NHL Free Agency Winners and Losers
By: Lauren Burg
Every season teams lose players. That
much is inevitable. Many of these teams just hope that they don't lose any key
players, stars or leaders of their team. Of course, it isn't always possible to
keep these guys because of the money they often demand. Alas, if you do lose
one of these players it's bound to hurt. If you lose a player it's likely for
them to end up with another team. This essentially means that one teams loss is
another teams gain. With free agency now winding down to a snails pace I'm
going to give you my 3 winners and losers of the free agency period.
Winners:
Carolina Hurricanes
Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford
went on a huge spending spree this summer, acquiring Jordan Staal from
Pittsburgh and Alexander Semin from division rival Washington in just over a
months time. Rutherford also acquired Tim Wallace from another division rival,
Tampa Bay, and Joe Corvo from Boston. He also made sure to address the Canes
future, signing AHL Charlotte goaltender Justin Peters along with AHL forwards
Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk and Jerome Samson to name a few.
In 77 games with Washington last season
Semin put up some outstanding numbers, scoring 21 goals, totaling 54 points and
putting up an impressive plus-9 rating. He also helps in the Canes' top six
forward department, giving new head coach Kirk Muller better defensive forwards
to work with. Staal, the brother of Hurricanes captain Eric Staal, also helps
to provide Muller with some options on the top 2-3 lines. In 62 games last
season with Pittsburgh Staal was often found on the scoresheet, scoring 25
goals and adding 25 assists to total 50 points. He also posted a great
plus/minus rating of plus-11.
Wallace, in 18 games with Tampa Bay after
being acquired mid-season from the New York Islanders, put up three goals,
eight points and a decent plus-4 rating. More than that, he gives the Canes a
pretty decent third or fourth liner who's capable of producing just enough and
also is solid defensively. Corvo, a defenseman, showed he's very good
defensively as is expected but can also help out offensively if need be. In 75
games with Boston last season, he scored four goals and added 21 assists to
total 25 points. More important, however, was his plus-10 rating because
they're numbers that will help the Canes top six forwards flourish by taking
the added defensive pressure off of them.
Quite honestly, after addressing the
team's pressing needs the Canes look to be the early favorites to not only win
the Southeast Division but also go deep into the playoffs. That is, if we have
a season….
Minnesota Wild
A team that's been just mediocre for what
seems like years, the Wild picked a great time to make a huge splash in free
agency. They acquired this offseason's top two free agents in former New Jersey
Devils captain Zach Parise and former Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan
Suter, one of the best in the game these days. They also acquired former Ottawa
Senators tough guy Zenon Konopka and former San Jose Sharks forward Torrey
Mitchell.
Parise, after missing nearly all of the
2010-2011 season, was looking to come back strong last season. He did just
that, putting up 31 goals and 69 points while playing in all 82 regular season
games. Parise also came up big in the Devils' 2012 playoff run, one that ended
two wins short of another Stanley Cup, by tallying eight goals and 15 points in
24 games. Suter, meanwhile, was doing what he could to help the Nashville
Predators in their Stanley Cup quest. In 79 regular season games Suter put up
46 points and a plus/minus rating of plus-15, both good for second among
Predators defensemen. Suter's 2012 postseason was probably less than he
expected, as he put up only four points and was a minus-3 in 10 games.
Mitchell and Konopka also prove to be
good additions because they add some toughness to the Wild lineup. Appearing in
76 regular season games Mitchell tallied 19 points while accruing 29 penalty
minutes. Not huge totals but they give him plenty of room for improvement.
Konopka, on the other hand, put up five points while accruing 193 penalty
minutes in 55 regular season games with the Senators. Obviously, Konopka's not
afraid to drop the gloves when need be, something that will only help the Wild.
To tell the truth this Wild team has the
capability, and now the players, to make some major noise in the Western
Conference for years to come. They have a great chance of winning the
franchise's first Stanley Cup as well.
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars just barely missed the
playoffs last season. They then made it their mission to fill last season's few
missing pieces by making a fairly big splash during free agency. They did this
by acquiring Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney, both veterans with a lot of NHL
experience. Another acquisition they made was former Vancouver Canucks forward
Aaron Rome. The Stars also made sure to re-sign players they didn't want to
lose; guys like Jordie Benn, Mark Fistric, Richard Bachman, Ryan Garbutt and
others.
Jagr spent many years in the NHL, winning
a few Stanley Cups, before spending the 2010-2011 season playing overseas. He
returned this past season, signing a one year contract with the Philadelphia
Flyers. Jagr scored 54 points and put up a respectable plus-5 rating in 73
regular season games last season. Jagr took a step back in the playoffs
however, managing only eight points and a minus-5 rating in 11 games. Whitney,
on the other hand, never left the NHL, winning a Cup with the Carolina
Hurricanes in 2006 before heading to the Phoenix Coyotes. Whitney led the
Coyotes with 77 points and a plus-26 rating while not missing a game last
season. He also registered eight power play goals, good for second on the team
behind Radim Vrbata.
Rome probably doesn't need an
introduction as some may remember him for the hit that knocked out Boston
Bruins forward Nathan Horton during the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. He was
suspended, probably deservedly so, for the hit but that doesn't mean he's not a
good player. He actually put up 10 points while playing in only 43 games last
season due to injury. Since that probably doesn't give you much hope let's also
look at his 2010-2011 campaign. During that season Rome tallied five points and
a plus-one rating in 56 games played. That doesn't tell us a ton except that he
can be good defensively. Honestly, with Rome he's got to stay relatively
healthy so he can contribute. Then again I think that's the case with any
player!
With these new additions, along with the
re-signings, the Stars should have no problem making it back to the postseason.
They also have a good chance of going deep in the playoffs and, though it's a
stretch right now, possibly winning Lord Stanley's Cup.
Losers:
New Jersey Devils
The Devils lost Zach Parise's numbers and
leadership, traded defensive prospect Matt Taormina to Tampa Bay and only have
Martin Brodeur for another year or two. Yeah, Adam Henrique's a great player
and Patrick Elias/Ilya Kovalchuk have leadership capabilities. Kovalchuk also
has captain experience, serving as the Atlanta Thrashers captain before being traded
to the Devils. However, the numbers Parise puts up when healthy are hard to
replace. In non injury-plagued seasons he routinely put up over 30 goals and
more than 65 points. Last season, he was the Devils' second highest goal scorer
with 31 goals, just behind Kovalchuk's 37.
Losing a guy like Parise would be
difficult for any team to overcome. However, with Brodeur still aging, Henrique
still very young and Kovalchuk's streakiness it might be completely devastating
to a team that struggles to score goals as it is.
Nashville Predators
The Preds lost one of their top
defensemen in Ryan Suter to Minnesota. Last season, Suter was the Preds' 2nd
highest scoring defenseman with 46 points and a plus-15 rating in 78 games. The
only Preds defenseman with a higher point total than Suter was Shea Weber with
49 points. The Preds also had to pay up just to keep Weber, something that
might end up costing them in the future.
Another player the Preds lost was backup
goaltender Anders Lindback to Tampa Bay. Obviously, they still have Pekka Rinne.
If Rinne were to get injured though the Preds have no proven NHL caliber goalie
behind him. With Lindback, they at least knew they had someone who had proven
he could put up decent numbers.
With these losses the Preds might still
be OK next season. In the near future, however, the team could pay for the
moves they made this offseason.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers lost one of their top
shut-down defenseman in Matt Carle, one of their top forwards in Jaromir Jagr
and didn't upgrade their goaltending. They also aren't sure about the status of
captain Chris Pronger who was sidelined much of last season with a concussion.
Carle, who signed as a free agent with
Tampa Bay, put up 38 points and a plus-4 rating while suiting up in every game
last season. Meanwhile, Jagr signed as a free agent with the Dallas Stars.
Appearing in 73 games with the Flyers last season Jagr put up 54 points and a
plus-5 rating. Pronger only played 13 games before being sidelined but still
managed to put up 12 points and a plus-1 rating.
If that weren't bad enough the Flyers
received news in early August that defenseman Andrej Meszaros tore his right
achilles tendon while working out in his home country of Slovakia and is out
indefinitely. Meszaros tallied 25 points with a plus-6 rating in 62 games last
season.
Losing key players, whether to injury or
free agency, always hurts. However, if you combine that with the Flyers past
goaltending woes, the fact they lost one of their top point producers in Jagr
and their recent string of bad luck you've got a recipe for disaster.
*All free agent signings were found here:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=636656
*All New Jersey Devils stats were found
here: http://devils.nhl.com/club/stats.htm
*All Nashville Predators stats were found
here: http://predators.nhl.com/club/stats.htm
*All Philadelphia Flyers stats were found
here: http://flyers.nhl.com/club/stats.htm
*The Andrej Meszaros news was found here:
http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=639314
*Alexander Semin's stats can be found
here: http://capitals.nhl.com/club/stats.htm
*Jordan Staal's stats can be found here:
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/stats.htm?location=/stats2
*Aaron Rome's stats can be found here:
http://canucks.nhl.com/club/stats.htm
**Feel free to contact me, Lauren, on
Twitter @TBLightning491 or Daily Shootout, @DailyShootout. **
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