The Only Commentary on Free Agents You'll Ever Need

As it happens (or as it happens we hear about it)...

The Sedins re-sign with Vancouver for 5/$30.5M apiece.

Caps impact (1 being a gnat landing on Don Cherry's ass, 10 being Sidney Crosby traded to Washington): 1.5

- Oh, please, like they were going anywhere. This crap happens every year somewhere. Will so-and-so pillar of the franchise, who grew up in it, take off for greener pastures? This year, in stereo (you remember that, don't you?).
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Dwayne Roloson is "testing the market."

Now, wouldn't Jose Theodore look great in blue and orange?
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Mattias Ohlund to Tampa for 7/$26.25M

Caps impact: 4

Makes Tampa Bay marginally more difficult to play against, but the Lightning need a lot of help in a lot of places, and the term will kill them. Seven years? For a guy who will be 33 years old on opening night? Even if the contract is heavily front loaded (as Darren Dreger is blogging at TSN), it seems a bit much.
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Radek Dvorak re-signs with Florida for 2/$3.4M

Caps impact: 2

$1.7 a year for what amounts to a 35-point-a-year player seems a bit much, but maybe Florida had to do something after moving Bouwmeester, and all in all the term and dollars seem manageable. We're guessing they'll have to do a lot more, though.
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Colton Orr to Toronto for 4/$4M

Caps impact: 1

Brian Burke signs tough guy... call CNN. Maybe Ottawa can sign Donald Brashear so he can beat the snot out of Orr six times a year. Not seeing where this is worth almost a doubling of pay (he was a $537,000 cap hit last season).
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Florida re-signs David Booth for 6/$25.5M

Caps impact: 4

Booth is a nice player, even for $4.25 million a year. His points scored progression has gone 10-40-60 in his three seasons. He might not be a "core" player in the same way a Backstrom or a Green is in Washington, but he is a "foundation" player that a team can build with. Better to sign a home-grown for this money than import talent.
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Craig Anderson to Colorado for 2/$3.6M

Caps impact: 4

Tomas Vokoun has been the man in Florida for the past two years, but Anderson gave the Panthers 48 games of solid goaltending -- he might have been every bit as good as Vokoun. Certainly he was as efficient over his fewer appearances. Moving him out of the Conference raises the question of who backs up Vokoun. We can't imagine he'll provide as much solid relief as did Anderson.
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Matt Walker to Tampa Bay for 4/$6.8M

Caps impact: 5

The "impact" here might be on any arbitration for Shaone Morrisonn. Last year, with Chicago, he was 1-13-14, +7 in 65 games, 0-2-2, -4 in 17 playoff games. Morrisonn was 3-10-13, +4 in 72 games, 0-1-1, +1 in 14 playoff games.
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Ty Conklin to St. Louis for 2/$2.6M

Caps effect: 1

Nothing to see here as far as the Caps are concerned. But Jimmy Howard had better be ready; he'll be backing up a 37-year old in Detroit (Chris Osgood) who didn't have the best of regular seasons.
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Marian Hossa to Chicago for 12/$62.8 million

Caps effect: 4

Hossa has an odd way about him in terms of follow-up. First, he bolts Pittsburgh to join the team he lost to the Cup finals, then he loses with his new team to the team he left. Now, he leaves Detroit for the up-and-coming division rival. He will be 41 when this deal is over, if it lasts that long. And, the deal is very heavily front loaded -- $59.3 million of it paid in the first eight years ($7.41M/year) according to TSN (updated for new numbers). But Chicago had cap space aplenty, too. It's risky paying this kind of money and term for a talented player, but one who just happens to have seen his points drop from 100 a couple of years ago in Atlanta to 66 and 71 the last two years. Then again, it might just guarantee Chicago a spot in the Cup finals (where Hossa has appeared in the past two seasons... and lost). He's the big prize in this free agent class -- the other blocks should start to fall into place.
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Dwayne Roloson to the Islanders for 2/$5.0 million

Caps effect: 3

Guess they weren't bringing Joey MacDonald back. Guess they're thinking Rick DiPietro won't be back (for opening night, at least). He's an upgrade to any goalie who played more than one game with the Islanders last year. But he's a patch. Besides, everyone will be watching Tavares, anyway.
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Mike Knuble to Washington for 2/$5.6M

Caps impact: 7

A right winger who can score. According to NHL.com, the Caps had 37 goals in 250 man-games out of the right wing position last season. Knuble had 27 in 82 games. He's had at least 20 goals in each of the last six seasons (62 of his 165 goals in that span scored on the power play). And, he is the only top-six forward the Caps have who can reliably plant himself at the doorstep to collect rebounds. Is he the best forward in this class? Not by a long-shot. But this is about something the Caps don't address first in a draft, where they go (or so they say) for the best available player. This signing is need, pure and simple. The money is a bit higher than expected, but it is still a value signing.
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Donald Brashear to New York Rangers for 2/$2.8M

Caps impact: 5

Oh, the irony. Brashear joins the team he done wrong in the playoffs (twice) to earn a six-game suspension. He replaces one of the guys he wronged -- Colton Orr (with whom Brashear was involved in a pre-game altercation). And, he gets a raise and a two-year deal on top of it. Will it matter? Well, it will be interesting to see Brashear playing the Caps four times (if he dresses for all of them). His toughness will endear him to coach John Tortorella. His production on the fourth line won't. You'd have to think this is his last big payday (he'll be 37 on opening night). It's a big one, given his job description.
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Scott Niedermayer re-signs with Anaheim for 1/$6.0M

Caps impact: 1

Major yawn. It was Anaheim or nowhere, but losing Chris Pronger attached some more urgency to this signing, even with Ryan Whitney starting the year there and a decent prospect in Luca Sbisa coming in on defense.
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Joel Ward re-signs with Nashville for 2/$3.0M

Caps impact: 1

Not bad for an late blooming (28 years old) undrafted free agent to grabbed the first rung of the ladder with the Houston Aeros in the AHL, then went to Minnesota as a free agent, then to Nashville... as a free agent. He had a nice year with the Predators last year (17-18-35, +1 in 79 games). Is it a bit much for a player with only one full NHL season? Maybe, but it's also rewarding one's own.
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Brian Boucher to Philadelphia for 2/$1.85M

Caps impact: 3

A low-risk signing. He's familiar (103 career games for the Flyers from 1999-2002), he's competent (12-6-3, 2.18, .917 in San Jose last year). Given Philly's goaltending situation, he might get at least that many decisions next season. Alex Ovechkin might start practicing trick shots.
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Jaroslav Spacek to Montreal for 3/$11.5M

Caps impact: 3

Montreal -- on paper -- should never have finished eighth in the East last year. But they did, and they were likely to lose defenseman Mike Komisarek (they did, later, to Toronto). They needed something to plug a hole. Spacek is certainly a competent defenseman playing in 205 games with the Sabres over the last three years (22-76-98, +29 in that span). But he's not going to have the physical edge Komisarek had.
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Nikolai Khabibulin to Edmonton for 4/$15M

Caps effect: 2

Well, $3.75 million a year for four years for a goalie who was an unmitigated bust in his first two years of a big contract in Chicago is a bit surprising, but Edmonton didn't have a lot of choices. With Dwayne Roloson gone to Long Island and Jeff Deslauriers looking like the last man standing between the pipes, well... enter The Bulin Wall. He might end up being this coming season's Jose Theodore, even after a big year in Chicago... in the walk year of his big deal with the Blackhawks (convenient how that works out).
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Erik Cole re-signs with Carolina for 2/$5.8M

Caps effect: 5

Cole was 16-11-27, minus-3 in 63 games with Edmonton last year (three of the goals came in a hat trick against the Caps on January 13th). Then he was sent back to Carolina, for whom he played 418 games before heading to the Canadian prairie. He finished 2-13-15, plus-3 in 17 games. You'd have to think (or like to think, if you're a Hurricane fan) that Cole knew where "home" was and signed on the dotted line. The Caps aren't going to like seeing him six times next year.
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Scott Clemmensen to Florida for 3/$3.6M

Caps effect: 5

A little surprising he'd land here, given the job he did as an emergency number one replacement for Martin Brodeur in New Jersey last year (25-13-1, 2.39, .917). He comes in behind an established goalie in Tomas Vokoun, but might even be an upgrade to the departed Craig Anderson in a backup role (if his 2008-2009 season wasn't a fluke). Last year was the first in six seasons that he appeared in more than 13 games. He'll get more than 13 games in Florida, but he wouldn't seem likely to be the number one there, either.
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Ian Laperriere to Philadelphia for 3/$3.5M

Caps effect: 6

It's as much that Laperriere didn't come to Washington as it is he ended up on a team the Caps are likely to battle for a playoff spot. The Caps needed a physical edge, and Laperriere might have provided it. He will do it for Philly for the seemingly cheap price of $1.17 million/year.
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Michael Rupp to Pittsburgh for 2/$1.65M

Caps effect: 3

This looks like the sort of "under-the-radar" sort of acquisition that is making a reputation for Ray Shero. He will not contribute much by way of offense, but he will be a physical presence in the lower half of the forward lines.
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Hal Gill to Montreal for 2/$4.5M

Caps effect: 4

The Canadiens needed to fill a physical hole with the departure of Mike Komisarek. The question will be whether Hal Gill is going to be that guy. Gill has -- or perhaps more accurately, had -- an ability to use his size to stifle more offensively skilled players such as Jaromir Jagr -- when he was with the Caps, for instance -- or even Alex Ovechkin, to a degree. But Gill is getting some age on him, too. Still, he stays in the conference, and the Caps will have to deal with him four times a year for the next two years.
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Kent Huskins re-signs with San Jose for 2/$3.4M

Caps effect: 1

Another of those "do right by your own" sorts of deal, one supposes. It might be a little surprising -- $1.7 million a year -- for a guy who didn't play last year after December 31st (33 games altogether). He did have a fine 2007-2008 year for the Ducks, so they've seen close-up what he can do.
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Mike Cammalleri to Montreal for 5/$30.0M

Caps effect: 4

Not that the Caps were likely to splurge on a big name FA center, but Cammalleri was one that some fans might have envisioned in a red sweater. But now he gets to skate in Verizon Center twice a year, anyway. Montreal sure isn't being shy about signings. But they seem to be shrinking in the process.
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Greg Zanon to Minnesota for 3/$5.8M

Caps effect: 4

Could be another of those that has a market-setting effect for a guy like Shaone Morrisonn for the Caps. More of a stay-at-home type who would be a pretty solid addition wherever he ended up.
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Mike Komisarek to Toronto for 5/$22.5M

Caps effect: 3

Now Toronto gets even more difficult to play against. Pavel Kubina was the only defenseman the Maple Leafs had last year passing for a defenseman with an edge, and that wasn't going to work for Brian Burke (in fact, Kubina wasn't going to work for Burke -- he was shipped to Atlanta in a deal that had another edgy defenseman -- Garnet Exelby -- going to Toronto). If you discount Jay Bouwmeester as a defenseman moved in a trade, Komisarek might have been the top defenseman who was likely to change teams (that is, not including Scott Niedermayer).
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Steve Sullivan re-signs with Nashville for 2/$7.5M

Caps effect: 1

Maybe a bit of a surprise that he's staying in Nashville, but it seemed fitting for one of the better stories carrying over from last year when Sullivan returned from almost two years lost to injury to play well in 41 games and win the Masterton Trophy. And he remains one of the great steals in trade. The two picks Nashville gave up to get him from Chicago -- Ryan Garlock and Mike Blunden -- have played a total of ten NHL games (all by Blunden, none since playing one in 2007-2008).
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Samuel Pahlsson to Columbus for 3/$7.9M

Caps effect: 2

Another one of those guys that some Caps fans might have thought would look good skating on F Street. Pahlsson seems like a very good fit for the Blue Jackets -- the sort of defensive forward who will do well in a Ken Hitchcock system.
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Mathieu Garon to Columbus for 2/$2.4M

Caps effect: 2

Perhaps might influence the market for backup goaltenders in terms of the sort of compensation a Brent Johnson might get. Garon has fallen quite far since posting a 31-26-3 record for Los Angeles in 2005-2006. Since then, he's played in 32, 47, and 19 games a season.
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Marian Gaborik to New York Rangers for 5/$37.5M

Caps effect: 5

If a healthy Gaborik skated for the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs, the Caps wouldn't have advanced. But the operative word there is "healthy." Gaborik is coming off of hip surgery (he's had surgery on each hip in each of the past two seasons). And, he goes from skating on the nice ice of Minnesota to the parking lot that is the Madison Square Garden surface. Good luck with that. Over/under on the number of games Gaborik plays -- 40. Odds on being healthy for the playoffs -- even. In the end, this is going to look like the typical Ranger checkbook signing... a lot of hoopla in the beginning and a lot of disappointment in the end.
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Brian Gionta to Montreal for 5/$25M

Caps effect: 3

Montreal goes smaller still, and to more skill again with the addition of Gionta. Gomez, Cammalleri, Gionta -- they'll fly around the ice, and probably won't get pushed around as much as one might expect for players of such diminuitive stature. They're all pretty sturdy on their skates, or at least elusive. For Montreal, the calculus is now simple... Gomez + Cammalleri + Gionta > Kovalev + Koivu + Tanguay? On paper, it looks that way. But when you factor in the liability in contract dollars and term, it's still a risk. If any of these guys stumble, it's the wrong town for that sort of misstep.
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Chris Neil re-signs with Ottawa for 4/$8.0M

Caps effect: 3

The sort of forward with an edge that the Caps might have needed stays in Ottawa, but at that price and term? Too many years (Neil is only 30, but plays a style that might result in breakdowns -- he missed 22 games last year) and too much money. Would he have been worth, say, four years and $9.0 million here? Don't think so.
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John Madden to Chicago for 1/$2.75M

Caps effect: 3

It gets him out of the conference, at least. This is likely to affect the Devils more than the Blackhawks, where Madden was a mainstay as the embodiment of the Selke-class defensive-forward. His numbers might have suffered some as the NHL changed its style coming out of the lockout (he is minus-20 in four seasons since the lockout, compared to plus-50 in the four seasons preceding it), but he is still a guy who can match up against the other team's best offensive player effectively. He is perhaps not as consistently able to do it, though.
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Martin Havlat to Minnesota for 6/$30.0M

Caps effect: 1

Huh? OK... last year he played in 81 games for Chicago and put up 77 points. He might be the most gifted offensive player in this free agent class (with apologies to Hossa and Gaborik). But his injury report reads like an episode of "House." Since the lockout alone... hamstring, shoulder, ankle, groin, shoulder, groin, shoulder, "lower body." Before last year, Havlat played in 109 of a possible 246 games over three seasons coming out of the lockout.
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And there endeth the first day. There are a lot of names still out there, and while the Caps seem unlikely to add any of them to their roster, it should still be entertaining. We're going to be busy the next few days with other commitments, but we'll try to sign on and babble about this stuff some more as time allows.

Happy shopping all you junior GMs.

Oh Yeah, and NHL Free Agency, Too

If you tire and grow weary of the non-stop NHL feeding frenzy that today's opening of the unrestricted free agency signing period promises, just remember that other things happened on this date. For instance...

-- It is the birthdate of Samuel D. Riddle, in 1861. He was the owner of the famous race horse, Man o' War.

-- Charles Laughton was born on this date in 1899.

-- Cosmetics founder Estee Lauder was born on this date in 1908.

-- Famous shoe collector Imelda Marcos was born on this date in 1930.

-- Speaking of fashion, famous television cross-dresser Jamie Farr was born on this date in 1934.

-- Dan Aykroyd was born in Ottawa (this being a hockey sort of day) on this date in 1952.

-- Lady Diane Spencer was born on this date in 1961.

-- And guys...Pamela Anderson -- another Canadian -- was born on this date in 1967.

Some other things that happened on this date...

-- The first intercollegiate baseball game was held in 1859. Amherst defeated Williams, 66-32. Guess they hadn't gotten around to that "mercy rule" thing just yet.

-- In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" charged up San Juan Hill.

-- In 1899, the Gideons were founded by three traveling businesmen. The first Bibles were placed at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana, in 1908.

-- Walter Johnson no-hit the Boston Red Sox, 1-0, in 1920. Seems Washington did have pitching once upon a time.

-- Bulova Watch Co. was the first customer for a paid network television commercial, in 1941. The price?... nine bucks.

-- In 1943, withholding from pay checks was initiated.

-- In 1963, The Beatles recorded "She Loves You."

-- In that same year, the U.S. Postal Service introduced its "Zone Improvement Plan." You know it as the "zip code."

-- In 1972, "Ms." magazine began publishing.

-- In 1987, WFAN (New York City) became the first 24-hour all-sports radio station.

Just a few of the things July 1st is famous for, other than NHL free agency. And to all you folks north of the border....