I would love to follow the normal schedule of writing that I set for myself every week and provide the draft grades for the Eastern Conference as regularly scheduled. However, the comedy of NHL free agency beckons and for those that may be tuning in for my opinions on the Eastern Conference, I sincerely apologize.
To summarize the Eastern Conference draft weekend let's just say that the Florida Panthers got the best player in the draft with Aaron Ekblad, the Penguins made Patric Hornqvist the happiest player in the NHL by acquiring him in the trade with Nashville that sent James Neal to the Predators. Side note: Look for Hornqvist’s fantasy value to skyrocket once we get closer to fantasy hockey season.
Other than that, there was a decided lack of blockbuster trades outside of Ryan Kesler, which made for an uneventful weekend in Philadelphia.
What the draft lacked was more than made up for during the first two hours of free agency. I was hardly able to keep up with the fast and furious signings after the clock hit high noon and maintain a marginal amount of attention to my wife. Her birthday has the grave misfortune of falling on July 1st, which makes tracking free agents difficult while attempting to be a doting husband.
My take on free agency is simply this: pure, unfiltered, unadulterated comedy. While I have a rooting interest in certain teams, the wise perspective to take is to remove yourself from the emotion and any objectivity that may be in place. It quite literally becomes alarmingly similar to a ridiculous eBay bidding war.
Instead of bidding on a lightly used pair of Nike Shox or a rare jersey that may (or may not) come from a smoke and pet-free home, NHL general managers engage in an auction for the insane. Players who hold a value several notches below elite, let’s call them “pretty good” can command money they have no business making. To put things in perspective here are a list of the highest paid players at their position (courtesy Capgeek.com):
Center: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins $12 million
Right Wing: Alex Ovechkin, Washington $1o million
Left Wing: Zach Parise, Minnesota $11 million
Defenseman: Ryan Suter, Minnesota $11 million
Defenseman: Shea Weber, Nashville $14 million
Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers $11 million
These six guys are the best of the best and are paid accordingly. Weber can thank Philadelphia and Ed Snider for the offer sheet that secured his enormous paychecks. There is no argument that these players are the class or at least in the discussion for being the elite at their position. Let’s take a look at some of the contracts doled out today.
Top rated center was Paul Stastny, signed by St. Louis today for $28 million over four years. Stastny is good not great, 28 years old and was an amnesty candidate a year ago. $7 million a year puts him in a class above (salary wise) Jonathan Toews ($6.5 million), Joe Thornton ($6.75 million), Anze Kopitar ($7.5 million) or John Tavares ($6 million.
Get the idea? We can’t begrudge Stastny for taking money from the highest bidder, but let’s be honest, his production won’t be in the same stratosphere as the four players mentioned.
The top defenseman signed today was Matt Niskanen with his seven year contract. His salary jumped from $2.3 million to almost three times that when the Capitals signed him for $5.75 million. Sheer desperation, lack of options? A combination of these two and utter stupidity will cripple the Capitals when it is time to offer money to young players in their organization.
The best is always last and the Red Wings waited until the late stages of the day to make their free agent signing statement. After watching Kyle Quincey stumble and bumble through the previous two seasons, the Hockeytown faithful exhaled a collective sigh of relief when the team announced that they would not be bringing the veteran blue liner back for another season of turnovers, unforced errors and general heartache.
But Detroit DID bring him back. They also gave him a raise. They signed him for two more years. The Red Wings had a very bad day at the office. Right-handed targets Dan Boyle, Anton Stralman and Matt Niskanen passed on the winged wheel and signed big contracts elsewhere. Once upon a few seasons ago, Detroit was a destination for free agents and players who were looking to add some hardware to their resume.
After a day that saw players choose the Rangers, Lightning and Capitals over “Hockeytown” Ken Holland made a desperate and foolish decision. While he refused to get into a bidding war, and rightfully so, for mediocre stopgaps on defense, Holland dialed a familiar number and served up a poop sandwich to the Detroit faithful.
Quincey had the worst penalty differential of any player in the NHL and though he played in all 82 games, mustered only 13 points while sporting a dreadful minus-5. The Quincey signing is everything that is wrong with free agency in any sport.
Detroit will pay him $4.25 million for two more years because the Wings felt like they needed to do something in a final at bat after three strikeouts. When Holland should have called it a day, he instead went back to a dark and awful place.
His protégés, Jim Nill and Dallas and Steve Yzerman in Tampa Bay were having themselves a grand old time, making headlines for all the right reasons. Instead of trusting in the prospects that he famously allows to “over ripen” in Grand Rapids, Holland made a deal that could haunt his legacy in Detroit.