Winners and losers from the free agnet frenzy (including trades)

[yave1964]

  Here is my list of free agent winners and losers from the free agent frenzy.

 

WINNERS:

 

LEAFS: The trade of Kessel signified the rebuild is on in full, although they got 65 cents on the dollar and had to retain salary it changes the culture of the team. Kapanen is a nice piece and new acquisitions Spalling, Hunwick, Parenteau, Arcobello and Winnick are all Babcock type of players. a great offseason.

 

RED WINGS: I try not to list the Wings oon the winner lists very often at the risk of coming across as a homer, but come on, the Wings added Mike Green on a short term deal for less term/money than he was offered elsewhere but center Richards solidifies the forwards on a one year deal allowing Larkin to get a year at Grand Rapids under his belt.

 

SHARKS: Love their offseason. Traded for Martin Jones to solidify the netmonding, Paul Martin brings his steady as she goes defense to the team and Joel Ward is a perfect middle six forward. Nothing not to like.

 

OILERS: After the draft netted McDavid and then Reinhart and Talbot in trades, they went out and signed Sekera, (granted for too much money but he is a huge improvement on the back end), and Letestu and traded for Korpikoski. A completely different team.

 

LOSERS:

 

KINGS: Traded Jones to Bruins only to see him end up as the starter with their arch rival the Sharks, Lost Sekera who they gave up a first rounder for, lost Conn Smythe winner Justin williams and saw Slava Voynov get sentenced to ninety days. Ouch.

 

COYOTES: Getting the band back together, the team brought Vermette, Michalek and Boyd Gordon back for repeat performances and mediocre signees Downie, Lindback and Brad Richardson and the trade for Grossman makes the most boring team in Hockey even more so. Their best offseason acquisition may be Pronger.

 

BLACKHAWKS: Lost Saad which they desperately did not want to do but at least they got some moving pieces in the deal. Plan A and plan B at center were Richards and Vermette who both left. And Sharp who simply must be dealt because of the financial situation is still a Shark and the return will shrink every day that he remains so.

 

STARS: For the life of me I do not know what Jim Nill is doing. The worst defense in Hockey and he made not a single move to improve it. None. Zilch. Unless he thinks that Niemi is the answer which if so it means he does not understand the question.

 

BLUES: A retool was promised, the Blues traded Oshie for the lesser talented Brouwer, allowed their bottom pair defense leave with no replacements and announced that Elliott and Allen would return in net. Retool Reschmool.

 

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO THINK:

 

PENGUINS:

Kessel with the Leafs eating salary and taking a mediocre package back was a good move, his salary will average around 6.5 million and he is working out determined to come to camp in shape. on Crosby's wing 50 goals seems very possible.

  But they lost steady Paul Martin. And tough guy who scores a bit Steve Downie. And a couple of 200 foot responsible players in Winnick and Spalling. and backup tender Greiss. And they have absolutely zero cap room to replace any of them to speak of, they will have to wait until the end of the free agent frenzy and see what is left and sign the bottom of the barrell of a very weak class to fill in the roster or give career minor leaguers a shot or rush rookies. I love adding Kessel but hate what it does to four or five other roster spots.

 

That is my list winners, losers and one who I am unsure where to place them. I left the Jackets off the winner list, they acquired Saad but gave up a decent package back and managed to resign him so I should have listed them, I think, among the winners.

 

 

 

[pilldoc]

PENGUINS:

Kessel with the Leafs eating salary and taking a mediocre package back was a good move, his salary will average around 6.5 million and he is working out determined to come to camp in shape. on Crosby's wing 50 goals seems very possible.

But they lost steady Paul Martin. And tough guy who scores a bit Steve Downie. And a couple of 200 foot responsible players in Winnick and Spalling. and backup tender Greiss. And they have absolutely zero cap room to replace any of them to speak of, they will have to wait until the end of the free agent frenzy and see what is left and sign the bottom of the barrell of a very weak class to fill in the roster or give career minor leaguers a shot or rush rookies. I love adding Kessel but hate what it does to four or five other roster spots.

 

If Kessel shapes up (pun intended) and plays the game by scoring and being defensively responsible and is being a good boy in the sandbox and the Pens go deep in the playoffs..then yeah the move will be looked upon very favorably.... HOWEVER,

 

If Kessel mopes around and becomes a team disraction and the Pens still make it no further than the 1st or 2nd round...then there will be alot of second guessing as the Pens start entering cap hell.

 

No way to determine if this was a good move or not until the season starts and the season begins.  On paper it looks good but you know the ol' adage......

 

[flyercanuck]

@yave1964

 

Flyers were winners....in that they didn't have Homer trying to outbid everyone including himself for any FA who used to be good.

[ruxpin]

the Wings added Mike Green on a short term deal for less term/money than he was offered elsewhere but center Richards solidifies the forwards on a one year deal allowing Larkin to get a year at Grand Rapids under his belt.

 

Honestly, I guess short term/one year deal is key here, but neither signing is really exciting to me.  Mike Green is way better in fantasy than on the ice.  Richards should hold up for a year barring injury but I think he's on borrowed time.   

 

In any case, I don't know that this puts them on a "winners" list.  You mentioned the "homer" thing.  You're NOT a homer.  You've never seemed that way.  But this does have a smidge of red/white tinted glasses.

 

In other news, trades included, I think I begrudgingly put the Penguins on the winners list.   Their Kessel move could blow up in their face, but I think betting money says that short term this will have great benefit for them.   So long as Letang stays healthy (kind of like hoping the beach stays dry), I don't think they'll ultimately miss Martin.  His moving probably opens up space for some of the kids they need to start to bring along.  And not even his parents miss Steve Downie.

 

My orange glasses puts the Flyers on the winners list.   Solid picks, solid moves to get some of them, and making room by dumping Grossman and getting out from under Pronger's contract all while getting a forward who could potentially really help --and is only one year if not-- AND dumping Rinaldo for a 3rd pick is a really solid draft/free agency.   Granted it's not sexy because a lot of it is improving by subtraction, but it's really solid.  Maybe it doesn't quite make the "winners" list.  I haven't seen them on ANY national media list of winners.  So, I'll accept "orange and black" glasses, but I think it's actually a national media oversight.

 

With the possible exception of the Leafs (I'm not sure enough to argue either way), I like the rest of your list.   Well done.

[yave1964]

@ruxpin

 

Thanks for the compliment on the Red and White glasses, I always try to remain as neutral as possible (other than the hit by Kronner on Voracek, I LOVED that one  ).

 

 Green is a puck mover who QBs the PP. The Wings power play started near the top and fell off markedly in the second half. About the time that Franzon went out and Zetterberg stopped scoring as a matter of fact. So adding a man who can run the power play was extremely important, I love Kronwall but he is a second team power play guy, not a first, in Green we got what we needed. Is 6 million a year a bit much for that kind of guy? Hell yeah, but you overpay in free agency. That is the way it works. But getting him for 3 years at less than he was offered elsewhere makes it palatable.

 Richards, well, he didn't look like a world beater with Chicago that is for sure and there is a reason the Rangers bought him out. But if we get a 40-50 point 2nd or third line center who allows us to keep Zetterberg on the wing for much of the year so he does not wear down in the second half we come out ahead. And we keep Dylan Larkin in Grand Rapids and do not rush him. On a one year deal it sets Larkin up for a 2016-17 spot in the top nine. I am not saying the two of them are Crosby and Karlsson but they suit the Wings roster quite well. Both addressed very specific needs at a limited cost.

 I nearly put the Flyers up on the list for the reasons you mentioned but most of those moves were from draft day weekend. I tried to concentrate specifically on the moves made over the free agent frenzy couple of days, really June 30th on.  For instance with the Wings I had them on the loser list from the draft and the winner list from free agency. The Flyers draft was amazing, free agency frenzy they were mostly quiet.

[ruxpin]

@yave1964

Oh! I'm sorry, I misread /misunderstood. I was thinking draft + free agency + trades.

Now that you reiterated and I reread your initial post and title (both clear), yeah, I'm with you. I'll even agree with the Detroit part.

I think I'd still put Pittsburgh on there, though, especially if we're not including draft. I think the signing of the Russian and the Kessel trade makes their team quite a bit better.

[J0e Th0rnton]

 

SHARKS: Love their offseason. Traded for Martin Jones to solidify the netmonding, Paul Martin brings his steady as she goes defense to the team and Joel Ward is a perfect middle six forward. Nothing not to like.

 

I would have considered it a win to let Niemi walk, sign a guy like Ramo, and dump Irwin/Hannan, Burish, Scott and Brown and play rookies.

 

Signing Jones after trading for him, Signing martin VIA UFA(Wilson NEVER signs UFA's) to Bolster the D and signing Ward via UFA to give us forward depth while doing all of the above turn this offseason into a Win+++++

 

Throw in that we drafted Meier and Roy? Win++++++++++++

Roy could well be the best Dman in this draft. he was ranked top 10 in the draft before his injury and suspensions this year.

Meier is just a power forward stud!

[Hatrik98]

Here is my list of free agent winners and losers from the free agent frenzy.

 

WINNERS:

 

LEAFS: The trade of Kessel signified the rebuild is on in full, although they got 65 cents on the dollar and had to retain salary it changes the culture of the team. Kapanen is a nice piece and new acquisitions Spalling, Hunwick, Parenteau, Arcobello and Winnick are all Babcock type of players. a great offseason.

 

RED WINGS: I try not to list the Wings oon the winner lists very often at the risk of coming across as a homer, but come on, the Wings added Mike Green on a short term deal for less term/money than he was offered elsewhere but center Richards solidifies the forwards on a one year deal allowing Larkin to get a year at Grand Rapids under his belt.

 

SHARKS: Love their offseason. Traded for Martin Jones to solidify the netmonding, Paul Martin brings his steady as she goes defense to the team and Joel Ward is a perfect middle six forward. Nothing not to like.

 

OILERS: After the draft netted McDavid and then Reinhart and Talbot in trades, they went out and signed Sekera, (granted for too much money but he is a huge improvement on the back end), and Letestu and traded for Korpikoski. A completely different team.

 

LOSERS:

 

KINGS: Traded Jones to Bruins only to see him end up as the starter with their arch rival the Sharks, Lost Sekera who they gave up a first rounder for, lost Conn Smythe winner Justin williams and saw Slava Voynov get sentenced to ninety days. Ouch.

 

COYOTES: Getting the band back together, the team brought Vermette, Michalek and Boyd Gordon back for repeat performances and mediocre signees Downie, Lindback and Brad Richardson and the trade for Grossman makes the most boring team in Hockey even more so. Their best offseason acquisition may be Pronger.

 

BLACKHAWKS: Lost Saad which they desperately did not want to do but at least they got some moving pieces in the deal. Plan A and plan B at center were Richards and Vermette who both left. And Sharp who simply must be dealt because of the financial situation is still a Shark and the return will shrink every day that he remains so.

 

STARS: For the life of me I do not know what Jim Nill is doing. The worst defense in Hockey and he made not a single move to improve it. None. Zilch. Unless he thinks that Niemi is the answer which if so it means he does not understand the question.

 

BLUES: A retool was promised, the Blues traded Oshie for the lesser talented Brouwer, allowed their bottom pair defense leave with no replacements and announced that Elliott and Allen would return in net. Retool Reschmool.

 

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO THINK:

 

PENGUINS:

Kessel with the Leafs eating salary and taking a mediocre package back was a good move, his salary will average around 6.5 million and he is working out determined to come to camp in shape. on Crosby's wing 50 goals seems very possible.

  But they lost steady Paul Martin. And tough guy who scores a bit Steve Downie. And a couple of 200 foot responsible players in Winnick and Spalling. and backup tender Greiss. And they have absolutely zero cap room to replace any of them to speak of, they will have to wait until the end of the free agent frenzy and see what is left and sign the bottom of the barrell of a very weak class to fill in the roster or give career minor leaguers a shot or rush rookies. I love adding Kessel but hate what it does to four or five other roster spots.

 

That is my list winners, losers and one who I am unsure where to place them. I left the Jackets off the winner list, they acquired Saad but gave up a decent package back and managed to resign him so I should have listed them, I think, among the winners.

If Kessel shapes up (pun intended) and plays the game by scoring and being defensively responsible and is being a good boy in the sandbox and the Pens go deep in the playoffs..then yeah the move will be looked upon very favorably.... HOWEVER,

 

If Kessel mopes around and becomes a team disraction and the Pens still make it no further than the 1st or 2nd round...then there will be alot of second guessing as the Pens start entering cap hell.

 

No way to determine if this was a good move or not until the season starts and the season begins.  On paper it looks good but you know the ol' adage......

 I don't think the Pens needed another scorer. They need some muscle and PK'ers. I would rather had seen Comeau stay than Kessel coming in.

[Commander Clueless]

@yave1964 Good assessments.

 

For the Leafs I love the moves of picking up the "bargain bin" guys and giving them a shot here. The "culture" (buzzword of the day) and expectations (as in low, low expectations) should be very different.

 

However, I really do think we got wrecked in that Kessel trade. It was okay up until the 2nd rounder going back and the salary retention.  And a lottery protected 1st rounder? Like....really? Was that really necessary guys?

 

 

I'm tempted to include the Bruins as losers in the offseason so far as a whole, but only because I have no freakin' idea what they are going for here.

 

I definitely agree on Dallas. Their silence is disappointing and perplexing.

[J0e Th0rnton]

@yave1964 Good assessments.

 

For the Leafs I love the moves of picking up the "bargain bin" guys and giving them a shot here. The "culture" (buzzword of the day) and expectations (as in low, low expectations) should be very different.

 

However, I really do think we got wrecked in that Kessel trade. It was okay up until the 2nd rounder going back and the salary retention.  And a lottery protected 1st rounder? Like....really? Was that really necessary guys?

 

 

I'm tempted to include the Bruins as losers in the offseason so far as a whole, but only because I have no freakin' idea what they are going for here.

 

I definitely agree on Dallas. Their silence is disappointing and perplexing.

Jeremy Jacobs is going back to his penny pinching ways. The signs to me are trading guys who reportedly wanted money, trading away a contract that goes on LTIR so they don't have to pay it and giving a good player away with it(Who was due for a raise)