Sabres need to tighten up—by Tom Schettino
BOSTON, Mass – If the Buffalo Sabres had scored eight more goals last season they would have led the Eastern Conference in goal scoring. Unfortunately only one other playoff club in the Conference allowed more goals which cost the team a playoff berth.
General Manager Darcy Regier has done a great job getting most of his players locked up after he learned a rough lesson last season when 24-year old Tomas Vanek was nearly poached by the Edmonton Oilers. Regier had to allocate $10 million in cap money this past season with $8 million more slated for this season to Vanek. Vanek’s season mirrored the Sabres as he scored 36 times, but was minus 52 worse than the previous year. This season Regier needs to sign restricted free agents (RFAs) Daniel Paille, Steve Bernier, Clarke MacArthur and Paul Gaustad while depth center Mike Ryan, Dmitri Kalinen, Teppo Numinen, Nolan Pratt and backup goaltender Jocelyn Thibault are all unrestricted free agents (UFAs) with Kalinen likely to be the club’s priority.
If Regier gets all RFAs on board his cap figure is going to be around $47 million and the Sabres must come up with a good backup for Miller this year instead of wearing Miller down. The problem was Thibault played less than .500 hockey when he was in there and Regier will try to improve that figure. The Sabres are unlikely to be big players in free agency unless a player such as Maxim Afinogenov and/or Tim Connolly (they each make $3.5 million per year) is moved. Look for the team to snag a solid defender if Kalinen leaves and a solid backup netminder no matter what happens.
Defense will be the call in 08-09 for the team. A few goals shaved off here and there without compromising too much offense and the team will be right back in the playoff hunt. Buffalo has three solid defenders in place with Andrej Sekera and Mike Weber likely given opportunities to play full-time roles. They’ll need another defender and the back-up goaltender previously mentioned.
Photo of Mike Cammalleri courtesy of the NHL
Previous draft pick Nathan Gerbe tore up the NCAA’s last season with Boston College and the team selected tall defender Tyler Myers and smaller center Tyler Ennis in the first round of the 2008 Entry Draft.
Flames team likely to look quite different than 07-08—by Brian Reynolds
The Calgary Flames were in the thick of the hunt for Olli Jokinen. The fact that they did not land him does not signal the end of the story. In fact, it tells us exactly what the Flames are looking for in the free agency period, which just so happens to be what nearly every other team in the NHL is looking for—top two line forwards who have offensive ability, but are defensively responsible. Sound like anyone involved in a recent trade between Phoenix and Florida?
At the draft, after learning there would be no Jokinen, the Flames made a big move by getting Mike Cammelleri in a trade with Los Angeles. After securing the top line forward they were looking for, the Flames looked forward to their offensive future by dealing Alex Tanguay to the Montreal Canadiens for their first pick and drafted RW Greg Nemisz. While this late pick in the first round does them little good for next season, the pick signaled again that the Flames feel they are light at the forward position.
Calgary’s free agent situation is a unique one in the NHL, in that all free agents the team looks to re-sign are unrestricted. Core members of the 07-08 squad headline the list. Forwards Kristian Huselius, Daymond Langkow, Owen Nolan, Craig Conroy, Eric Godard, Eric Nystrom, Stephane Yelle and Mark Smith defensemen Jim Vandermeer and David Hale and goaltenders Curtis McElhinney and Curtis Joseph are all available to the correct bidders.
Looking out at the rumors flying around the NHL, the majority of rumor-millers do not believe Huselius will return to the Flames, making the Cammelleri move make even more sense. Huselius and Langkow were second and third on the Flames in points last season, and will be prime targets in a rather weak free agent class. Much like the Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra situation in Minnesota, the team will only be able to afford to keep one of the two, and the reports are that the team has already reached a deal with Langkow but is waiting for the start of free agency to announce the deal. This of course, leaves Huselius out on the market, and the Flames with a big hole to fill.
Looking at the rest of the list, Joseph was a solid back up for Miikka Kiprusoff all season. It is unknown if Joseph believes he can still be a starter in the NHL, but if he was happy with the back-up job look for him to return to Calgary.
Veterans Nolan and Yelle added minimal offense last season, but their physical, defensively-responsible style of play and their obvious leadership qualities make them prime candidates for a return to the Saddledome.
Checking-line forward Eric Godard has been in and out of the NHL during his career, and should come at a low enough price to land somewhere, but adding only one goal all season will not be enough to keep him in Calgary.
Conroy should be a safe bet to return to the Flames, but with the addition of Cammelleri, the team is looking at fielding eight centers next season, which is simply not going to happen. In a depth chart that includes Langkow, Cammelleri, Matthew Lombardi, Yelle, and Wayne Primeau, someone is going to end up the odd man out or shifted to a wing.
Look for the Flames to go after a solid defenseman, though with Dion Phaneuf, Adrian Aucoin, and Robyn Regehr, they are not in desperate need on the blue line. The Flames need to be looking in the one to two million dollar a year range, where there will be a bevy of blue liners available.
On the offensive side of the puck, the Flames will most likely need to look at Rolston, Demitra, or Ryan Malone, though they may not be willing or able to pay top dollar for such players after they announce the Langkow deal. More likely is a look at players such as puck control expert Andrew Brunette or tough-guy Todd Fedoruk. Again, they will need to stay in the two million dollar range to work with the cap, but there should be more than enough to choose from in that range.
With a solid second place finish in one of the most competitive divisions in the NHL, the Flames show very few weak spots. Any team that sports the likes Jerome Iginla would be hard pressed to not be competitive. From top to bottom, Calgary is a highly-skilled team, and even without a big splash in the free agent market, the Flames will be hard to beat next season.
The author can be reached at bryan.reynolds@prohockeynews.com
Hurricanes hope for healthy, happy returns—by Tom Schettino
When you consider the Hurricanes missed the playoffs despite lengthy injuries to Captain Rod Brind’Amour and Justin Williams along with poor backup goaltending, it would seem they had a successful season. However, just three seasons removed from a Stanley Cup the Hurricanes’ organization expects much more than a mere playoff berth.
The team needs to make a decision on Bret Hedican who will play at 38 years old next season if he wants to play at all. Hedican led all Hurricanes defender in ice time last season, so Carolina might be the perfect place for him. Dennis Seidenberg the club’s number two defender in terms of ice time is an RFA with a qualifying bid of $840,000 needed to retain his services. The team has just over $45 million on the books for next year, so they could fit both of them in. The rest of the team’s free agents are depth players and the team might simply move on and try to plug some youngsters in. Ryan Bayda, Wade Brookbank, Darcy Hordichuk, Keith Aucoin, Trevor Letowski are all free agents while likely signee Chad Larose is an RFA.
Carolina is pretty set, if they do not retain either Hedican or Seidenberg they will go after a defender and they may go after a backup to push Michael Leighton since UFA John Grahame is an extreme long-shot to return. The team has stocked up some young forwards in Brandon Sutter, Drayson Bowman and 2008 draftees Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe. They also have a young defender in Jamie McBain on the way, but it is not expected that any of those players—with the possible exception of Sutter—are going to play in the NHL next year.
Postseason new expectation for Blackhawks—by Matt Chin
Now that the pieces are finally falling together and the organization is getting better and better, can the Chicago Blackhawks continue their sudden surge and sustain it to make it into the playoff rounds next season?
If General Manager Dale Tallon and the rest of the Chicago front office have their way, there is no stopping them from going into the post season. With forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews leading the way, they set the benchmark as to how well the team can play. At forward from the restricted free agent list, look for the team to offer each member a contract. They are young and already have proven themselves that they can play with any line that they are assigned to. One member on that list that has just signed on is Andrew Ladd who was acquired by the team in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes in the middle of last season. He was teamed up on the top line with Toews and Kane often due to injuries to Martin Havlat. The other three forwards bring physical play and a scoring touch and should return to the team. Those players are wingers Rene Bourque and Dustin Byfuglien along with center Adam Burish. At defense you can look for Jordan Henry to stay up and James Wisniewski to stay as they can give you that kick from the blueline as both have played extremely well.
As for the unrestricted free agents, injuries and production have limited their time on the ice and that may hurt their chances on being re-signed in the offseason. Those players are forwards Kevin Adams, Yanic Perreault, and Jason Williams. Williams, when not on the injured list, provided a spark to the team when he was on the ice. Look for the team to try and fit an offer to him. Defenseman Andrei Zyuzin has been a big disappointment to the team but goaltender Patrick Lalime has a good chance to sign with the team if the staff feels that Corey Crawford is not quite ready to make the jump after a successful season in Rockford.
As for the free agents available out there Tallon let it be known really wants to try to sign defenseman Brian Campbell at whatever cost. Campbell would bring veteran knowledge to the young blueliners that the team will want to bring up.
Tallon also wants to sign one more player from the free agent pool. A defenseman may not be considered since five were drafted out of the seven selected in the first round. A forward might be brought in as insurance for the oft-injured Havlat. Could that be Marian Hossa? We will wait and see.
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