When you keep on signing one year deals, you continue to be an unrestricted free agent.
Dominik Hasek has another deal coming to it's conclusion this summer and it will be curious to see what the 43 year old keeper decides to do. As the back-up to
Chris Osgood going into the Stanley Cup Finals, it gives some idea that maybe this will be the last kick at the can for Hasek, especially if they can come away with the Cup. Even if he decides to strap the pads on one more time, it will likely be with the Red Wings again.
Prize or bust... that will be the lingering doubt on
Jose Theodore's shoulders this summer. The last time he signed a big deal, after his Hart & Vezina Trophy season, he tanked. Surprise, surprise... here we just finished another contract season and he's picked his game up once again. In all honesty, if a GM was wise, he'd only sign Theodore to a 1-year deal and keep him working with his 'career-preferred-for-results' seasons.
Surprisingly, not one of the most coveted defenders in the league,
Mark Streit, looks to become an unrestricted free agent in July. Streit finished the season with 62 points in 81 games for the Canadiens and everyone should think that the Habs will be keen to keep him on board, but what will his cost be as he's now 30. Streit is looking at a pretty good payday, upwards of about $5 million per season. There should be a few suitors for his services, if he makes the open market, so stay tuned with him.
The Sharks picked up
Brian Campbell for the stretch run and it made them into immediate contenders, if they weren't the favourites, for the Cup. Campbell was moved out of Buffalo so they could capitalize on his stature at the trade deadline instead of losing at the free agent frenzy. The Sharks are in danger of losing him now to a $5-6 million contract. If Campbell was to re-sign with the Sharks, they'll be in tough to sign the rest of their desired players, so he'll likely move on.
For $2.4 million last season,
Brian Rolston scored 31 goals and had a very good season for the Northwest Division winning Minnesota Wild. It would be hard to believe for the first couple times, seeing Rolston in another jersey, but like all the other potential free agents, it's certainly possible. He's been a good Wild player for the franchise, so it doesn't seem terribly likely that he'll move, especially for how well built the team is. Minnesota has plenty of room to get him back in the fold, so that's more expected than not.
A name that never really jumps at you on draft day, but always seems to be a good pick when you scroll down to his name on the sheet:
Andrew Brunette. Brunette becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer and could be a good commodity among teams, as he is a dependable winger, who moves the puck pretty well. At 34, he'll likely be looking at a small raise from his $1.6 million cap hit, but he'll only really qualify for a 1-year deal.
Credit to the Nashville organization for showing the hockey public
Dan Ellis. Ellis came into the spotlight effectively when
Tomas Vokoun was dealt to the Panthers and
Chris Mason wasn't putting up number one type performances. Ellis was chosen over Mason to start for the Preds against the Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs and performed masterfully. Now, he finds himself as a free agent and able to negotiate what he's worth to the club... or possibly another club. Ellis may not have enough experience to garner a big deal, but he could do just fine when it comes to his final numbers.
There is a lot of buzz surrounding
Radim Vrbata before the better part of the off-season takes off. Vrbata had a strong season for the Coyotes, 56 points (27G, 29A) in 76 games. Vrbata was hovering around the top 200 in pool scoring for the past few seasons, but ended up finishing 99th this year, quite a big jump for him and it happened on a good, young team. If Vrbata earns himself a big deal this summer, there will be a lot of expectation on him going forward, which may draw him back to some usual career numbers. He'll be a buyer beware kind of player until he can string together some consecutive seasons of top 100 numbers.
The Devils signed a couple of potential unrestricted free agents on Thursday, putting pen to paper for forward Mike Mottau and defenseman Sheldon Brookbank. No contract deals were released, but there's a pretty good chance that they were just 1-year deals for less than a million each.
The times... they are a changin'. The Maple Leafs would sure like to keep a guy like Mats Sundin around, but his unrestricted status could offer up some dilemmas when it comes to their salary situation. This leads the general public to believe that he could be available to a contending team at a good price. The likelihood of Sundin returning would have to be at a discount price, but if the Leafs organization really wants change, then Sundin, as an example set for the other players clinging to life in Toronto, would have to be let go.
The potential of Cristobel Huet becoming a free agent come July 1st is very unlikely, as the Washington Capitals seemingly have every intention on bringing him back for a long-term stint with the team after acquiring him from Montreal at the trade deadline. The Capitals have plenty of space to sign on their number one keeper as the future remains bright in the US capital.
Maybe one of the more prized free agents to hit the market this summer will be Vaclav Prospal. He finished third highest among potential unrestricted free agents in points. Prospal finished the season with the Flyers after being dealt from the Lightning at the trade deadline. The Flyers' cap situation doesn't lend itself to being a helpful one to Prospal, so he'll likely have to find a new home this summer. There would be plenty of teams that would love to have his generalized offensive talent. Prospal is a perennial top 100 pool scorer in the league, which should help any team.
Not hitting his performance targets puts Jaromir Jagr on the market, potentially, on July 1st. Jagr has been rumoured to be negotiating a new deal with the Rangers or possibly heading to Europe for the twilight of his career. But rumours abound, if Jagr hits the open market in July, there should be a few teams interested in hiring his services for a season or two, since he just finished a regular season with 71 points. It isn't too likely he'll only be making 71-point money... there's a good chance he'll be looking for prime-Jagr money. That sort of reasoning may have him land in Europe, as they'll pay that sort of money in Russia.
Questions abound... where is Marian Hossa going to land this summer? Is there a chance he could be back with the Penguins next season? The quick answer is yes. If yes, then how long? Probably only for one season, as the contract of Evgeni Malkin will become more important. The magic that Hossa has had with the Wonder Boys since the trading deadline has been undeniable. He provides a potent element to the offense that had already assembled some great talent. Come July 1st, however, Hossa could be looking for a long-term deal and that may be the one thing that doesn't keep him in Pittsburgh. Other teams will be willing to give this sharpshooter a few more years than the Penguins can and he might fly away from the flightless ones.
The big money handed out to key players in Calgary will see the shuffle of Kristian Huselius out of the market. Huselius seemingly disappeared on the ice for the Flames in the second half of the season and their only playoff round and he came out of the gates like a bat out of hell. Huselius only collected $1.4 million last season, but still might go for a bit of a raise, thanks to his roaring start. It does seem more likely that he'll end up with a team that is in a rebuilding phase for the short-term. He doesn't look to be a good long-term investment.
Rumours are circulating that the Flames are going to try their best to keep Daymond Langkow in the fold, but with the cap situation in Calgary being rather dire, it will be interesting to see if they can keep him or not. Langkown took over $2.4 million against the cap last season and it's likely that he'll be around the same sort of hit price this coming summer. He should attract a lot of attention as a potential second line centre for most teams, especially at the reasonable price tag.
The Senators thought they could end their slide into the playoffs with the acquisition of Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore from Carolina. Obviously, that fell short by a country mile. Both Stillman and Commodore become unrestricted free agents come July and they'll be available to the highest bidder. The Senators have plenty of holes to fill and they still have a reasonable amount of space under the cap to work with, so there is a chance that one or both could come back. It would certainly be a move in the positive direction for the Sens. If not, their services could be rendered just about anywhere as good fits.
By the end of the giant-killing playoff run, the Dallas Stars didn't have much left in the tank. Sure, there were a couple key injuries in the series against Detroit, but they still managed to win some games out of that series, not to mention the injuries through the first two rounds that they won. It should be a playoff run to be proud of, really. It has to mean good things when the Stars make a run like that.
The key match-up, more in the actual games than the playoff pool, is in goal, since they are going to be put in the crease with a giant target on their chests. Marc-Andre Fleury (Box 24) and Chris Osgood (non-pool) will have their hands and pads full of opposition shots through the entire series. Both Fleury and Osgood have only lost twice in these playoffs each, but only Fleury will count in the playoff pool. If Dominik Hasek (Box 12) was to magically appear in this series, then we might have ourselves a pool-worthy match-up.
As for match-ups in the pool, the top six teams in the standings, we'll have a look at the breakdown of which team has what players for the Finals. Angela goes into the Finals with a six-point lead over Benson at 223 points to 217. In Detroit, Benson has one more active Red Wing than Angela, which may prove to close the gap a little bit.
The Penguins will have a full compliment of pool players going into Game 1 and the match-ups get a little bit more interesting. Between Angelan and Benson, there's only one player the same between the two and they each hold a different top 3 forward. Benson holding, arguably the better one in Evgeni Malkin (Box 14) over Marian Hossa (Box 15), while both John and Mike hold all three top forwards.
Just in case you had much for doubts, the Red Wings have finally done the deed and eliminated the Dallas Stars. The Stars put up a valiant effort in the Western Conference Finals and brought the series to six games. Nevertheless, it was the better team that took the Conference Final and will now meet the Penguins for the Stanley Cup, starting on Saturday.
It was Pavel Datsyuk (Box 1) that scored the winner that finally eliminated the Stars and surprisingly, it was only his first one of the playoffs. Datsyuk, unofficially, finished the series with 7 points, which, unofficially, was the second best Red Wings player in the series. Datsyuk has had a pretty good playoff season, but having only one winning goal almost makes him unworthy of the second box spot. Oh well.
The Red Wings won yet another Clarence Campbell Trophy and leading the charge for the team has been Henrik Zetterberg (Box 1) being the best forward, Nicklas Lidstrom (Box 8) being the best defenseman and Chris Osgood (non-pool) doing his job and standing in front of the net. Yeah, okay, he isn't in the pool, so he can't get all the kudos he may deserve, but that's head coach Mike Babcock's fault for giving the Sherpa the impression that Dominik Hasek (Box 12) would be the starting goalie through the playoffs, having started the first four games.
The Philadelphia Flyers have come a long ways in such a short time after their Conference Finals exit to Pittsburgh on Sunday. The players might think it's a tad early, but the Flyers brass have likely been looking to the future (not that they would admit it) for quite some time already. With the way the team finished, the team won't likely tinker too much, possibly just making sure all of their gaps are filled with a minor improvement here and there.
The Penguins did it and did it in a marvelous fashion. The Penguins finally eliminated the Flyers on Sunday afternoon with a 6-0 win at home in Pittsburgh.
In a 6-goal performance, it was the first goal that was the game-winner and that came courtesy of Ryan Malone (Box 17) at the 2:30 mark of the first period. It was Malone's sixth goal of the playoffs and it was his second game-winner. Malone was taken six times in the pool, including by our leader, Angela. Those six teams, including Angela, have benefitted from Malone's 17 points in these playoffs, including the 7 points from these Conference Finals.
The win and the shutout brought Marc-Andre Fleury (Box 24) even further away from all of his competitors in the hockey pool and it was his third consecutive series with 10 points. This brings his playoff total in points up to 30 and is quickly becoming the most valuable player in the pool. Fleury was taken 11 times in the pool, far from being the most popular choice, but certainly the correct choice.
Also having big afternoons for the Penguins... Marian Hossa (Box 15) had a goal and three assists, Ryan Malone (Box 17) finished with 2 goals, an assist and the bonus point, Maxime Talbot (Box 18) had a pair of assists, as did Sidney Crosby (Box 13). Plenty of points to go around through the Penguins line-up, which aided a lot of the top teams in their pulling away from the rest of the pack.
Kimmo Timonen (Box 20) returned to the Flyers line-up, but Braydon Coburn (Box 21) did not. The return of Timonen didn't help the team at all, but it wasn't like he hindered the side either. Unfortunately for both of them, they won't make any difference for the rest of the playoffs... eliminated!
It was another low-scoring affair in Detroit, seeing the Stars win 2-1, in goals that were scored in the first half of the game. Joel Lundqvist (non-pool) scored the eventual winner under seven minutes into the second period and thus stole the bonus point away from the hockey pool. It was only Lundqvist's second goal of the playoffs, but it proved to be key. Lundqvist has been a good player for the Stars in these playoffs, also registering five assists this Spring for a respectable 7 points and a bonus. He was in consideration for the pool, but fell short on his regular season numbers.
With only three goals scored in the game, there wasn't going to be many points handed out for pool purposes. On one of those goals, Turco added an assist and that gave him three points thanks to the win. His first career win in Joe Louis Arena gave him a West-leading 24 points in these playoffs, which is only 2 points off the pace for the top spot in the playoffs, behind Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury (Box 24). Turco's expert puck-handling has given him two assists in these playoffs as well, which count as points in the pool. Since Chris Osgood (non-pool) was not included on the sheet, Turco would now be the top choice for a Western Conference goalie on the sheet.
Dallas continues to play somewhat shorthanded as both Jere Lehtinen (Box 3) and Phillipe Boucher (Box 9) remain out of the line-up due to injuries. The Stars have been playing with key players out with injuries throughout the playoffs. So, if anything that is the biggest surprise of the playoffs, arguably. If they can force a Game 7 on Monday night, the Cinderella story would start to become legendary.
As for points, the bonus point happened to come to Jeff Carter (Box 18). It was his second game-winning goal of the playoffs and it came at a most opportune time. Carter's first period goal, managed to hold up through the remaining 40 minutes of play and then was helped out by a late third period empty netter. For Carter, that was his 6th goal of the playoffs and he now has 13 points in Box 18, far and away the best one available. There's a good chance he will make the perfect team, that will likely be assembled before the Cup Finals. You know, the team that would have achieved the most amount of points, thus far.
There was a clear winner for best night in the pool last night. Scott Hartnell (Box 19, pictured right) finished the game with three assists to lead all players in points. Hartnell now has 7 points in the playoffs this Spring. Martin Biron (Box 24, pictured left) registered his 9th win of the playoffs for the Flyers and was the only other multi-point player for the Flyers in their win. Biron now has 21 points in the playoffs, but has a series win to go before he can catch up to his Pittsburgh counterpart for the box lead.
On the Pittsburgh side of the ledger, there were a pair of goals scored in the third by Jordan Staal (Box 19), which brings his playoff total for goals to five. Both goals actually had the same scoring line with Tyler Kennedy (non-pool) and Maxime Talbot (Box 18) both getting assists on the goals. Staal was actually the most impressive Penguin on the ice, besides having scored both goals. You certainly wouldn't have been able to tell he is a sophomore player this year with that kind of effort.