By Matthew Solomon
With the
NHL Entry Draft and NHL free agency not too far away, we here at Daily Shootout
have set up an offseason checklist for each team, organized by division. Today
we look at the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers
1) Sign a
backup goalie: Martin Biron, who is the current backup on Broadway, is a free
agent on July 1st and the hole needs to be filled. Granted, Biron is
34 years old, which in hockey terms is slightly getting up there in age, he was
still able to get 12-6-2 in 21 games last season with the Rangers as Henrik
Lundqvist backup. There are a number of goalies available in free agency this
summer, with the big names being the likes of Dwayne Roloson, Martin Brodeur, Cristobal
Huet, and so on. If the Rangers really want to get the best bang for their buck
for a reliable backup, they can either re-sign Biron or try looking into
somebody like an Alex Auld, Johan Hedberg or Scott Clemenson. Bottom line is
they need a backup for King Henrik and they have about $21 million in cap space
to work with.
2) Get rid
of Sean Avery: Avery has been nothing but a thorn in the sides of everybody in
the NHL from team management all the way down to his own teammates. Nobody in
the Rangers organization, it seems, really wants anything to do with this guy
who, last season, played in only 15 games. With Avery let go they cut over $3
million off the payroll.
3) Re-sign
the role players: Rangers already have locked in their major players like
Lundqvist, Richards, Gaborik and so on. Three of their top four defensemen are
signed through next season. Michael Del Zotto is the lone top D-Man who needs
to be re-signed on Broadway as he is hitting restricted free agency. Once they
lock him in everybody else should fall in. I would also consider watching the
Rangers make a strong run at picking up Zach Parise, when he hits the market
July 1. It won’t surprise me none, as the Rangers have done stuff like this in
the past.
New York Islanders
1) Re-sign PA Parenteau: That has got to
be the first thing the Isles take care of this summer. PA was 3rd on
the team in scoring last season with 67 points behind only Matt Moulson and
John Tavares. Last year he made $1.25 million for the one season, and with the
contracts GM Garth Snow handed out last summer to Tavares Moulson and Neilsen,
I don’t really think it should be a problem locking in PA for a few more
seasons here on Long Island. Parenteau has been the perfect complement to JT
and Moulson on the top line and they need a solid winger to fill that line out,
and PA is perfect.
2) Backup Goalie, THEY NEED ONE:
Al Montoya was the backup to Evgeni Nabokov last season and put up OK numbers.
Let’s face facts here, since Rick DiPietro signed that 15 year contract a few
years back (which was completely retarded if you ask me) he hasn’t lived up to the contract, save
for the first two seasons out of it, due to injury problems. This deal now
leaves the Islanders with egg on their face. Picking up Nabokov was great but
with Montoya supposedly on his way out the door, a good solid #2 goalie is
needed on Long Island if they want any chance of competing in a very tough
Atlantic division.
3) Spend money in Free
Agency/Bring up younger Talent: There is plenty of room to work with here on Long
Island for GM Garth Snow. Four of his D-Men, Staios, Jurcina, Reese, and Eaton,
are free agents on July 1st. One thought would be to possibly see out of camp if Calvin
De Hann is ready to make a full time jump to the NHL and become a regular on
the Islanders blue line. Also, there are some good free agent D-Men on the
market this summer, such as former Islander Adrian Aucoin, Sami Salo, and Filip
Kuba, just to name a few. I don’t think going after free agents with money is
going to be a problem; I think the problem is going to be getting the talent to
play on Long Island. Look at what happened with Christian Erhoff last summer
before he signed with Buffalo. So Garth Snow has his work cut out for him over
the summer months.
4) Fill out secondary scoring:
The Islanders seemed to have trouble getting secondary scoring last season. It
was the top line of Tavares Moulson and Parenteau who carried the bulk of the
scoring load. Michael Grabner had a down year after scoring 34 in his rookie
year, only burying 20 this season. Same thing with Kyle Okposo, who had 20 as
well this year, setting a new career high. Along with those five guys, two
other guys hit double digits in goals, Josh Bailey (13) and Frans Neilsen (17).
Garth Snow really needs to go out and get a more balanced scoring attack on the
ice for his coaching staff, as the Islanders were one of the lowest scoring
teams in the NHL last year. I don’t care how he does it, whether it comes from
the minors, the draft, or free agency, just get the scoring punch on Long
Island.
New
Jersey Devils
1) Re-sign Zach Parise: The
Devils have a lot of big name free agents this summer, the biggest one being
Captain Zach Parise. Zach has the 3rd highest cap hit of free agents
this summer at $6 million. The only two guys who have higher cap hits than him
are Alex Semin and Ryan Smyth, at just over $6 million each. The Devils should
be able to afford Zach as they have just over $28 million to work with in
available cap space, so I don’t really think that will be an issue. If the
Devils really do anything this summer, re-signing the captain has got to be the
top priority for GM Lou Lamirillo.
2) Secure a goaltender: Both
Johan Hedberg and Marty Brodeur are free agents this summer. Brodeur has gone
on record as saying he wants to come back and play another season in the NHL,
which right now Marty is 40 years old and looks like he still might be able to
play at a high level. The question is, what is Lou going to do about finding
Marty a backup, because there is no guarantee that Hedberg will return to
Jersey. If for some reason Hedberg doesn’t come back, I would try looking into
bringing back an old favorite in Jersey in Scott Clemenson, who will be a free
agent after playing last season in Florida, and it’s not that big of a cap hit
to the Devils either.
3) Fill in the role players: The
Devils still have some holes to fill through possible free agency this summer.
Right now Bryce Salavador, Alexi Ponikarovski, and grinders like Stephen Gionta
and Cam Jansen are up for free agency. I would try and retain a few of these
players at least, if the Devils want to really have a chance of staying in the
hunt again in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh
Penguins
1) Sign/re-sign role players: The
Penguins don’t have much cap space to really work with, as they sit at about
just over $8.7 million. But the good thing about the Penguins is they have
their key players locked in through next season and beyond so that isn’t an
issue. They will, however, need to bring back some role players, and two guys I
thought did an OK job of that were Richard Park and Aaron Asham, who are both
free agents this summer, and both come with a cheap price tag. So I don’t think
filling out their small role players should be a problem in the Steel City.
2) Signing of Thomas Vokoun:
Getting him was a huge pickup for the Penguins. They needed a solid steady
backup goalie for Marc-Andre Fleury. Vokoun can play goal as teams have seen in
the past and will be a great asset to the Pens going into another possible run
at the division title.
Philadelphia Flyers
The
Flyers are one of the few teams in the league that don’t have much cap space to
really work with here, as their room for spending money is at about a shade
over $9 million. The team that is currently assembled in Philly is pretty set
on paper but there are a few things they need to take care of.
1)
Re-sign Kubina and Carle: Pavel Kubina and Matt Carle are two of the Flyers’
better defenseman and are set to be free agents come July. Combined, the cap
hit for the two of them would be a shade over $7.2 million so that doesn’t
really leave the Flyers with that much room to work with. Also, what may
possibly help the situation is that Jaromir Jagr is going to be testing the
free agency market to see if he can get a bit from somebody else outside of the
Flyers. If he can’t then with the cap limitations the Flyers currently have at
the moment it is going to be hard to keep all three.
2)
Try to upgrade goaltending: As most of us already know the Flyers goaltending
is known for being real choke artists especially come playoff time. They spent
all this money getting Ilya Bryzgalov, and there is still one more year on the
contract for Sergi Bobrovsky, so I’m not sure the Flyers will look into goalies
this summer, but they might want to start thinking about getting goalies over
next summer. Just something to think about for the future in Philly.
*Free
Agents, Cap Space, and all Financial Numbers provided by capgeek.com*
**Team and Player statistics provided by
nhl.com**
*Follow me on twitter @msolly16!*
0 comments:
Post a Comment