You expect more? Good luck.
Joel Bouchard - A very solid defensive defenseman, Joel also brings some offensive instincts to the table.
John Jakopin - Jakopin is a very physical presence on the blueline. His intensity is sometimes too much, getting him into penalty trouble. But his strength and defensive presence make him an asset too.
Marc Bergevin - A veteran defensive defenseman, many like him (Albelin, Norton and others come to mind) would be great experience and leadership assets to young clubs.
Scott Stevens - The most intense, physical defensive defenseman in this years pool, Scott knows his role and does it extremely well. He won't score much for you, but he has heart and pure leadership in abundance.
Shawn Heins - An underrated defenseman, he brings size, strength, intensity and defensive zone awareness to the mix.
Stephane Quintal - Another size and strength dman who brings leadership and experience to the table... mostly useful to fringe teams as a depth dman.
Patrice Brisebois - A purely offensive dman, this veteran brings some speed and skating prowress to his plethora of offensive instincts and talents.
Bill Houlder - A veteran defensive defenseman, Bill knows his role and does it well. He clears the net, blocks shots, and plays a physical game.
Alexander Karpovtsev - A very gifted defensive defenseman, Alexander will block shots as readily as any in the game. He is not without offensive talents too.
Jon Klemm - Veteran defensive defenseman can be a huge asset to teams looking to stabilize their back end.
Aaron Miller - A veteran presence again with good defensive awareness and abilities to clear the net, Aaron is likely to be sought by some of the top teams as well as a few fringe ones.
Marcus Ragnarsson - An intense and physical veteran, Marcus is a steady defensive presence and an imposing threat to the opposition forwards.
Glen Wesley - Another veteran defensive defenseman who can be an imposing presence, but also has good wheels and can surprisingly show up on the score sheet from time to time.
Jason York - A very experienced and defensive minded defenseman, Jason can also chip in on occassion offensively.
Goalies
Zac Bierk - Mostly a filler goalie, a backup that may be sought by some clubs.
Trevor Kidd - An enigma in net, has the skills to be a starter, but his intensity leaves a lot to be desired.
Steve Shields - Mostly a filler goalie, a backup that may be sought by some clubs.
Jamie Storr - An interesting quantity, Jamie has potential to sign with a weaker club as a starter, but most likely will be a sought after backup.
Jani Hurme - Mostly a filler goalie, a backup that may be sought by some clubs.
JS Aubin - Mostly a filler goalie, a backup that may be sought by some clubs.
Felix Potvin - Felix has starter mentality, but not starter skills. He will be sought by many clubs for backup role, but will likely sign wherever he can as a starter.
Christobal Huet - Mostly a filler goalie, a backup that may be sought by some clubs.
Corey Schwab - Mostly a filler goalie, a backup that may be sought by some clubs.
Byron Dafoe - The oft injured Dafoe seems to have his head out of the game and will struggle to find a role on any team this year.
Milan Hnilicka - Mostly a filler goalie, a backup that may be sought by some clubs.
Garth Snow - Another goalie who wants to start (don't they all) but will likely find a backup role if he is signed in free agency.
Now, while every team in the free agent market is generally active, some teams are more active then others. Teams like London, Calgary, Quebec, Edmonton and Toronto will have very little room to move under the cap and thus will be more likely to be in the tweak market barring trades. Victoria has a little more cash room if they let Khabi go, but to replace him will take most of that space, so they too will be in defensive mode and tweak mode most likely this year. Quebec could let three players walk to free up 3 mill in space, but then they would need replacing, and likely that would cost even more.
Halifax, Winnipeg, Whitehorse, B.C. and Yellowknife have some flexibility, though Halifax, Winnipeg and B.C. have not as much room available to them as Whitehorse and Yellowknife if they were to let key RFAs walk. That said, the two teams are likely to attempt to resign them, thus making their cash available drop significantly.
Based on last years results, a Montreal squad which was very strong could afford to add a few top end talents to their team while still securing McCabe, their key RFA. This would make them even stronger against their competition who would not have the cash space to make reactionary moves. Mostly the non playoff teams have the money to spend, if they chose to. A team like
The rest of the teams all have ample cash space to sign key UFAs. The question in some cases will be is that the direction they wish to head?
That will all be decided in the upcoming days.
As for RFA's, while there are many amazing names on the block, because an RFA can be matched by his club on any offer, and because their is compensation involved... RFAs are not going to move as frequently as UFAs. That said, teams close to the cap as mentioned above may let one or two RFAs walk if they have not the means or desire to match an inflated offer. Which names might those be? Well it is unfair to speculate on that, so your guess is as good as any.
This has been a GWHL Free Agency Preview
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