NHL teams leaning into old-school free agency
Bolts capably showed league grit tops glamour
It’s been a little more than two weeks since the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup, so my memory might be a little fuzzy.
But it was Zach Bogosian — and not Victor Hedman — who was named the MVP of the playoffs, right? And it was Barclay Goodrow and Pat Maroon who finished ahead of Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point in scoring, correct? Forget about speed and skill. It was grit and sandpaper that really led Tampa Bay to a championship.
Is that true?
At least, that seems to be the perception based on the contracts that were handed out on the first day of NHL free agency.
From Montreal trading Max Domi to Columbus for Josh Anderson and then rewarding a power forward who has never scored 30 goals or 50 points in a single season a seven-year contract worth US$ 38.5 million to Ottawa acquiring Erik Gudbranson, Florida signing Radko Gudas and Nashville landing Mark Borowiecki,
it’s clear that some teams believe that you have to grind your way to a Stanley Cup.
Even Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas put away their speed- over- size philosophy and went on a pursuit for pugnacity, signing Wayne Simmonds to a oneyear, $ 1.5- million contract minutes after as the market opened on Friday.
Meanwhile, Alex Pietrangelo, Taylor Hall and some of the other out- ofwork superstars sat by their phones probably wondering whom they have to punch to get a job these days.
Welcome to 2020: the year when the NHL went retro.
As much as the league has become smaller and faster and staged fighting has become extinct, there is still a place for what Simmonds referred to as “functional toughness.” Or, to put it more bluntly, why overpay for Pietrangelo and Hall when
you can get someone like Anderson or Gudbranson, who cannot only play but also “punch your head off.”
“We would like to become a harder team to play against,” said Dubas. “It is something that is very important to us as we grow and augment our skill. I think our skill has always been there, but it’s the parts around the edges of the group that are really going to propel that skill level to the next level of success.”
The other reason is much simpler: grit is a more affordable skill set than goal scoring.
With the salary cap remaining flat, how many teams can realistically afford Pietrangelo’s salary demands? Or what Hall is asking for? Even Torey Krug has priced himself out of more than half the league.
Sure, Calgary f ound money in the couch cush
ions to sign goalie Jacob Markstrom and Vancouver cleared space and added goalie Braden Holtby.
But with so much lost r evenue because f ans weren’t allowed in the buildings due to the coronavirus, owners are so reluctant to pay the big bucks that Tampa Bay was forced to place Tyler Johnson and the remaining four years of his $ 5- million cap hit on waivers.
The Lightning did have money to bring back Maroon and Luke Schenn. Then again, Maroon and Schenn combined for 10 goals and nine fights.
Simmonds, who had three fights last season, brings a similar skill set to a Leafs team that has plenty of players who can put the puck in the net, but not enough players who are willing to dig pucks out of the corners. Some of them have never even seen the corners.
“It doesn’t always have to be fighting,” said Simmonds. “Obviously, fighting is a part of my game and it always has been. But I think why the Leafs chose me is because of the way I play the game. I think I play the game the right way. I finish my checks, I battle hard on pucks and I never bail out. I’m always there for my teammates. So I honestly think that enticed the Maple Leafs and that part of my game would be beneficial.”
As Tampa Bay showed, it’s an important piece.
If there was difference between the Lightning team that got swept in the first round a year ago and the one that won the Cup last month, it was that this year’s team had Maroon, Barclay, Bogosian, Schenn and Blake Coleman.
None of those players ranked in the top 25 in playoff scoring. But Goodrow and Coleman ranked in the top five in hits. They made Tampa Bay tougher to play against. They gave the team an identity.
It’s an identity that Toronto and Montreal were desperately searching for.
Prior to acquiring the 6- foot- 3 and 222- pound Anderson, the biggest forward in Montreal’s top six was the rail-thin Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who is almost as tall as Anderson but roughly 40 pounds lighter.
The Leafs, who were so lacking in toughness that Jason Spezza was forced to drop the gloves against the Blue Jackets in the qualifying round, had a similar problem. That’s where Simmonds comes in. He’s not Colton Orr or Tie Domi. But he’s also not a shrinking flower.
“Anything happens to the boys,” Simmonds told Sportsnet, “I’ll be the first to jump in.”
No wonder the team jumped at a chance to sign him.