The Top Tier
Philadelphia Flyers – The Orange and Black made their biggest splash ever by snatching Daniel Briere for an eight-year, $52 million deal which is front-loaded to $10 million in 2007-2008. Apparently, Briere was so intent on getting away from Buffalo and trying free-agency, he was the quickest to accept the Flyers’ initial blockbuster offer. The club also took advantage of desperate Edmonton, cleared cap space, and got younger and tougher in the Pitkanen/Sanderson-Smith/Lupul deal later Sunday.
Colorado Avalanche – If Chris Drury wasn’t going to come back, then signing Ryan Smyth was the next best thing. The Avs grabbed Smyth late Sunday in a shocking move (Isles GM Garth Snow was notified 10 pm Sunday that Smyth would test the waters), locking him up for five years. He’ll be the best two-way forward Colorado has seen since Claude Lemieux, but without the theatrics and lack of discipline. If Smyth sticks around long enough, he also might be the logical successor to lead the team once Joe Sakic packs it in. Adding big and rough defenseman Scott Hannan from San Jose instantly legitimizes a scattershot defensive corps. The Avalanche are built for a win-now philosophy which buttresses its rapidly-maturing youth movement.
Detroit Red Wings – Wings GM Ken Holland has built a reputation for making a big splash without much fanfare, and inking defenseman Brian Rafalski proves that once again. The Michigan native came at a cost of $30 million over five years, and is worth every penny if he only lowers the mean age of the defense a couple decades.
Depth Perception
New York Rangers – Anything happening in the Big Apple is bound to be overtly hyperbolic, but the signings of Scott Gomez (seven years, $51.5 million) and Chris Drury (five years, $35.25 million) are really about filling out a roster that has been in flux for the last two seasons as the Blueshirts got back on their feet. The Rangers were in need of centers and players who can get things done in all three zones, and it just so happened that these two guys were big names. This is a club that looks as good as the pre-Messier exodus – on paper at least.
Calgary Flames – The coming of “Iron Mike” Keenan signified some key changes. The Flames got rough-and-tumble defenseman Cory Sarich from Tampa (5-yr, $18 mil) Sunday, and took a gamble that Owen Nolan isn’t on his last leg Monday, bringing him in for one year. Calgary needs to be deep in order to wade through the minefield that is the uber-competitive Northwest Division, and these two moves are right on course.
Los Angeles Kings – Monday was a crowning achievement for GM Dean Lombardi, as he was able to nab not one, but four mid-range players. Michal Handzus (4-yr, $16 mil) from Chicago, Kyle Calder (2 yr, $5.5) left Detroit, Ladislav Nagy (one year, $3.75) jumped from Dallas and defenseman Tom Preissing came at a steal from Ottawa (3-yr, $2.75 million). Head coach Marc Crawford now has a well-rounded team to coach, rather than a loose collection of last-stop veterans and green kids.
Pittsburgh Penguins – OK, so the Pens managed to retain Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts before Sunday’s bonanza, but since they are bona-fide veteran talents, I’m going to include them. Sure, Petr Sykora (two-year deal) is an interchangeable part, but grabbing bedrock defenseman Darryl Sydor (2-yr, $5 million) is a vast upgrade, even at his age, from a stone-cold meathead like Brooks Orpik.
The Risk Takers
Anaheim Ducks – The defending Cup champions took some big bites, landing defenseman Mathieu Schneider on a two-year deal from Detroit late Sunday. The team complemented that by inking the injured and embattled Todd Bertuzzi a two-year, $8 million contract Monday. The Ducks are now bigger and badder, but they’re not really better. Schneider is 38 years old, and joins a defense featuring Chris Pronger (32), Sean O’Donnell (35), and for now, Scott Niedermayer (33), along with three backliners with less than two full years experience. Plus, I’m not sure how Bertuzzi fits in with an offense on the smallish, speedy side. He has a lot to prove after playing only 15 games with Florida and Detroit due to a herniated disc last season, plus the lingering baggage from the Steve Moore incident.
Boston Bruins – One of three teams to skirt existing rules about signing rights to free agents of any stripe, the B’s officially acquired goaltender Manny Fernandez on Sunday from Minnesota, who cut him loose due to salary cap issues. Fernandez is an immediate upgrade in net from Tim Thomas and Hannu Toivonen, but his impact away from a Jacques Lemaire-led defensive system may only be the difference between a sub-.500 team and one fighting for a playoff berth. My gut feeling is, in two years, he’ll join names like Gilbert, Peeters, Ranford, Lemelin, Moog, Lacher, Dafoe, Raycroft and Thomas on the lengthy list of Bruins goaltenders who fell prey to heightened expectations.
The Mysteries
St. Louis Blues – Now in Year Two of their own rebuilding era, the Blues bolstered their lineup by bringing back Keith Tkachuk on Sunday, then signing Paul Kariya to a three-year, $18 million contract. Tkachuk is a threat to wipe out a buffet table if he’s not careful, but why Kariya would come to the Gateway City over better fits in Vancouver, Philadelphia, and virtually anywhere else is a pressing question. Either he’ll work his magic like in Nashville, or he’ll be just another good veteran on a bad team like the Penguins of two years ago or the Blues last season.
Atlanta Thrashers – Swept away in their first-ever playoff series, and Atlanta responds by shucking one old goat (center Keith Tkachuk) and picking up another (defenseman Ken Klee). The lone bright spots came Sunday, when the club re-signed the fleet-footed Pascal Dupuis and talented two-way forward Todd White from Minnesota. However, it’s not likely to positively affect team chemistry or improve postseason fortunes if your top three players are less-than-battle-ready European scorers.
Montreal Canadiens – Under pressure to bring in more Quebec-born, French-Canadian talent, GM Bob Gainey had to settle for Bryan Smolinski and Roman Hamrlik after missing out on the Daniel Briere sweepstakes. If you were under a constant bilingual barrage in the Cradle of Cups, you’d end up making some odd moves just to keep the fans and writers at bay, too. Smolinski (one year, $2 million) is a spent man. He’s not capable of carrying off both sides of being a two-way forward, and asking him to do one or the other exclusively isn’t a good option either. Hamrlik (four years, $22 million) is a pale substitute for the departing Sheldon Souray. The Canadiens will tread water at best.
The Desperate
Edmonton Oilers – The smell wafting across the clear Alberta sky is not that of oil, but of desperation. Edmonton was only able to swing a four-player trade Sunday to net disappointing defenseman Joni Pitkanen and well-travelled vet Geoff Sanderson, while shipping off captain Jason Smith and young forward Joffrey Lupul. Oh, and did we mention luring Dick Tarnstrom back from Europe? My guess is, it’s pretty mind-numbing to be out of a job when it’s minus-20 Fahrenheit in January, but something tells me Kevin Lowe’s going to write a poignant column about it soon.
Philadelphia Flyers – Let’s be brutally honest here. The flipside to Briere and the Oilers trade is that the team needs to do everything in its power to forget about last year’s dead-last finish. Let the discussions about how the new faces will fit, and how Briere doesn’t really play “Flyers” hockey be damned. The franchise made huge psychologically soothing moves for the fan base.
Toronto Maple Leafs – Every year there is pressure from all directions in the English-language capital of hockey to win a Cup, and every year a big move is made that’s erased by injuries, bad coaching, a negative locker room, or a key loss to Ottawa. This year, the Leafs pried Jason Blake away from New York for five years at $20 million. Blake scored a career-best 40 goals last year, but there’s not enough good luck and offense to go around in Toronto to maintain that number.
The Bottom Feeders
Washington Capitals – Bringing offensive-minded forwards Michael Nylander (4-yr, $19 mil) and Viktor Kozlov and defenseman Tom Poti are knee-jerk moves aimed at trying to get some veteran playmakers for Alex Ovechkin. The franchise has totally overlooked the depth factor and have not addressed the fact that goaltender Olaf Kolzig can’t hold down the fort forever. The Caps will look very retro when they lose 45 games this year in the old red, white, and blue unis.
Chicago Blackhawks – The Hawks are one of a handful of teams forced to make deseperate moves to jolt an indifferent fan base. Losing is a disease, but signing Robert Lang to a two-year deal is no cure.
New York Islanders – Lose Ryan Smyth, Jason Blake and Viktor Kozlov, and the consolation prize is Jon Sim for three years.
Not on the Radar
Carolina Hurricanes – Rescued Jeff Hamilton from the hell that is Chicago for a bargain (two years, $1.6 mil); Vancouver Canucks signing Brad Isbister; Nashville Predators inking Radek Bonk and Greg DeVries; Tampa Bay Lightning – Michel Ouellet.
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