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Winners and losers of Free Agency frenzy


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Some gotta win, some gotta lose, here are my top and bottom five

 

WINNERS

 

ST. LOUIS BLUES Adding O'Reilly, Bozak and Perron and not giving up a key roster player and not having to part with top prosects Kyrou and Kostin, the Blues clearly are right in the mix for best team in the West right now.

 

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS Supposedly the big pitch was telling Tavares that with him aboard they had a seven year window. Leafs fans have to be out of their mind with joy.

 

BUFFALO SABRES Dahlin was the sexy draft pick, bringing in steady vets Sheary, Berglund and Sobotka a solid prospect in Thompson and a slew of additional picks, the Sabres seem to have an identity and a plan for once.

 

VEGAS KNIGHTS I don't like the contract for Stastny but that is only money, on the ice he makes them better and deeper down the middle while Holden gives the defense a veteran edge player on the cheap. And as more teams drop out of the Karlsson sweeps, they are going to likely have to pay even less to add him.

 

LOS ANGELES KINGS TCB with Doughty to put it to bed a year early, before the frenzy added possibly the best true goal scorer available in Kovalchuk. Did what needed done before the frenzy and sat back and watched others make their moves.

 

LOSERS

 

OTTAWA SENATORS Even more than the Islanders. Lost Hoffman for nothing then watched the Sharks do a better deal an hour later with him. The owner had to refinance the team. Karlsson market is drying up and they traded their unprotected first rounder next year which is almost certainly a lottery pick to Colorado for Duchene who will be tough to resign. And they added nobody at the frenzy. Awful

 

NEW YORK ISLANDERS Lost the face of the franchise and replaced him with Komarov and Filpulla. Defenseman De Haan is a must return player to the blueline but his price is likely higher now as he is the top remaining free agent. The only reason to rate them above the Senators is they ahd a great draft.

 

SAN JOSE SHARKS Yes they took care of their own in Kane and Couture but after clearing cap space by moving Paul Martin and Boedkers contracts they were linked to Tavares and Karlsson and Neal and pretty much every free agent and came out of it with nobody. The Knights, Flames and Kings within the division are all improved the Sharks are the same team as they ended the season with.

 

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Instead of making a serious move for a top four defender or adding another offensive player to take the pressure off Kane and Toews they went out and added Cam Ward who is a decade past being anything other than a replacement level goalie and Chris Kunitz who has lost his fastball a long time ago. Tired blood for an anemic team.

 

(TIE) MONTREAL CANADIENS AND VANCOUVER CANUCKS For different reasons. The Canadiens desperately needed to add a top line center and missed on O'Reilly and all they managed to do was bring back worn out old Plekanec. Oof. The Canucks gave too long a term to Beagle and Roussel, two players who I like but they are added to a mix of forwards who are going to all have to punch above their weight class who are given too long of contracts because it is the only way that Vancouver can get anyone. Eriksson, Gagner, Sutter, Beartschi and now Beagle and Roussel all there long term, none are the solution, collectively they are the problem.

 

 That is it, my winners and losers. Honorable mention I debated adding the Wings and the Flyers to the winner category as the Wings from the draft forward seem to finally have some direction and the Flyers added JVR for nothing but money and still have cap room to make another move if they want. Loser wise I nearly listed the Jets for losing Stastny after giving up a first for him and losing him to the conference champion and the Wild for the strangest assortment of signings in recent memory.

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Little disappointed in what the Jets did and didn’t do. I know they have some young guns in their system. Wasn’t expecting anything big but keeping Stastny would of been nice. I don’t think there will be any good to come out of Ottawa until Melnyk is gone. Bad situation there. Possibly good for Quebec City.

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3 minutes ago, Hatrik98 said:

Little disappointed in what the Jets did and didn’t do. I know they have some young guns in their system. Wasn’t expecting anything big but keeping Stastny would of been nice. I don’t think there will be any good to come out of Ottawa until Melnyk is gone. Bad situation there. Possibly good for Quebec City.

Jets are a bit stuck with Trouba and Hellebuyck needing paid among others and Laine right behind. They are a well built team who will likely have to take care of their own, stand pat otherwise and add at the deadline for the foreseeable future. Almost any team would be happy to trade positions with them which is why I didn't list them as losers when they got beat out for Stastny, plus they have the additional cap room to go out and make a move when they need to by moving Mason which is addition by subtraction.

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11 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

plus they have the additional cap room to go out and make a move when they need to by moving Mason which is addition by subtraction. flushing

 

Fixed it for you.  No charge.  It's what I do; I fix things.

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51 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

SAN JOSE SHARKS Yes they took care of their own in Kane and Couture but after clearing cap space by moving Paul Martin and Boedkers contracts they were linked to Tavares and Karlsson and Neal and pretty much every free agent and came out of it with nobody. The Knights, Flames and Kings within the division are all improved the Sharks are the same team as they ended the season with.

 

Largely yes.  I would put them in the losers column as you have done, but on the other hand, they could still go after Karlsson if they chose to or--better IMO--keep money back to make a solid move at the deadline.   They'll have Kane all year to position themselves better than they did this year, and hopefully Jones has a better season (he was good but not outstanding).  Then, pick off someone at the end of the season.  Buffalo is always looking to sell about then, so maybe they get Ristolienen for a Starbucks gift card.

 

 

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54 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

BUFFALO SABRES Dahlin was the sexy draft pick, bringing in steady vets Sheary, Berglund and Sobotka a solid prospect in Thompson and a slew of additional picks, the Sabres seem to have an identity [mediocrity] and a plan [Hughes, baby!] for once.

 

 

That is all.

 

I do like their offseason so far, though.

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@ruxpin

 

I really do like the Sabre offseason.

 

Hutton over Lehner by a lot.

Sheary, Berglund, Thompson and Sobotka over the rejects they replaced.

Dahlin over O'Reilly. Different positions but one has replaced the other as far as filling important role on the team.

Eichel and Risto another year older.

 

  Overall, this is the shot in the arm the team seems to need. Of course when you are 31st out of 31 teams there is nowhere to go but up.

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2 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

Of course when you are 31st out of 31 teams there is nowhere to go but up.

 

They're Buffalo.  They're more likely to go butt up. 

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3 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

@ruxpin

 

I really do like the Sabre offseason.

 

Hutton over Lehner by a lot.

Sheary, Berglund, Thompson and Sobotka over the rejects they replaced.

Dahlin over O'Reilly. Different positions but one has replaced the other as far as filling important role on the team.

Eichel and Risto another year older.

 

 

Yeah, overall I like it.  The key to the goalie will be Ullmark, but that would be the case whether the offset was Hutton or Lehner, so I'd rather Hutton.

 

There's nothing particularly exciting about the rest but I do think it solidifies the lineup with some dependable people.  Plus the picks.  It seems like a pretty decent summer in Buffalo so far.

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