Faceoff Factor

Evaluating Teams Post-Free Agency: Northeast

Michael Farkas | National Hockey League

Jul 16, 07:55 PM | Hype this story!

With about two weeks gone in the free agency period, most of the top tier talent has found itself a new home. Now that things have slowed down considerably, Faceoff Factor will go division-by-division and break it all down.

The Northeast Division.

Boston Bruins

Gained: Blake Wheeler (2 yrs, -), Michael Ryder (3 yrs, $4/yr)

Lost: Alex Auld (OTT), Glen Metropolit (PHI), Stanislav Chistov (UFA)

Still needs to: Shed some dead weight, while acquiring a puck-moving defenseman and/or top-notch winger.

Approximate cap space remaining: $2.34 million (Wideman arbitration still to go)

Rumors associated with them: Seemingly unsuccessful attempts to move Glen Murray may lead to him being bought out following Wideman’s arbitration hearing. There’s always that talk that Phil Kessel may be traded in some sort of blockbuster.

Notes: For the purported big splashes that the Bruins were going for (Marian Hossa, among others) they sure came away empty handed. Drastically overpaying Michael Ryder and winning the Blake Wheeler sweepstakes are moves that may or may not be successful ones. The Bruins are handicapped by some high costs in their depth, it looks like another year of defense-only hockey, at least Manny Fernandez will be back.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Sturm-Savard-Murray
Lucic-Bergeron-Ryder
Kessel-Krejci-Kobasew
Schaefer-Sobotka-Axelsson
Ex. Nokelainen, Thornton, Reich

Chara-Wideman
Ward-Stuart
Alberts-Ference
Ex. Hnidy, Lashoff

Fernandez
Thomas
Ex. Rask

Buffalo Sabres

Gained: Craig Rivet (3 yrs, $3.5/yr)*, Patrick Lalime (2 yrs, $1/yr) [* – acquired in trade with San Jose]

Lost: Steve Bernier (VAN), (Dmitri Kalinin (NYR), Teppo Numminen (UFA), Nolan Pratt (UFA), Jocelyn Thibault (UFA)

Still needs to: Get new management that won’t mess up nearly as much. Sure up the defense and be sure that Ryan Miller is staying. At least get assets back for UFA’s Afinogenov, Connolly and Kotalik because God knows you won’t re-sign them.

Approximate cap space remaining: $10.4 million

Rumors associated with them: Buffalo’s management will sit idly by with their hands folded neatly.

Notes: The Buffalo Sabres have become quite an enigma in recent offseasons. They seem to enjoy watching unrestricted free agents leave. They recently acquired Steve Bernier and then promptly shipped him off for a couple of draft picks. Then they make a deal that seems to suggest they are ready to compete, by trading two second round picks to San Jose for Craig Rivet. The team is as confusing as it is undersized.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov
Hecht-Connolly-Pominville
Paille-Gaustad-Kotalik
Peters-Mair-Stafford
Ex. MacArthur, Kaleta, Zagrapan

Rivet-Spacek
Lydman-Tallinder
Paetsch-Sekera
Ex. Weber, Funk

Miller
Lalime
Ex. Enroth

Montreal Canadiens

Gained: Georges Laraque (3 yrs, $1.5/yr), Marc Denis (1 yr, -) Alex Henry (1 yr, -), Shawn Belle (RFA)*, Ryan Flinn (1 yr, -) [* – acquired from Minnesota]

Lost: Mark Streit (NYI), Michael Ryder (BOS), Mikhail Grabovsky (TOR), Bryan Smolinski (UFA), Patrice Brisebois (UFA), Yann Danis (NYI)

Still needs to: Perhaps acquire the star player that puts them “over the top.” Prepare for the next offseason because more than half of the team become free agents next July.

Approximate cap space remaining: $7.5 million

Rumors associated with them: Mats Sundin to Montreal is always a popular one.

Notes: The Canadiens have a very talented and young team and could really make a big splash this year. Their goaltending is young and more-than-capable (Price and Halak), their forwards are offensively talented and deep. With Markov, Hamrlik and Komisarek as top-three defenders, the Canadiens have built a solid core. The pressure will be on in the Habs 100th anniversary season, and they did not add anyone via free agency (Tanguay was via trade), which may be concerning to some.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Tanguay-Plekanec-Kovalev
Kostistsyn-Koivu-Kostistsyn
Higgins-Lapierre-Latendresse
Kostopoulous-Chipchura-Laraque
Ex. Begin, Maxwell, Dandenault

Markov-Komisarek
Hamrlik-O’Byrne
Bouillon-Gorges
Ex. Dandenault, Valentenko

Price
Halak
Ex. Denis

Ottawa Senators

Gained: Jason Smith (2 yrs, $2.6/yr), Jarkko Ruutu (3 yrs, $1.3/yr), Alex Auld (2 yrs, $1/yr), Brendan Bell (1 yr -)

Lost: Wade Redden (NYR), Cory Stillman (FLA), Mike Commdore (CBJ), Martin Lapointe (UFA), Ray Emery (Europe), Randy Robitaille (UFA), Niko Dimitrakos (UFA), Luke Richardson (UFA), McGratton (PHX)

Still needs to: Figure out how to handle RFA’s Antoine Vermette and Andrej Meszaros. Acquire a puck-moving defenseman.

Approximate cap space remaining: $9.77 million (Vermette and Meszaros still unsigned)

Rumors associated with them: Always a ton of rumors surrounding Ottawa. It has been suggested that Chris Neil and Antoine Vermette are gone. There are reports of a deal that involves Neil and prospect Alexander Nikulin (perhaps Khabibulin as well?) going to Chicago for Cam Barker. As well as a rumor that involves Antoine Vermette going to Vancouver for either Ryan Kesler or Kevin Bieksa. And a rumor that sends both Vermette and Meszaros to Florida in exchange for Jay Bouwmeester.

Notes: It seems like this Ottawa team will still be going through a few changes before all is set and done. With Ray Emery out of the picture, they are much better shape. The defense is still a work in progress I believe, and there will be at least one trade by this team in the coming weeks. Their goaltending is a bit underrated, despite popular belief, Gerber is a very good goalie. Auld is iffy, he looked like a superstar in Boston, but so did minor-leaguer Tim Thomas, so that’s up for interpretation. Their depth spending is concerning (Mike Fisher at $4.2 million, Chris Kelly at $2.125 million and Jason Smith at $2.6 million are costly).

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson
Foligno-Fisher-Vermette
Ruutu-Kelly-Donovan
Neil-McAmmond-Bass
Ex. Hennessy, Nikulin, Zubov

Phillips-Volchenkov
Meszaros-Lee
Schubert-J.Smith
Ex. Nycholat, D.Smith

Gerber
Auld
Ex. Elliott

Toronto Maple Leafs

Gained: Niklas Hagman (4 yrs, $3/yr), Jeff Finger (4 yrs, $3.5/yr), Mikhail Grabovsky (1 yr -)*, Ryan Hollweg (1 yr, $512,500)*, Curtis Joseph (1 yr, $700K), Richard Petiot (1 yr -) [* – acquired via trade]

Lost: Mats Sundin (UFA), Darcy Tucker (COL), Andrew Raycroft (COL), Scott Clemmensen (NJ), Andy Wozniewski (STL)

Still needs to: Continue the overhaul, keep losing big (mistake) contracts. Send a fruit basket to Cliff Fletcher as a thank you for committing executive/managerial suicide for the good of the Leafs and their turnaround.

Approximate cap space remaining: $6.44 million

Rumors associated with them: Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina rumors are still running rampant. The big and bad contracts (McCabe, Blake, Kubina, etc.) are going to be in the rumor mill consistently until they are gone.

Notes: The Maple Leafs are finally doing something that is long overdue. They are stripping down the series of band-aids, obvious mistakes and shoddy workmanship that have tentatively held together this Leafs team over the past few years. Cliff Fletcher should go down as a hero (provided he continues on this path), even though (if and) when Brian Burke takes over, he will get all the credit. Fletcher is doing a fine job of taking out the trash, and while the Leafs will be horrible this year, at least there’s hope on the other side of this losing season, the same could not be said in year’s past.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Blake-Antropov-Hagman
Tlusty-Steen-Ponikarovsky
Kulemin-Stajan-Mayers
Bell-Moore-Hollweg
Ex. Battaglia, Devereaux, Newbury,

McCabe-Kaberle
Kubina-Colaiacovo
Finger-Stralman
Ex. White, Kronvall

Toskala
Joseph
Ex. Pogge