Remaining Free Agents
This may seem like an odd time to chime in on the free agent market, but that’s alright. I’d rather focus this blog post on discussing the purposes and goals of free agency than on who landed where.
Perusing James Mirtle’s list of Who’s Left shows us very quickly there are no top tier players left. Teemu Selanne and Petr Forsberg could potentially be the central pillar you build a team around, but neither will be. Forsberg comes with too many injury questions - not to mention whether he even wants to play in the NHL next year - while Selanne won’t sign anywhere but Anaheim, if he chooses not to retire. The rest of the names on the list are a mix of spare parts, cast offs or holdouts of some variety or another.
So why does Danny Markov still lack a team while Sheldon Souray gets a shiny new 5 year deal? Souray is much more of a risk than Markov; well known as a defensive liability and just starting to move beyond recurring injury problems. While Markov may lack Souray’s off-ice leadership and cannon from the point, if I were putting a team together I’d take Markov over Souray any day of the week - even ignoring that Markov will sign for several million dollars per year less than Souray did.
But free agency is about more than just signing the best players. It’s not even about just signing the best players willing to play for your team. Different teams have different needs and they seek to fill them, on and off the ice, while keeping an eye to both long and short term success.
Edmonton signed Souray as much because they needed to sign someone - anyone - to a big, long term contract as because they had a hole to fill on the blueline. They brought Souray in to prove to the fans in Edmonton they really were trying all along, not to fix their blueline. If he happens to help them fill the net and improve their sagging power play, well, so much the better.
Off-ice considerations aside for a moment, each team still has to put together the best team, which doesn’t simply boil down to signing the best players. If player X disturbs the dressing room chemistry, it doesn’t matter if he’s the best available player and willing to sign well below market value.
With all that in mind, there remain a few gems in the free agent bin, as long as you’re willing to look past their flaws and/or use them in ways that best suit their particular talents. I’ve been very surprised that Alex Auld has remained unsigned for so long. I know that not receiving a qualifying offer - from the lowly Panthers no less - is a mark against him, but such a young goalie, who showed at least some promise in Vancouver, even if his time in Florida was a bust, surely deserves a chance.
I’m even more surprised at a few of the names left in the list of blueliners. No team interested in a deep playoff run can have enough experienced defencemen, and guys like Sopel, Sutton and Vaananen all left, there remains some choice.
The good news for teams is that these sorts of players don’t have any definite urgency attached to them. The first few days of free agency work purely to the benefit of the players, particularly those coming off of career years, as teams clamour to “win” the Briere sweepstakes and make offers borne of desperation as much as common sense (honestly - 7 years? Even if you like the dollars, it’s tough to understand the term). The rest of the summer plays into the hands of the owners and GM’s. Obviously there’s not too much interest in Danny Markov, at least at his current asking price. If he wants to play in the NHL next year, that means that number has to start deflating.
We’ll continue to see players sign right into next season, as teams tinker and prices drop. We’ll also undoubtedly see a number of the players on Mirtle’s list drop from sight, perhaps leaving for Europe or simply sitting at home as the months go on. The fact is that for many of these players, they are only able to fill holes teams would rather fill with younger or cheaper options.