UNDERWHELMING CLASS
No big names in NHL free agent pool
The rise of the middle class is how one general manager referred to this year’s crop of free agents. Another simply called it “underwhelming.”
There are no potential 40 goalscorers or No. 1 centres available on July 1. You would be hardpressed to even find someone who can score you 20 goals and play on your second line.
The biggest name out there might be defenceman Mike Green, a two-time Norris Trophy finalist who was logging third-pairing minutes for the Washington Capitals in the playoffs.
The second-biggest name might be Matt Beleskey, who finished ninth in team scoring — behind three defencemen — with a careerbest 22 goals and 32 points for the Anaheim Ducks.
Two-time NHL scoring leader Martin St. Louis is also available. But at this stage of his career, the 40-year-old forward will likely win a Masterton Memorial Trophy before another Art Ross Trophy.
The rest of the list is littered with past-their-prime veterans (P.A. Parenteau and Paul Martin), reclamation projects (Mike Richards and Andrei Kostitsyn) and run-of-the-mill depth players (Cody Franson and Antoine Vermette) who for one reason or another priced themselves out of their current situation.
“Certainly there are players who can help teams,” Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “But they’re not franchise players.”
And yet, that may not stop some teams from paying them franchise dollars. Supply and demand can make general managers do funny things. And a shallow talent pool has suddenly made big fish out of a number of mid-level free agents.
“I don’t like to overpay. That’s not in our vocabulary,” said Arizona Coyotes GM Don Maloney, who on the weekend traded for Chris Pronger, who is no longer playing because of injuries, but still has a cap hit of $4.9 million, in order to reach the salary-cap floor that will rise in 2015-16 to $52.8 million from $51 million.
“We can’t chase it. You sign bad deals and a year from now you’re like, ‘Why did we do that?’?
Chances are someone will pay (or overpay) for Green or Beleskey. Someone will get caught up in the frenzy and sign a contract they will soon regret. Which is why smart general managers might be better off doing what Brian Burke did several years ago: Accept a chance to visit Canadian troops in Afghanistan on July 1 and wait for the free-agent dust to settle.
“I had a bunch of general managers tell me that they’re not going for the flavour of the month. They have no appetite for that,” said agent Rick Curran of the Orr Hockey Group, which represents free agent defenceman Christian Ehrhoff.
“What they do want is the guy they’ve been looking at and following for the last six months and are hoping that for one reason or another he doesn’t re-sign.”
More and more, that is becoming the trend in free agency. The salary cap, which will be $71.4 million next season, has placed more emphasis on drafting and developing players and then signing them to somewhat affordable deals while they are restricted free agents following their entry-level contracts.
“What’s happening is we’re tying up all our younger players,” Stars GM Jim Nill said. “When they become available (after) their entry-level contracts, we’re signing them to seven-, eight-year contracts. So there’s going to be less players available on the open market.”
“When you have an opportunity to get a good young player, you want to keep him with your organization,” Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said. “We’ve gone through the draft side of it and we’re going through the development side of it. In a little while, we’re going to have to look at the long-term side of some of our younger players.”
Chicago, which has won the Stanley Cup in three of the last six seasons, followed this path with core forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. When they exited their entry-level deal, they signed five-year deals with an annual cap hit of $6.3 million. Next season, they will begin on the eight-year deals they signed with $10.5-million cap hits.
“There are still players that are available that are going to make a definite impact on a team,” said agent Don Meehan.