Steven Stamkos's decision to stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning put a major crimp into the NHL free-agency season, taking the juiciest potential unrestricted free agent off the market 48 hours before the bidding war officially was to start.
Once upon a time, drunken-sailor spending was a fixture of NHL free agency, with most of the worst contracts in league history inked on a day when general managers would annually throw caution – and common sense – to the winds.
Sanity – or some modest version of sanity – was restored a little last year, partly because the salary cap was no longer going up in leaps and bounds; but mostly because the free-agent crop frankly wasn't so great.
This year, represents a whole new conundrum for GMs, as the 2016 free-agent season opens Friday.
On the one hand, the cap just inched up again – by less than $3-million (U.S.), which is putting a financial squeeze on all but a handful of teams with cap room to spare.
On the other hand, there are some attractive commodities out there, even with Stamkos off the market, especially for a team looking for an in-his-prime NHL forward.
It's safe to assume the likes of Kyle Okposo and Milan Lucic, Loui Eriksson and Andrew Ladd, David Backes and Mikkel Boedker will all duly get paid. Then there are a handful of others – veterans such as Eric Staal and Jiri Hudler – who could be strategic fits somewhere.
The two most prominent defencemen set to become unrestricted free agents, Keith Yandle and Alex Goligoski, had their playing rights traded last week and received vast sums of money to sign with their new teams, the Florida Panthers and the Arizona Coyotes, respectively.
What's left on the blueline is a solid, but unspectacular collection of talent: Jason Demers, Kris Russell, Brian Campbell, Dan Hamhuis. Because demand might exceed supply, they, too, could be in line for hefty paydays.
The No. 1 available goalie is James Reimer, but he could be a victim of the musical chairs that played out in NHL goal creases last week, when the two teams badly needing a new starter, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Calgary Flames, went elsewhere to fill their needs.
The negotiating window, which permits teams to talk to potential UFAs without risking a tampering charge, opened this past weekend. With the courting process now well under way, it usually means the best of the remaining product may fly off the shelf pretty quickly.
Without further preamble, a look at the top class of '16 UFAs:
- Loui Eriksson. The primary player acquired by Boston in the Tyler Seguin deal, Eriksson had a productive 63-point season for the Bruins, including 30 goals, and is prized as much for his two-way play as his offensive output.
- Milan Lucic. The decision to trade away Taylor Hall freed up the necessary salary cap space and makes the Edmonton Oilers the odds-on favourite to land Lucic, who previously played for GM Peter Chiarelli in Boston. Lucic brings intangible qualities beyond the 55 points he produced in L.A. last season. He’s a big personality, still willing and able to play tough and mean after all these years in the league. Edmonton needs a chemistry change and Lucic, the ultimate glue guy, on and off the ice, is someone who could provide it.
- Kyle Okposo. He finished second to John Tavares in Islanders’ scoring last season, and led the team in assists. Okposo is a big body, too – not in Lucic’s category – but has shown the ability to be a productive and consistent top-six forward in the league.
- David Backes. The St. Louis Blues’ long-time captain is coming off an effective playoff run, following a 45-point regular season in which he played multiple different roles, depending upon the health of some of the other key Blues forwards. He would be considered an excellent addition for a young team seeking to improve its leadership quotient.
- Mikkel Boedker. His performance has always been just slightly less than expected, and it was that way again this year: Boedker was traded from Arizona to Colorado at the deadline, but couldn’t help push the Avalanche into the playoffs, and finished with only four goals in 18 games for his new team. But his speed is exceptional and the game keeps getting faster every year, which suggests he may cash in – in a big way.
- Andrew Ladd. As with Backes, Ladd is a former team captain (Winnipeg) who provides a combination of leadership and performance. He finished the year with the Blackhawks playing mostly on a line with Jonathan Toews and had eight goals in 19 games. Chicago’s ability to move three forwards (and their contracts) already this off-season suggests they’ll make a push to sign him.
- Eric Staal. He’s in line for a pay cut, if only because he was earning $8.3-million on an expiring contract and hasn’t had a massively productive offensive season since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 (53 points in 48 games). Staal managed only six points in 20 games with New York Rangers after the trade from Carolina, so he might be seen more as a strategic fit rather than an impact piece.
- Jason Demers. Edmonton is courting the former Dallas Stars player with a view to adding depth to a defence that now also boasts Adam Larsson, who evolved into a top-four player in New Jersey last season and may provide a Kevin Lowe-like presence on the blueline as the Oilers inch toward respectability.
- Brian Campbell. He could be a fit with Chicago, his former team, but might have to take a discount in order to sign back with the Blackhawks. Campbell essentially lost his spot in Florida when Keith Yandle signed.
- Dan Hamhuis. Only a couple of years removed from playing for Canada’s 2014 men’s Olympic hockey team, Hamhuis was linked to Chicago and Dallas at the trading deadline, which probably puts the Blackhawks and the Stars at the head of the line to bid for the former Canuck and Predator, who is coming off a tough, injury-filled year.
- James Reimer. Where does the popular former Toronto netminder, who finished the season as the backup to Martin Jones in San Jose, land now that the Flames, Hurricanes and Maple Leafs have all filled their needs for a starter? Reimer wanted to become a No. 1, too. Instead, he may have to settle for another job-sharing situation, just like last year.
- Kris Russell. He is an undersized, shot-blocking wizard who went to Dallas from Calgary as a rental and was just a so-so fit. Russell’s price likely dropped from 12 months ago, when he led the NHL in shot blocking.