2009 Conference Finals Predictions

A day late again, and I am feeling not so good about my Western Conference pick after watching yesterday's game, but in the spirit of honesty...

Eastern Conference

• (4) Pittsburgh over (6) Carolina in 5

Western Conference

• (2) Detroit over (4) Chicago in 7
  

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.

Central Division 2008 Free Agency Preview

Well kids, today we will be wrapping up our stay in the Western Conference as we look at the free agency picture of the Central Division. As has been the case for a few seasons now, this division more or less amounts to the Detroit Red Wings and everyone else. With Detroit taking the Cup last week they'll have an even bigger bullseye than usual on their back. Will any of their Central Division foes be able to make the right moves to challenge them in 2008-09?

Chicago Blackhawks

Pending UFA's:

• Jason Williams ($1,600,000)
• Yanic Perreault ($1,500,000)
• Andrei Zyuzin ($1,475,000)
• Patrick Lalime ($950,000)
  
• Kevyn Adams ($650,000)
• David Koci ($525,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Andrew Ladd ($984,000)
• Rene Bourque ($900,000)
• Dustin Byfuglien ($675,000)
• James Wisniewski ($650,000)
  
• Adam Burish ($575,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $29.6 million
Notes: The Hawks are a young team on the rise and have that feel the Penguins had a year or two ago. They have plenty of cap space, but would be smart to stay the course and be in position to lock up their young talent when their entry level contracts expire. Being conservative now would also allow them to make additions at the trade deadline if they find themselves in the thick of the Western Conference playoff battle. Patrick Lalime had a good season and could draw interest from other teams. Re-signing Lalime, Williams and Byfuglien should be the top priority for the Blackhawks front office.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Pending UFA's:

• David Vyborny ($2,200,000)
• Dick Tarnstrom ($2,000,000)
  
• Michael Peca ($1,315,000)
• Ron Hainsey ($900,000)
  
• Derek MacKenzie ($500,000)
• Zenon Konopka ($500,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Pascal Leclaire ($1,400,000)
• Dan Fritsche ($750,000)
• Clay Wilson ($585,000)
  
• Joakim Lindstrom ($525,000)
• Aaron Rome ($495,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $22.3 million
Notes: The Blue Jackets have a lot of salary cap space to work with this offseason, but unlike the Blackhawks there is not as much reason for optimism in Columbus. The honeymoon is beyond over for the Blue Jackets and instead of being viewed as an expansion team still trying to find their way, they are just another bad team. If I were the Jackets front office I would do the following three things on July 1st:

1. Give Marian Hossa a 5-year, $45 million contract (more if needed).
2. Give Brian Campbell a 7-year, $52 million contract (more if needed).
3. Give Marc-Andre Fleury an 8-year, $44 million contract (Re-sign Leclaire if the Penguins match).
   

Bring in those three to go alongside Rick Nash and then fill out the remaining roster spots with spare parts. It's time for the Blue Jackets to make some noise if they want to be taken seriously.

Detroit Red Wings

Pending UFA's:

• Brad Stuart ($3,500,000)
• Andreas Lilja ($1,000,000)
• Chris Chelios ($850,000)
• Dallas Drake ($550,000)
• Darren McCarty ($535,000)
  
• Aaron Downey ($525,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Valterri Filppula ($850,000)
• Jimmy Howard ($850,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $39 million
Notes: Most media outlets went above and beyond the call of duty to point out what a great situation the Red Wings are in financially. I have to admit that at first glance things look really good for the defending champs (paying your starting goalie slightly over $1 million for each of the next three seasons can have that affect). If you dig a little deeper though you see that Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen are both entering the final years of their contracts and can be UFA's next offseason. That means Detroit will need to be fairly conservative this offseason as those two could easily be taking up $15 million in cap space combined by this time next year.

Nashville Predators

Pending UFA's:

• Martin Gelinas ($1,250,000)
• Jan Hlavac ($700,000)
• Darcy Hordichuk ($517,000)
• Dan Ellis ($500,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• Ryan Suter ($942,000)
• Brandon Bochenski ($600,000)
• Kevin Klein ($500,000)
  
• Rich Peverley ($490,000)
• Shea Weber ($475,000)
• Ville Koistinen ($475,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $38.1 million
Notes: I just don't know what to make of the Predators. Are they a veteran team looking to take the next step or are they a young team trying to build for the future? A look at their forwards would suggest that they are trying to win now, while looking at their defense corps suggests that they are still a couple years away at least from becoming a legitimate threat in the West. The Predators need to find a way to lock up Ellis, Weber, and Suter while still leaving themselves enough flexibility under the cap to tweak their roster if needed. They should be able to pull that off under the new $55 million salary cap, but it wouldn't shock me if they found a way to screw it up. Especially considering Dan Ellis is unrestricted.

St. Louis Blues

Pending UFA's:

• Martin Rucinsky ($3,000,000)
• Ryan Johnson ($800,000)
• Mike Johnson ($750,000)
• Matt Walker ($600,000)
  

Pending RFA's:

• David Backes ($802,000)
• Jay McClement ($700,000)
• Jeff Woywitka ($690,000)
• Hannu Toivonen ($532,000)
  

Cap $$$ Committed: $39.6 million
Notes: The Blues are a lot like the Predators to me. Are they trying to win now, or are they building for the future. I do think St. Louis is in a little better position than Nashville since they have some big ticket items about ready to hang 'em up for good (Tkachuk and Kariya come to mind). They will also probably pull off their annual sign and then eventually trade Doug Weight move. They don't have a ton of cap space to work with so don't expect any big moves from the Blues this offseason, but they might want to look into moving Jay McKee, or more specifically his contract. They should also start looking into a long-term solution in net as Manny Legace isn't getting any younger.

O Hockeytown, Where Art Thou?

Enough is enough, it is time to strip Detroit of its (undeserved?) Hockeytown title. I never liked the whole Hockeytown thing to begin with, especially since the Red Wings bestowed the title on themselves. Shouldn't something like that be voted on? Well that's just what we're going to do! We're going to choose a new Hockeytown right here and now.

The nominees:

• Buffalo - Plenty of teams in the NHL are having attendance issues these days, some even failing to sell out home playoff games (yes, I'm looking at you Detroit). Well the Sabres not only sell out their games, they also packed the area outside the arena with fans to watch the game going on inside projected onto a big screen. How many teams could pull that off? The Sabres were also named the best franchise in sports by ESPN not too long ago (for whatever that is worth). Buffalo is a strong choice to take on the mantle of Hockeytown, USA and probably has to be considered the favorite here.
  
• San Jose - Hidden on the west coast, I don't think most people realize what a good hockeytown San Jose is. But is it worthy of being Hockeytown? Sharks fans have come a long way. I remember being at the San Jose arena during the '93-'94 season to see the Sharks take on the Nordiques and someone sitting behind me asking the person they were with if the Nords were an expansion team. Well the Sharks have carried on and now their fans are (for the most part) as knowledgeable as they are loud, and that is saying something. If you don't think San Jose belongs on this list, take in a playoff game at the "Shark Tank" and then get back to me.
  
• Chicago - This may turn out to be an optimistic choice on my part, but I think Chicago is in for a hockey renaissance. The team is loaded with young talent and the team and fans both seem eager to put the Bill Wirtz experience behind them. They're even getting home games on TV now! Seriously though, I don't think there is any doubt Chicago is back on the hockey map.
  
• Minneapolis/St. Paul - In very Red Wing-esque fashion, the Wild have declared Minnesota the "State of Hockey". They are pretty much right though so I'll let it slide. As far as hockey goes, Minnesota is pretty much South Canada, and that's a good thing. The Wild's fanbase is as knowledgeable and passionate as it gets in the States. Of course I have to mention that they are on their second run with the NHL.
  
• Dallas - A surprise nominee to many I'm sure, but deserving nonetheless. I can say from first hand experience that going to a Stars game is as good as it gets. The arena is top notch and it has fans to match. It will always be Cowboys first in Dallas, that is just how things work here in Texas, but there is also a die hard Stars fanbase in Dallas that can't be matched. If you are a hockey fan, you owe it to yourself to take in a Stars home game. Just don't expect to sit down a whole lot. A definite dark horse in this contest, Dallas may just get my vote.
  
• Detroit - I'll give the incumbent a chance to defend its title here, but I don't think it deserves it any more (if it ever truly did). I have a hard time calling somewhere Hockeytown when you've got empty seats for home playoff games. I think Wings fans in general have grown a bit tired of the same-old same-old from the Wings and are a bit apathetic at this point. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
  

Just missed the cut:

• Pittsburgh- The Pens have as rabid a fanbase as you will find, but I can't bring myself to put Pittsburgh on the list when they're less than a year removed from almost losing the team.
  
• Denver - The Avalanche have a great track record since relocating from Quebec. I just don't see them at the level as some of the teams above. Denver sort of strikes me as Dallas-lite.
  
• Boston - A great hockeytown to be sure, but the Bruins are an afterthought on the Boston sports scene.
  
• Nashville - Just kidding. The situation in Nashville is a joke/mess. Just move them to Kansas City already. Then in 5-10 years when that fails they can move to Hamilton.