Islanders, Rangers, Flyers free agency preview

Islanders in total rebuild mode—by Tom Schettino
UNIONDALE, NY – If there were another sports team to pick as a model for the New York Islanders to emulate it might very well be baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays. Although the Islanders have a glorious past, they have slipped to the point where it is a good season if they make the playoffs. Tampa Bay has never had such success before, but the baseball team has used the draft system to rebuild and that is what Islanders General Manager Garth Snow is attempting to do.
This season Snow used the Entry Draft to stock up his cupboard with five picks ranked in the top 30 in the International Scouting System’s final ranking. Snow started compiling picks when he traded his fifth overall pick to Toronto for two other picks, one of which he sent to Chicago for two more picks. Snow then parlayed Toronto’s seventh overall pick to Nashville for the Predators’ ninth overall pick and the 40th pick in this year’s draft. Snow stated he targeted Josh Bailey in the draft and kept moving down until he felt he had to act before losing Bailey to another team. Time will tell if it was the correct move because the team bypassed players such as Luke Schenn and Nikita Filatov.
 Offense is needed on the roster this year. The team was just one of two in the Eastern Conference to score less than 200 goals and several of their top scorers in 07-08 (Ruslan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan and Josef Vasicek) are unrestricted free agents (UFA’s) this summer. The team also has many restricted free agents (RFA’s) up front, but the critical, albeit untested in many cases, have been tendered qualified offers. The team has to hope for more scoring from the high-priced Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie, Trent Hunter and rookie Kyle Okposo in order to have a better year this season. The blueline is fairly set, but could be upgraded. Only Bryan Berard is a UFA while Bruno Gervais and Matthew Spiller are RFA’s after seeing a lot of ice time with the team last year. Depending on whom you talk to, the team is searching for a backup goaltender. Snow insists Wade Dubielewicz does not have the confidence of the team, while Coach Ted Nolan said he did. However, the GM usually has the hammer in this type of situation. 
With only $36 million expended on the cap to this point ($2 million of which goes to the bought-out Alexei Yashin) the team will be able to make a run at some free agents. If they follow the Tampa Bay plan they will bring in guys with character who have won before to install a winning attitude on the club. Almost any player on the market will be considered by the team. The Islanders definitely need at least one first line player, but they should give their young players a chance to play at least on the second line, so depth players may be considered less than top line guys. The team can use depth on the blue-line too. They pay $3 million to Andy Sutton, sop he needs to be more than a fifth or sixth defender to earn his keep. If Snow is in control the team will likely have a new second goaltender too—although the numbers show Dubielewicz might be better than what is out there for the buying. 
It appears Islanders fans are going to be in for another long winter, but there is reason for hope. When the team faced off against the New York Rangers on the last night of the season they had already lost 402 man games to injury, in contrast the Rangers had only lost 144 man games to that point. If the team can avoid the long-term injuries and the quantity of injuries they suffered last year they might have a nice bridge to their promising future.  
New York Rangers face interesting free agency season–by Linda Morgan Davis
 NEW YORK, NY – After what seemed like decades of missing the postseason the New York Rangers are coming off two straight appearances, both times reaching the second round.
 But this season’s exit was a disappointing result to a season that had higher hopes of advancement to the Finals. A 4-1 series loss to the younger, faster and more creative Pittsburgh Penguins was wake-up call for roster with slow, unimaginative older stars skating.
 The Rangers made a bid for pushing deeper into the postseason last year when they signed Chris Drury from Buffalo and Scott Gomez from cross-river rivals New Jersey . Both Drury and Gomez were adequate in the 2007-2008 season. But adequate nearly gets you a closed show off-Broadway and is not nearly good enough for Broadway. Neither star seemed supported over the season nor were they skating with any chemistry with the older crew.
 So, what do the Rangers do with the likes of Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Paul Mara, and Michal Rozsival on the market?  Certainly the first three are least likely to return.  Jagr had the lowest output of his career this past season but surged in the last few weeks and played inspired hockey in the postseason (or is that the free agency audition season).  Jagr has worn the “C” well for the Rangers and can be credited with their return to the postseason but his salary cap hit and his age and dubious output expected for next season make him more likely to end up in Russia or even the Czech Republic playing to his father’s delight there.
 Shanahan almost seemed invisible this season. General manager Glen Sather will need the salary cap room and Shanahan seems unlikely to don a Blueshirt again, or any sweater for that matter.
 Mara and Rozsival are wildcards and while they played well their roster spots may be filled with more energetic young skaters coming out of Hartford . 
 The real question mark is what to do about Sean Avery.  Like him or hate him he is the agitator who sparks a listless bench. If he leaves there is a loss of competitiveness that is hard to replace. His antics with Martin Brodeur in the first round against the Devils notwithstanding, Avery is an asset.
 Bottom line for this free agent season is to compliment and develop roster chemistry for Drury and Gomez on whom the Rangers lavished many dollars.  Sather has demonstrated a better approach to building his team and one can hardly expect him to waste the talent of these two players by not signing the likes of Brian Campbell who picked up 54 assists (62 points) in 83 games and expertly directed the San Jose Sharks’ powerplay and Buffalo’s before that. Campbell is a smart offensive-minded defenseman would quickly make coach Tom Renney’s job easier to ice a potent special teams line. 
 Contact the author at lm.davis@prohockeynews.com.
 After last year’s tear down the Flyers are able to re-tool—by Brian Jennings
 PHILADELPHIA, Pa – With the NHL Entry Draft officially over, and July 1 fast approaching, the Philadelphia Flyers have turned their attention to free agency. This time around, things won’t be nearly as hectic for the Flyers. Last season, the team had more money to spend in free agency than any other team in the league. Not so this time around as the Flyers are up against the cap and were forced to trade R.J. Umberger at the draft.
 Flyers General Manger Paul Holmgren as able to help turn around a team that had the worst season in Flyers history, to one of the most satisfying seasons in team history by reaching the NHL’s Final Four, and were within only three wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup finals.

 Now comes the hard part for Holmgren, who does not have a bank full of money to throw around at his team’s problems, nor did they have ton of draft picks in which to do it with. Fortunately for Holmgren, the list of issues that he will have to address is far less his time around.
 Last season Holmgren had to clean up the mess left by former Flyers GM Bob Clarke who had built a team that was not constructed well for the post-lockout rule changes, as well as for the speed of the game that has all of a sudden gone to the some of the younger players in the league, rather than by the old guard.
 Most of the dead weight is gone, but some of it still exists, mostly on defense, but there are some other major issues to address. Some of the major questions this time around involve Simon Gagne, Derian Hatcher, Jason Smith, Mike Knuble, overall speed on defense, free agency, and what to do with potential rookie-of-the-year candidate Claude Giroux.
 There are two major issues with the Flyers and Derian Hatcher is one of them. Hatcher is not getting any faster with two bad knees, but a decision on his career, not just with the Flyers but for his hockey career, might be a forgone conclusion. Hatcher has stated right after the Flyers season ended that he would like to come back and play next season, but his knees are a constant issue, and at $3.5 million per the next two seasons, it is a bit much, even for the Flyers deep pockets. With that said, the Flyers have given Hatcher until July 1, to make a decision about next season. If he says he can play, then they can do one of five things with him:
 1) Trade him – This will be tough to do with the amount of money he’s making but a team in need of a defenseman might take a chance on him. 2) Keep him and limit his ice time – If Holmgren, who has stated the team MUST get faster on defense, this cannot be an option. Limiting his playing time to penalty killing might be a compromise both sides can live with, however, at 3.5 million, Flyers brass might say no to that idea. 3) Send him to the minors the way they did Denis Gauthier – At least one media member has suggested at the idea, but one gets the feeling that’s not an option given Hatcher’s long standing in the league. 4) Buy him out – This idea sounds great, but how often do the Flyers ever do this? It’s an option but one that is a last resort, but if the Flyers really want to move on, they might not have a choice. 5) Put him on long term injured reserve – If Hatcher can’t play physically they can put him on long term IR the same way they did Mike Rathje. This would get is salary off the books and allow the Flyers to pursue another free agent to take his place. Unfortunately for the Flyers that decision won’t be able to be made until close to the start of training camp, or deep into it.
 So what will they do with Hatcher? According the Holmgren, Hatcher is a 50-50 shot at coming back, despite Hatcher working on a stationary bike and is “without significant pain”, but according to published reports Holmgren does not feel Hatcher can withstand another 82 game season, plus the playoffs. I hate to tell the Flyers what to do here (oh who am I kidding, yes I do) the Flyers either need to trade Hatcher or put him on long term IR. If Hatcher does not want either of those options, buy him out. It a tough decision but this is not a time Holmgren can allow personal feelings to get in the way. He needs to do what’s best for the team. That said, Hatcher just might call it a career anyway and that will take the burden off of Holmgren, but our gut feeling is Hatcher will want to play next year, and it will be for the Flyers, further hampering Holmgren heading into the off-season.
 As stated before, the Flyers have two major issues, with one of them being Hatcher; the other major issue is regarding Simon Gagne. This too is complicated considering his concussion issues. The last thing the Flyers want, or need, is another Eric Lindros/Keith Primeau on their hands but unfortunately the fear around the team is that is exactly what they have on their hands with Gagne. As with Hatcher, Gagne carries a heavy price tag whose contract brings a $5.25 million cap hit each year over the next three seasons. The good news is Gagne is still in the prime of his career, where Hatcher is at the tail end of his. Gagne had 41 goals in 2007 and is still seen as a valuable commodity across the league, concussions or no concussions. It is this writer’s opinion the Flyers need to unload money to sign a high-priced free agent such as Brian Campbell in free agency, even if you can get Hatcher’s money off the books, it still might not be enough to sign Campbell, who is exactly what the Flyers needs.
 Since the options for the Flyers are few and far between in order to land an impact defenseman, the Flyers should have tried to get one of the top four defensive prospects at the draft. Most scouts feel that Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, Zach Bogosian, and Luke Schenn were NHL ready, or darn close to it. In order to get one of those four players, the Flyers should have dangled Gagne as part of a huge package, such as adding right wing prospect such as Andres Nodl, defenseman Lasse Kukkonen, and the team’s first round pick at 27 in front of a team that desperately needs to make the playoffs, such as Columbus, Los Angeles, Atlanta, or St. Louis.
 Gagne would have been perfect in Columbus considering his old coach, Ken Hitchcock loves him, and Rick Nash needs him. Instead the Flyers moved up to the #19 spot which was acquired from Columbus , but the Flyers took defenseman Luca Sbisa with the pick. If the Flyers could have landed one of the top picks, the Flyers wouldn’t have to spend the money on a free agent and could have saved the money for the trade deadline, which they were not able to do this past season thanks to Holmgren’s spending spree last year.
 The decision to trade Gagne would have been made so much easier for the Flyers if top prospect James Van Reimsdyk, who is a left winger, left college this year, and could have filled the void left by Gagne, but that was never really an option. Still, Gagne faces the same decision about his career the way Hatcher does. Can he take more risks with his health should be face another concussion? So far is seems as thought that will be the case, which means the Flyers are stuck with Gagne and his 5.25 cap hit as well as Hatcher. In other words, forget free agency being a source of help for the Flyers on defense if Gagne comes back to the team in the fall.
 Free agency
 The Flyers need to worry about signing a couple of their own free agents before they worry about going outside the organization. Signing Jeff Carter (editor’s note, Carter was re-signed to a multi-year deal on Saturday) and Randy Jones are the team’s top priorities. Signing Jones has become an important singing especially since it looks as if Jason Smith will leave and sign somewhere else, and the team will have no depth if Hatcher retires. Carter is a huge part of the future of the team and won’t be used as trade bait according to Holmgren.
 For now, Martin Biron is the man in the net for the Flyers, at least for next season, but given the team’s lack of goaltending depth despite drafting two goalies, the team needs to re-sign Biron to at least another two year extension. The Flyers had better hope he continues to be the man in net and so far he has proven so, but the Penguins series showcased some of his flaws and that could press the Flyers to reconsider him as the team’s number one goalie. Antero Niittymaki is a backup and is not an option to be the long-term starter, but he could be moved as part of a package which would allow Scott Munroe to be the backup.
 Defensemen are paid to play defense and this is the team’s off-season priority, not adding offensive firepower. Don’t get me wrong, the Flyers still need some help on offense now Umberger has been moved and Ryan Potulny was traded to Edmonton. Still, offense is created from defense and turnovers. It won’t just taking adding blueline help however, it is also how the team back checks from the forward positions.
 The defense is still in dire need of an overhaul by moving Hatcher and Smith for younger legs. Getting Steve Eminger at the draft may or may not help but it can’t be the team’s only solution to the problem that is the team’s speed on defense. It was no coincidence last season when both Hatcher and Smith were out of the lineup at the same time that they were a better team on defense by adding youth into the lineup.
 Ryan Parent, and perhaps another prospect, will be moved into the fold to help proved some solid play on defense. One wild card in the mix is Russian prospect Denis Bodrov, a Flyers second round draft choice, 55th overall, in 2006 who is supposedly ready to play in the NHL. If so, this could be a coupe for the Flyers since they won’t have to go outside the organization to find a defenseman, otherwise, it’s back to the drawing board.
 Some of the options the Flyers want to go after in free agency are: Brian Campbell, John-Michael Liles, and Mark Streit are the top three options for the Flyers, along with Brooks Orpik, Dmitri Kalinen and Ron Hainsey. Campbell and Streit will command the most money, and Orpik did have an excellent playoff run with the Penguins so his stock and his asking price is going up. Kalinen is intriguing, but is he what the Flyers really need? We think not. Hainsey is only 27 and is arguably one of Columbus’s best defenseman.
 Trades 
With the salray cap still a major issue, moving a veteran or two for a defenseman is one of the teams few real options. Look for Scottie Upshall or Mike Knuble, who will turn 36 in July and has a $2.8 million dollar salary cap hit, as well as Niittymaki as a couple of different trade options. Most teams prefer youth over age, but Knuble had 29 goals, 15 on the power play, and both stats make him more attractive than Upshall does.
 So what is the Flyers top off-season priority?
 Defense, defense, defense. The Flyers must get younger, faster, and just plain better overall. The Flyers will do something, but how is the question. As you can see the answers are few and far between. Oddly enough this might prove to be a most interesting off-season the Flyers have had in a long while simply because it was pretty much a given what the Flyers were going to do last year to turn things around. This time around things aren’t so simple.
 So, here we go again with another off-season of intrigue around Flyerland. Let the fun begin.
 Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com