Atlanta = Hockey Purgatory

A lot has come out in the last couple of days about how Dan Boyle was treated by the new Tampa Bay owners in his final days with the Lightning. Just read the following quote from Boyle:

"I've given this franchise everything I had. I love it. I love the area and the fans. But at the end of the day, I was misled and lied to and completely disrespected. When you're threatened to be put on waivers and end up in Atlanta, it was an eye-opening situation for me."

I'm sure the first thing people think about when they read that quote is how out of control Koules and Barrie are turning out to be in Tampa, but not me. Just look at what Boyle said there again... threatened with ending up in Atlanta. This is what is has come to for the Thrashers. They have to overpay for any free agent to sign with them and now this. I'm sure Ilya Kovalchuk and his agent are counting the days until his contract runs out. I wonder where the over under is for how many years before the Thrashers move. Three or four sounds about right to me at this point.

Making Sense Of The Free Agency Madness

Well. we are about 58 hours into the NHL's free agency period as I write this and the dust is just now starting to settle. There are still a few big names still out there (Sundin, Jagr, Demitra). Most of the big players in the market appear to be done spending, and it is possible that from here on out most of the noise will be made by teams trying to find a way up to the salary cap minimum. As it is, let's take a look at the free agency winners and losers thus far.

The Winners

• The Detroit Red Wings: Obviously the Marian Hossa signing is huge for Detroit, and most people seem ready to forego the 2008-09 season and just give the Red Wings the Stanley Cup now. Hossa's deal is a perfect fit for their contract environment and he is a perfect player for their team. Ty Conklin is also a good signing, assuming he can play near the level he did in January for the Penguins. It seems like they maybe overpaid a little for Brad Stuart, but I'm just a guy with a blog so I will give Kenny Holland the benefit of the doubt here.
  
• The Columbus Blue Jackets: The Blue Jackets needed to make some big additions this off-season. While they didn't go quite as big time as I had hoped, adding Kristian Huselius, Mike Commodore, and R.J. Umberger (via trade) are very good additions for the Jackets. Hopefully for the Jackets Huselius and Umberger can help take some of the pressure off of Rick Nash offensively.
  
• The Chicago Blackhawks: The Hawks made two of the bigger splashes in the free agent pool by signing Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet to huge contracts. You hate to kick dirt on the grave of Bill Wirtz, but signings like this would not have happened 12 months ago and Hawks fans have to be excited. They do have way too much salary tied up between the pipes right now, but they will find a way to deal with that somehow. It looks like the Blackhawks are finally ready to be players again in the Western Conference.
  
• The Pittsburgh Penguins: Losing Hossa has gotten most of the ink in Pittsburgh, but take a step back and look at what Ray Shero has accomplished in about the last 48 hours. He locked up Evgeni Malkin, Brooks Orpik, and Marc-Andre Fleury to long-term deals. He added Eric Godard as a cheap replacement for Georges Laraque. He brought back Mark Eaton and Pascal Dupuis on the cheap. And finally today he brought in Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko with very palattable one-year deals to help fill out the top two lines. Fedotenko should slide right into Ryan Malone's spot quite nicely, and Satan has enough offensive skill to thrive alongside Sidney Crosby. My only real complaint so far is why could the Pens have kept Adam Hall for $1.8 million over three years?
  
• The New York Rangers: This was a tough call for me simply because it is hard to say something positive about a team that is going to be paying Michal Rozsival $5 million per year for the next four years. Aside from that deal though, the Rangers did pretty well. The Wade Redden contract stands out, but he still has a lot of good hockey left in him and he should be a good influence on their young defencemen. The acquisition of Aaron Voros, Markus Naslund, Patrick Rissmiller, Dimitri Kalinin, and Nikolai Zherdev are also pluses for the Blue Shirts.
  

The Losers

• The Toronto Maple Leafs: The Jeff Finger signing has quickly become a running joke in NHL circles and I don't feel real good about the Hagman signing either. Hagman strikes me as the kind of guy who would be great in the right situation, but will flame out in Toronto. Only time will tell there I guess. At least they gave the fans a little service by bringing Curtis Joseph back.
  
• The San Jose Sharks: With Brian Campbell gone that trade looks pretty lousy now. The Sharks did not appear to have much of a Plan B in place after losing out on Campbell and have now had to settle for bringing Rob Blake in on a one-year pact. Losing Patrick Rissmiller to the Rangers is another shot to the Sharks, although the seem to have enough young talent to deal with that loss. Ultimately the Sharks have done nothing to improve a roster that has consistently underacheived for years now. Then again, maybe that Patrick Marleau trade is just around the corner...
  
• The Tampa Bay Lightning: I have to say that on paper I like a lot of the signings the Lightning made. Ryan Malone is an awesome player, they just paid too much for him. The Radim Vrbata and Adam Hall deals are also excellent signings. As is the deals they got Gary Roberts and Olaf Kolzig to sign for. The problem is that none of the players I just named are defensemen, and that is Tampa's biggest weakness. To compound the issue, the Lightning they may now be forced to deal Dan Boyle to compensate for their recent spending spree, which would weaken their defensive corps even further. In a vacuum I like the deals Tampa made, but in reality the Lightning's new owners spent their money in all the wrong places.
  
• The Washington Capitals: The Capitals did what they had to do in re-signing Mike Green, but then they took a big step back in net. The Caps front office can say whatever they want to, but the money they saved in signing Jose Theodore instead of Cristobal Huet was not worth it. With that one transaction the Capitals were transformed from a team on the rise in the East to a team that could easily find themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time. Just when things had started to look up for them too.
  
• The Carolina Hurricanes: If you are intentionally paying Josef Melichar real money to play hockey for your team you are a loser. Nothing else matters. There is a reason why this guy was in Europe last year.
  

Honorable Mention - The Edmonton Oilers: Kevin Lowe is the punch line to about 75% of all hockey jokes these days, but he has done a real good job of upgrading his team in the last few days. The only reason why the Oilers are here instead of among the winners is because Lowe did it all through trades. Having said that, Erik Cole and Lubomir Visnovsky are players any GM would love to have, and the Oilers will be a better team with them this coming season.

Let The Impulse Buying Commence!

Well, the Tampa Bay Lightning just couldn't wait until July 1st to start signing free agents. After acquiring the negotiating rights to Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts over the weekend, they followed through and signed them both this morning. To his credit, Penguins GM Ray Shero just got the team a 2009 third-round draft pick in exchange for two players he was never going to bring back anyway. It's the little things...

So the Lightning are now on the hook for $31.5 million to Ryan Malone over the next 7 years. I'm sure this will be a heavily discussed topic this offseason, but you can put me in with the people who think this is too much money for Malone. If that is the kind of money it was going to take to keep Malone, then I think Shero made the right move in letting him walk, regardless of the other contracts he is dealing with. $4.5 million per season is too much to pay a guy who has as many 30-goal seasons in the NHL as I do (yes, that is none).

Tampa did do one thing right with the Malone contract though. By heavily front loading the deal, it will be easy to part ways with Malone in a couple years if necessary. With almost half of the total payout coming Malone's way in the next two seasons, it will be much easier for the Lightning to either trade, waive, or buyout Malone after the 2009-10 season if they need to. Of course if the salary cap continues to go up this contract might not look so bad by then. It is also nice to see that the whole "Sign with us and we'll give your dad a job" trick isn't just for college football any more.

All in all I am not going to totally hammer the Lightning for this signing. I think they did the best they could with the numbers involved and clearly the new owners are committed to turning this team around in a hurry. That being said, I am happy the Penguins are not the ones on the hook for Malone's new contract. I do like the Roberts signing for Tampa. He will be a good presence in their locker room and they were (again) smart with the way they structured the contract. I do think it is interesting that there is already talk of having to move Dan Boyle as a result of these contracts. Maybe Koules and Barrie should have looked over the financial paperwork a little more before whipping out the checkbook this off-season.

Southeast Division 2008 Free Agency Preview

It's time to kick of week two of my free agency extravaganza! We now find ourselves in the friendly confines of the Eastern Conference, and the Southeast Division to be exact. It is hard not to think of the Southeast as the worst division in the NHL, but that could lead to a lot of activity this off-season. The good news for most of these teams is that it shouldn't be too tough to upgrade their rosters through free agency.

Atlanta Thrashers

Pending UFA's:

• Bobby Holik ($4,250,000)
• Mark Recchi ($1,750,000)
• Steve McCarthy ($725,000)
• Mark Popovic ($535,000)
  
• Eric Boulton ($525,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Kari Lehtonen ($2,200,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $26.9 million
Notes: The Thrashers could be real players in the free agent market. They have plenty of cap space and no noteworthy free agents with the exception of Lehtonen. They also don't have any high end players entering contract years. They figure to be major players in the Marian Hossa sweepstakes if he does not re-sign in Pittsburgh. In reality, the biggest challenge the Thrashers will probably face will be convincing top flight players to come to Atlanta. This team could revamp their roster this season, or they could struggle just to hit the cap minimum. Atlanta should definitely be one of the more interesting teams to watch this off-season.

Carolina Hurricanes

Pending UFA's:

• Brett Hedican ($2,432,000)
• Trevor Letowski ($800,000)
• Wade Brookbank ($500,000)
• Keith Aucoin ($475,000)
• Ryan Bayda ($475,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Tuomo Ruutu ($2,250,000)
• Tim Gleason ($1,175,000)
• Dennis Seidenberg ($850,000)
• Tim Conboy ($550,000)
• Chad Larose ($500,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $39.8 million
Notes: The Hurricanes do not have many holes to fill in their roster this off-season. They do have a little cap room to work with, but Erik Cole and Eric Staal are both entering the final years of their contracts so the Hurricanes brass will need to keep that in mind when planning their spending. Especially when you consider that Staal could easily command $8-$9 million from another team if they were to sign him to an offer sheet. The biggest move the Hurricanes make this off-season should be to sign Staal to a long extension to keep their franchise player in place for many years to come.

Florida Panthers

Pending UFA's:

• Branislav Mezei ($850,000)
• Steve Montador ($800,000)
• Magnus Johansson ($700,000)
• Wade Belak ($625,000)
• Jassen Cullimore ($535,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Jay Bouwmeester ($2,250,000)
• Rostislav Olesz ($984,000)
• Greg Campbell ($525,000)
• Kamil Kreps ($495,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $37.4 million
Notes: The Florida Panthers have quite a few above average contracts for such a mediocre team. They could move Olli Jokinen to give themselves some more cap flexibility, but their top priority needs to be locking up Jay Bouwmeester to a long-term contract. Bouwmeester is one of the top young defenders in the NHL and he could realistically get a big offer sheet from another team. The Panthers would almost have to match if that happened, and that could throw their salary structure out of whack for years to come.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Pending UFA's:

• Chris Gratton ($1,500,000)
• Andre Roy ($1,000,000)
  
• Andreas Karlsson ($500,000)
• Craig MacDonald ($500,000)
• Junior Lessard ($500,000)
  
• Mathieu Darche ($475,000)
• Doug Janik ($475,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Craig Ryan ($850,000)
• Alexandre Picard ($500,000)
  
• Karl Stewart ($475,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $35.4 million
Notes: Before Tampa Bay does anything else this summer, they need to figure out what they are going to do with Vincent Lecavalier. If they are going to keep him, they need to sign him to an extension before the season starts and get it over with. If they are going to trade him, his value will only go down the longer they hang onto him. Once that issue is settled the Lightning can move forward with their plan for rebuilding their team. Assuming they have one, which may be a big assumption.

Washington Capitals

Pending UFA's:

• Sergei Fedorov ($6,080,000)
• Olaf Kolzig ($5,450,000)
• Cristobal Huet ($2,750,000)
  
• Matt Cooke ($1,525,000)
• Quintin Laing ($475,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Steve Eminger ($1,000,000)
• Shaone Morrisonn ($900,000)
• Mike Green ($850,000)
• Eric Fehr ($800,000)
• Brooks Laich ($725,000)
• Boyd Gordon ($650,000)

Cap $$$ Committed: $35.8 million
Notes: The Capitals are in pretty good shape right now as most of their roster players are under contract for at least another year. They should also be able to bring Sergei Fedorov back at a fraction of last season's salary. The two big issues for the Capitals are Mike Green and in goal. Mike Green is the best young defenseman in the NHL for my money and the Caps need to lock him up for the long term. Losing Green to another team, or even letting another club sign him to an big offer sheet could cause a big setback in the development of this promising young club. Cristobal Huet will most likely be back between the pipes for the Capitals, but I wouldn't blame them for taking a run at Pascal Leclaire or Dan Ellis first as either one of them is a better long term option than Huet.

Who Would Want Ray Emery?

Ray Emery has done it again... for the last time? The Senators netminder was late to a team practice the day after the All-Star game (after spending the All-Star break in Vegas), and the Senators apparently feel that they have had more than enough of Emery's distractions. Senators GM Bryan Murray announced today that Emery will be "fined substantially", and most people around the NHL feel that Emery's time in Ottawa is now all but at an end.

This raises the question, what team(s) would actually be interested in acquiring the embattled netminder? At this point I will mention that I don't think Emery is a very good keeper to begin with, so take that into consideration as you read on. So, how many teams out there would Emery actually be considered an upgrade between the pipes for? For my money, the only teams that really fall into that category are Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, and Washington. Nobody else would be bringing in Emery as a clear cut #1 goalie, but with an annual salary cap hit over $3 million he's getting paid like one.

Let's take a look at the three teams mentioned above and see if it would make sense for them to bring in Emery:

First we'll look at the Lightning. First off, any deal sending Emery to Tampa would almost have to bring Marc Denis to Ottawa in return just to make the cap numbers work. I think Ottawa could probably live with that, but it wouldn't be ideal for them. On the Tampa Bay side of things, they already have Johan Holmqvist and Karri Ramo in net. Holmqvist is wildly inconsistent, but has the ability to be better than Emery on any given night and comes much cheaper (though he will be a UFA at season's end) while the Lightning organization is very high on the 20-year-old Ramo and have pegged him as their franchise goalie of the future. If you take Tampa's current goaltending into account along with their current cap situation, I think we can safely rule them out as a possible destination for Emery.

The Capitals are a more realistic place for Emery to end up. They have plenty of cap space for the next couple seasons and aren't getting any younger in goal. There has been plenty of speculation that this season could be Olaf Kolzig's last and Brent Johnson is not a long-term solution in goal for a young and talented team like the Caps. A Kolzig for Emery swap could make sense for both teams as it would give Ottawa an insurance policy in net heading into the playoffs and Washington would be getting a potential long-term #1 goalie in return. The more I think about it, the more that trade actually makes sense to me, plus seeing the Caps bring in a jerk like Emery would delight me to no end. So it will probably never happen.

Last up, fittingly, are the Kings. On the surface the Kings could definitely use an upgrade between the pipes. Dig a little deeper though and you see that they have 18-year-old prospect Jonathan Bernier waiting in the wings to be their franchise goalie for the next 10+ years. That doesn't mean they couldn't use someone else in case Bernier's development takes longer than expected. If I were Kings GM Dean Lombardi though, I wouldn't even consider bringing in a malcontent like Ray Emery and instead would dial up Kevin Lowe in Edmonton and try to reacquire Matheiu Garon. I would rather have Garon between the pipes anyway, but he also has a much more palatable salary and is more likely to handle giving way to Bernier in a professional manner. I can't see Emery handling that too well. Plus Ray Emery in Los Angeles just seems like a recipe for disaster.

All in all the Senators will be hard pressed to find a taker for Ray Emery (although one can never rule out Kevin Lowe). I can't see many NHL GM's lining up to bring in an overpaid and overrated head case who clearly cares much more about himself than his teammates. If Emery had a slightly better attitude and was making about half as much as he is, then I could see a team willing to take a chance on him. As things stand right now though, Ray Emery is far too big of a risk for any sensible GM to add him to his squad. Don't be surprised if you see Ray Emery on waivers in the coming days. And don't be surprised if he clears waivers. Ottawa may want to be rid of Ray Emery, but that doesn't mean they won't be stuck with him.

The NHL Goes Up In Flames

Don't look now, but the Calgary Flames are starting to hit their stride. After a so-so start to the season, the Flames have picked up their game, especially on offense, and just completed a perfect 6-0 road trip. The Flames have yet to lose a game in regulation in the month of December, following head coach Mike Keenan publicly ripping his team after a 4-1 loss to Calgary at home.

Leading the charge for the Flames has been captain Jarome Iginla. Iginla contributed 8 goals and 3 assists on the road trip. He wasn't doing it alone though. Iginla's linemate Kristian Huselius notched 5 goals and 8 assists on the trip, including a pair of 5 point games, and defenseman Dion Phaneuf chipped in with a goal and 8 assists.

The Flames have been doing quite a bit of celebrating lately.

The scariest part of all is that superstar goalie Mikka Kiprusoff has still yet to provide the team with consistent play between the pipes. He has been great some nights, like in his 36 save performance against Columbus, but on other nights he has fallen flat, such as the game in Tampa when he allowed 6 goals to the Lightning. This despite, unsurprisingly, Kiprusoff being the target of much of Mike Keenan's criticism.

As it stands right now they are only a single point behind the Wild for the division lead despite their slow start. Although the Wild and the other teams ahead of them in the Northwest all have games in hand on the Flames. If the Flames can continue to get this high level of play out of their top line, and get some scoring from the depth players and more consistent play from Kiprusoff, they could prove to be a tough team to deal with in the Western Conference.

Breakout Passes: Pennsylvania Is Burning

Welcome to the first installment of Breakout Passes! There's just too much good stuff going on out there in the hockey blogosphere to go unlinked. So away we go!

• Tuesday night's Pens/Flyers tilt has rekindled the interstate rivalry. The Battle of Pennsylvania has responses from both sides. Melt Your Face Off has a great post about how the officials should have taken control of the game. The Pens' visit to Philly on January 24th can't come soon enough.
• On a more positive note, the boys over at The Pensblog were able to drop a little knowledge on some poor soul who managed to slip through the cracks of the Philadelphia school system. Just do a find on palindrome...
• James Mirtle's man-crush on Mark Recchi is still going strong! All I will say about this is that the Pens' record is a lot better without Recchi in the lineup than in it this season.
• The buzz around the Lightning moving one of their big three forwards continues to grow. Good luck finding someone who will take on that Richards contract!
• Someone apparently needs to hold an intervention and explain the concept of a salary cap to the Flyers. They just aren't getting it.
• Going Five Hole scored an interview with Steve Williamson, he of 30 games in 30 nights fame.
• GFH was also the first blog I saw run the amazing Max Gherlach goal. That may be the best one-on-one goal I've ever seen at any level.
• Sidney Crosby... Lou Marsh Award winner!