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Free Agent Frenzy – Hawks vs Habs

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We are more than a week into NHL free agency now and, overall, general managers have been fairly active. The New York Rangers made a splash adding Marian Gaborik and Ales Kotalik to their roster, the Edmonton Oilers signed goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, and the Vancouver Canucks resigned the Sedin twins. However, no teams have been as busy as the Habs or the Hawks. Here’s a comparison of the transactions made by the Chicago Blackhawks and the Montreal Canadiens, two of the more active NHL organizations so far this offseason.

Chicago Blackhawks’ GM Dale Tallon has been rather busy, showing he’s dead serious about another Stanley Cup run in the near future. So far, he has:

  • signed Marian Hossa to a $62.8 mil/12 year contract
  • signed John Madden to a $2.75 mil/1 year contract
  • signed Tomas Kopecky to a $2.4 mil/2 year contract
  • signed Cam Barker to a $9.25 mil/3 year contract extension
  • resigned Kris Versteeg to a $9.2 mil/3 year contract
  • and several other re-signings of key role players

Not only has Tallon managed to keep nearly all of the key, young pieces that made the Hawks such a threat in the 2009 playoffs, but he has also signed former Stanley Cup-winning role players in Madden and Kopecky, and the arguable cream of this year’s free agent crop in Hossa. While some may argue that Hossa is cursed when it comes to winning the holy grail (as he’s managed to play on runners up with the Penguins in ‘08 and now the Wings in ‘09) he should join the faces of the franchise, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, to form a deadly offensive combination in 2009-10. An A+ for you, Mr. Tallon.

Montreal Canadiens’ GM Bob Gainey has been just as busy:

Unfortunately, just because Bob Gainey was willing to throw some money around on day one of free agency doesn’t necessarily mean he improved his squad. After dealing Higgins and perhaps their top prospect in Ryan McDonagh for a declining Gomez, Gainey then overpaid for two undersized forwards in Cammalleri and Gionta. For these two to justify their new contracts, I think they would need to score at least 70 goals next year between them, which probably isn’t a realistic projection.

Furthermore, after watching the Penguins during this year’s playoffs, I recall noting that their only glaring weakness was Hal Gill. For a hulking defenseman who has little offensive upside, ideally he should be a good shutdown player and a physical presence, and yet he is neither of these. At $2.25 million per year, they probably would have been better off spending a little bit more to resign Mike Komisarek, a much more effective, defensive blueliner. Spacek is the lone bright spot of the Habs’ new acquisitions, and should fit in nicely on the powerplay. The Canadiens will have trouble playing bigger, tougher teams in the Eastern conference this season, and will probably struggle to make the playoffs. Just a C- for you, Mr. Gainey.

One free agent who won’t be signing anywhere this offseason is “Burnaby Joe” Sakic who retired today after 20 spectacular seasons with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. Always a class act, Sakic will be missed. All the best in the future Joe!

Hockey Teams Moving Up and Down

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Which teams will fall of the radar as contenders and who will take their places? While we probably will not witness another basement-to-conference-finalists story as we did last year with the Philadelphia Flyers, there are several teams who got significantly stronger over the summer, and a few that got somewhat weaker. I’ll give you the bad news first.

Ottawa fans, I am truly sorry, but the way the Senators finished off the second half of last season combined with their lack of a true number one defenseman has me thinking they may end up on the outside of a very tight 8th playoff spot race in the East. The Devils could be another team coming up short. Martin Brodeur has been outstanding for what seems like forever, and at 36 now, a decline has got to be on the horizon. To add to that, GM Lou Lamoriello also sank money into another two aging vets this off-season, in Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik. In the East, the most likely of teams to find themselves in the playoffs next April are the Buffalo Sabres, led by a plethora of young, talented, speedy forwards which include Derek Roy, Tomas Vanek, Drew Stafford, and Jason Pominville. Either the Hurricanes or the Lightning will scoop up the final spot.

In the West, the Colorado Avalanche are older, and lost maybe their most important piece from last season in Jose Theodore. Unless Andrew Raycroft miraculously finds his former rookie of the year touch, the Avs could be in serious danger of missing the postseason. The team that has improved the most from the beginning of last season to the beginning of this season, and by a landslide at that, is the Chicago Blackhawks. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Martin Havlat and several other young guns fill out a forward group that is very capable of piling up goals in bunches. Their true strength however comes from their back end. After signing Brian Campbell in July, the Hawks may have the best overall group of defensemen in the league, with 6 different players capable of lining up on the powerplay on any given night. Did I mention that they also signed the best goalie on the market this summer in Cristobal Huet? The Phoenix Coyotes did a good job acquiring superstar Olli Jokinen, and it looks as though flashy rookies Kyle Turris, Mikkel Boedker, and Kevin Porter will all be given the opportunity to contribute right off the bat. Throw in a breakout season from Peter Mueller and you may just see the Coyotes somewhere other than the golf course come the end of the regular season. Wouldn’t that be nice Mr. Gretzky?