Free Agency Report Cards- Eastern Conference

[Swedesessed]

Wes Goldstein July 6, 2006

By Wes Goldstein

CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

 

 

 

 

No one is calling for the Carolina Hurricanes to be broken up just yet. Probably because the NHL's new market forces make it difficult, if not impossible, for even the Stanley Cup champions to hang on to all the players they want.

 

General manager Jim Rutherford and coach Peter Laviolette both said during the title run they wanted to bring everybody back, but less than a week into free-agency, the Hurricanes have already lost a starting goalie, a workhorse defenseman and two productive forwards.

 

Of course, that isn't reason to write off Carolina just yet. The Hurricanes have kept the bulk of the roster than finished last season with 112 points, one behind Ottawa, and they have left themselves with enough cap room to make the kind of late-season rentals that landed them Doug Weight and Mark Recchi last season.

 

And no one in the East has made the kind of move so far to suggest they have gained an upper hand. Carolina will face a tougher time in its own Southeast Division. The Tampa Bay Lightning seem to have found the goalie they were missing last season and the Atlanta Thrashers and Florida Panthers are both improving young teams. Also, other Eastern Conference heavyweights like the Senators, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres should have pretty familiar versions of their lineups hit the ice next season.

 

Most of the teams in the East have been moving cautiously in the early days of free-agency, in large part because many have long lists of restricted free agents to re-sign. But there has been some movement and here's a look at how each team has fared to this point.

 

Northeast Division

 

Boston Bruins: After a miserable season on many different levels, the Bruins have made it clear they expect things to be different next year. GM Peter Chiarelli and coach Dave Lewis are new and Boston made two big moves hours after free-agency began, signing towering defenseman Zdeno Chara and center Marc Savard. Adding the gritty and speedy Shean Donovan will help too, although some holes remain to be filled. Grade: A

 

Ottawa Senators: The Senators are one of the few teams deep enough along the blue line to be able to lose a player of Chara's caliber. And they signed Joe Corvo from Los Angeles to help offset the loss. Ottawa's top new free agent is goalie Martin Gerber from Carolina, but the Senators' most important moves have been getting defenseman Wade Redden and center Jason Spezza back under contract. Grade: A

 

Toronto Maple Leafs: Toronto is slowly but surely bringing down its average age from near-AARP levels and improving the team from back to front. New goalie Andrew Raycroft was the rookie of the year in 2004 and free-agent defensemen Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill bring high-end offense and physical strength. It's a good start for the Leafs, but the issues up front still need to be addressed. Grade: B+

 

Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres lost a little bit of their soul by letting Jay McKee bolt to the Blues, and RW Mike Grier's grit will be missed now that he is in San Jose. But Buffalo's biggest concern is figuring out how many of its free agents it can bring back. The Sabres did find time to sign former Oiler Jaroslav Spacek, who stood out during the playoffs. Grade: C

 

Montreal Canadiens: The top offseason priority here was getting goalie Cristobal Huet back in the fold and that's been accomplished. But not much else. Grade: C-

 

Atlantic Division

 

 

New Jersey Devils: Must be something about playing in swamp land that players love. Or maybe there's another reason, but the Devils have had a great summer so far, re-signing Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner and Colin White despite being in precarious cap position. Scott Gomez is the next target for what was the league's best team in the second half. Grade: A+

 

 

New York Islanders: Another chance to buy out Alexei Yashin's ridiculous contract has been passed up by the Isles, but new GM Neil Smith has added some good pieces in defenseman Brendan Witt and center Mike Sillinger. New York's most impressive move though has been hiring Ted Nolan and giving the long-blackballed coach a second chance. Grade: B+

 

New York Rangers: The old days of outspending everyone are gone, keeping the Rangers from getting Elias away from the Devils and reportedly a few others. But two former Carolina players were solid pickups. Defenseman Aaron Ward will add an important presence along the blue line and center Matt Cullen will produce more than Steve Rucchin, who left for Atlanta. Grade: B

 

Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh picked up an agitator in Jarkko Ruutu and defenseman Mark Eaton, but the most important newcomer next season should be Evgeni Malkin. The Russian wunderkind was drafted right behind Alex Ovechkin a couple of years ago and should be something to watch alongside Sidney Crosby. Grade: C

 

Philadelphia Flyers: No big splashes, not yet anyway, from the Flyers, which seems unusual. Philadelphia lost a good puck-moving defenseman in Kim Johnsson, who missed most of last season with a concussion, and replaced him by signing the serviceable Nolan Baumgartner from Vancouver. The Flyers added journeyman center Randy Robitaille for some depth as well. Grade: C-

 

Southeast Division

 

Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes had no room for Martin Gerber and expected to lose Doug Weight, but they were simply outbid for Ward and Cullen by the Rangers. No matter. Carolina has 21 players under contract for about $39 million, and has locked up key players Rod Brind'Amour, Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Justin Williams for the next several years. Grade: A

 

Atlanta Thrashers: Newcomer Steve Rucchin won't provide the offense Marc Savard did, but he's no slouch either. And Darren Haydar had the kind of offensive career at the University of New Hampshire to make him a potential surprise. One area where Atlanta looks a lot better this season is in goal, where the Thrashers have added Johan Hedberg and Fred Brathwaite as insurance policies for Kari Lehtonen. Atlanta's season was ruined last year by its inability to find adequate replacements for Lehtonen, who was hurt for a large part of the season. Grade: B-

 

Tampa Bay Lightning: Money is tight in Tampa Bay and it cost the Lightning key defensemen Pavel Kubina and Darryl Sydor. Still, the Lightning seem to have solved a goaltending problem by trading for Marc Denis, but it cost them a good goal scorer in Fredrik Modin. There's still enough offense with Brad Richards, Vinnie Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, but don't be surprised if one is traded to relieve some payroll pressure. Grade: B-

 

Florida Panthers: The dynamic changes now that goalie Roberto Luongo is gone and controversial forward Todd Bertuzzi is around, and that might not be a bad thing. But Florida missed out on a big prize when Ed Jovanovski decided he preferred playing in Phoenix, and the Panthers refused to pay the price to get Chris Pronger. Veteran Ruslan Salei will add some toughness on the blue line, but he's a second-tier defenseman. Grade: C+

 

Washington Capitals: At least fans there still have Alex Ovechkin to get excited about. The Caps have a long way to go and obviously aren't in a great hurry to get there. Hometown kid Jeff Halpern was let go, although signing Brian Pothier to replace the departed Brian Willsie is a bit of an upgrade along the blue line. Grade: C-

[slugspirit]

Those grades are based on how many big names each team signed and nothing else... and we're not even a week into free agency!!!!

[SDS]

Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes had no room for Martin Gerber and expected to lose Doug Weight, but they were simply outbid for Ward and Cullen by the Rangers. No matter. Carolina has 21 players under contract for about $39 million, and has locked up key players Rod Brind'Amour, Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Justin Williams for the next several years. Grade: A

 

this says it all...

 

They lose a ton of players, but get an A because they have certain players under contract. The Sabres will too, but the process hasn't been completed yet. I give his analysis a "D".

[Claude_Verret]

this says it all...

 

They lose a ton of players, but get an A because they have certain players under contract. The Sabres will too, but the process hasn't been completed yet. I give his analysis a "D".

 

You beat me to it, I was about to post the same thing. Something also tells me that the Canes were one of the other teams after Spacek since the day after he signed with us they ended up re-signing Wesley.

[Swedesessed]

this says it all...

 

They lose a ton of players, but get an A because they have certain players under contract. The Sabres will too, but the process hasn't been completed yet. I give his analysis a "D".

 

 

I agree SDS, I figured this would provide some comic relief for a Friday :P

[Taro T]

I agree SDS, I figured this would provide some comic relief for a Friday :P

Well, considering the guy thinks Washington brought in Pothier to try to fill a hole created by the departure of Willsie, and not one created by the departure of Bredan Witt at last year's trade deadline; is it surprising that he would give grades on the post season moves less than 1 full week after free agency began? <_<

 

And if he's willing to give out A's based on 5-6 days worth of work, where are the D's and F's? :P

[hopeleslyobvious]

Well, considering the guy thinks Washington brought in Pothier to try to fill a hole created by the departure of Willsie, and not one created by the departure of Bredan Witt at last year's trade deadline; is it surprising that he would give grades on the post season moves less than 1 full week after free agency began? <_<

 

And if he's willing to give out A's based on 5-6 days worth of work, where are the D's and F's? :P

 

Agreed. Shouldn't we wait till the teams report to camp to start grading?

 

Also, I know the Devils brought back some key players they should have lost, but how can you give a team an A+ that is up against the cap, with a lot of work left to do. I mean I know it looks good on paper to have some big names, but you do also need a full roster.

 

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