The good:
- Flames sign Bouwmeester. Yeah, the budgeting becomes more difficult going forward, but Bouwmeester is special class of player - already one of the best in the biz and just 25 years old. That's the type of player that you add if you can and make it work around him. Can't complain about the Pardy or Sjostrom signings either.
- Mike Knuble in WAS for 2.8M was a nice find. The big guy is a consistent 20+ goal scorer and can play against almost anyone without being under water. Solid player for a decent price - I was hoping the Flames would go after him with a similar deal.
- Craig Anderson in COL for pocket change is the deal they should have made last year instead of inking FAILcroft. The former Flames 3rd rounder hasn't played a ton the last few years, but his results have been outstanding. He's at the very least a good bet to provide league average goaltending, which is a steal at his price point. If he's any better than thay, the Avs win with this one big time. Low risk, high reward.
- Joel Ward at 3M for two years back in NSH is probably a good move. Did you know Ward had 17 goals last year? Do you know who Joel Ward is at all? He's basically the Preds David Moss - solid all around, scores enough to be useful, etc. These are great players to have for 1.5M.
- I also like Minny's signings of Greg Zanon at 1.93/year and Martin Havlat at 5. I've liked Zanon for awhile even though there's not much offense in him. Good penalty killer, solid and ES, blocks a ton of shots. He firms up any blueline. It's also hard to believe the Wild got Havlat for just 5M a year after the best season of his career. Not only did he finally play most of the games, he was also pressed into shut-down duty by Quenneville and he still slapped the opposition around at ES. Good to see Miikko Koivu finally get some help.
- Sammy Pahlsson probably isn't bad value at 2.65 for the Blue Jackets, who were in the market for a Malholtra replacement. Im guessing Hitchcock is pretty thrilled to have the checking center on his club.
The Bad:
- I laughed out loud when they announced Colton Orr to TOR for 4M over 4 years. Good ol' Burke and his cowbells! What a ridiculous contract for a guy who gets his ass-kicked (figuratively, of course) by other 4th liners.
- Pretty much everything touched by Bob Gainey: he trades a useful bunch of players and prospects to NYR in exchange for one of the worst contracts in the NHL in Scott Gomez. Then he lets Komisarek walk over a seemingly reasonable contract, but signs 35 year old Jaroslav Spacek for 3 years and bunch of cash. Not being satisfied with that, he marginally overpays Mike Cammalleri (5 years, 30M) and then grossly overpays Brian Gionta (5 years, 25M). Yuck. I'd be pretty down if I were a Habs fan today.
- Good to see Sather up to his old tricks. He scores a coup by fooling someone into taking Gomez off his hands...and then re-invests the savings in another bad bet, Marian Gaborik. The guy is fast and a top notch scorer, but there's probably no one in the NHL who is more injury prone. I can't imagine him covering his whole 7.5M salary each year.
- On a similar note, Steve Sullivan for 3.75M/year doesn't make much sense to me either. I'm a fan of Sullivan and think he's effective when healthy, but that's really rare. And the dude is 36 years old. It makes sense to try to sign someone like Sullivan, but only if you can get him at a sizable discount.
- Khabibulin to the Oilers. HAHA!
- Chris Neil for 2M for 4 years is total nonsense. He's a goon who is marginally better at ES than guys like Orr and Godard. Is Murray one of the worst GM's in the league right now?
- Scott Clemmensen lands in FLA for the same price Anderson got in COL. Anderson is younger and his career stats in both the NHL and AHL are vastly superior. Given how mediocre Clemmensen has been for years, there's probably no chance he repeats the run he had with the Devils last year.
More as they come in...
