Wednesday, I answered the first of many twitter questions that I received at the start of the month. Tonight, I continue answering the questions from you, the readers.
@CopyDarryl asked the following question when I asked for them a few weeks back:
@CopyDarryl: How about the reason or reasons why it’s taking so long for so many good free agents to sign
It’s a good question, because this season we have seen players last far into July that just wouldn’t in a normal year. Think of it like this, can you think of one bad contract that was handed out on July 1st? I can’t.
NHL teams didn’t have their usual frenzy this season, rather they had a much smarter, more calculated version of the annual event. Smarter, shorter term deals were given out, in fact Andrej Sekera’s deal was the largest handed out to a player.
Still Looking:
Who are the good free agents in question? On defense, Cody Franson and Christian Ehrhoff both stick out. They are both solid, proven top-four defenders in this league. Both would immensely help the Oilers, but I’ve already beaten that horse to death.
Up front, you could honestly build a decent team out of the remaining options. Curtis Glencross and Brad Boyes both represent exceptional value to teams, while Erik Cole, Eric Fehr, Seam Bergenheim, Mike Santorelli and Jiri Tludty all represent solid NHL players looking for work.
The All Free Agent Team:
To put things in perspective, what would a team made up of the best free agents left look like? This group actually isn’t bad at all.
Curtis Glencross – Eric Fehr – Jiri Tlusty
Sean Bergenheim – Mike Santorelli – Brad Boyes
Scottie Upshall – Jarrett Stoll – Stephen Weiss
Erik Cole – Matt Cullen – Tomas Fleischmann
Christian Ehrhoff – Cody Franson
Marek Zidlicky – Lubomir Visnovsky
Andrej Meszaros – Michel Rozsival
Jonas Gustavsson
Not bad, not bad at all. Sure, it won’t make the playoffs, but I can think of worse rosters around the NHL….
So….Why?:
Why are these quality free agents still sitting on the market? In all honesty, I believe there are a few reasons for this, but three major ones. They all stem from spending in previous off-seasons as well.
The first thing is the uncertainty of the NHL’s salary cap. Facts are facts, right now the Canadian dollar simply is not doing as well as the American dollar. As a result, it is going to cost more to run the seven teams north of the boarder. As a result, the NHL’s salary cap could very well stay the same next season or even shrink.
If the cap isn’t going to be going up, then you don’t want massive contracts on the books that could hamper you moving forward. As a result, teams have taken a hard stand and players have been left out in the cold.
The second reason is a number of teams are close to or over the salary cap right now. Teams like the Lightning, Blackhawks, Flyers and Rangers can’t exactly go out and spend on the market because they are so close to the maximum limit already. As for the teams with space? Most of them are budget teams not looking to add a big salary.
It’s created a perfect storm of teams simply not being able to add players to the roster. We heard Cody Franson say it on Tuesday to TSN 1040, he’s waiting on some teams to clear some cap space.
Last, but certainly not least, is the issue of the weak market. While there are plenty of solid players available, there really was a lack of star power to this year’s free agent group. As a result, a lot of teams have decided to wait until next season, when the market is set to be loaded with top-end players.
If you factor in the cap uncertainty with a number of teams already close to the cap, and a much stronger UFA group coming out next season, it’s easy to see why teams would ‘keep their powder dry’ this summer.
Why spend on Cody Franson when you could pony up for Brent Seabrook next summer? Why pay Eric Fehr when Steven Stamkos and Anze Kopitar could be on the open market in less than a year. Get what I’m saying?
The end result in all of this will be these useful players find homes. Franson will sign, Ehrhoff will sign, Fehr and Glencross likely will too. Some of these guys will get invited to training camps, creating competition throughout the league.
That said, instead of the big deals they were hoping for a month ago, they’ll be getting shorter term and likely lesser money. There will be a few teams signing exceptional value contracts between now and training camp.
I sure hope the Oilers are involved in some way.
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