Faceoff Factor

Evaluating Teams Post-Free Agency: Northwest

Michael Farkas | National Hockey League

Jul 30, 03:44 AM | Hype this story!

With about four 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 Northwest Division.

Calgary Flames

Gained: Todd Bertuzzi (1 yr, $1.95 mil), Curtis Glencross (3 yrs, $1.2/yr), Rene Bourque (2 yrs, $1.3/yr)*, Jamie Lundmark (1 yr, $600K), Andre Roy (1 yr, $550K) [* – acquired in trade with Chicago]

Lost: Kristian Huselius (CBJ), Craig Conroy (UFA), Owen Nolan (MIN), Stephane Yelle (UFA), David Hale (PHX), Mark Smith (UFA), Curtis Joseph (TOR), Eric Godard (PIT)

Still needs to: Add to the offensive depth, it’s lacking mightily after the first line; get under the Upper Limit; increase the mobility and puck-moving skills on their blueline, a blueline that is loaded with 5/6/7 defensive defensemen.

Approximate cap space remaining: (- $2.3 million)

Rumors associated with them: Nothing of significance, but they do need to get under the Upper Limit in some way.

Notes: The Calgary Flames had a bit of turnover from the draft and onward. They lost Tanguay in a trade, they gained Cammalleri. They lost Huselius, they added Bertuzzi/Glencross; they lost Godard, they added Roy. I don’t believe they came up on the plus-side in any of those “trade-offs” (barring the Cammy for Tanguay “swap” which is at least close). The Flames defense, though stingy, is rather heavy-footed. They’ll need a much better performance over the course of the year from Miikka Kiprusoff for them to be a legitimate contender. The scoring depth, or lack thereof, is somewhat concerning.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Cammalleri-Langkow-Iginla
Bourque-Lombardi-Bertuzzi
Glencross-Conroy-Nystrom
Nilson-Boyd-Moss
Ex. Prust, Roy, Lundmark

Phaneuf-Regehr
Aucoin-Sarich
Warrener-Vandermeer
Ex. Eriksson, Giordano

Kiprusoff
McElhinney
Ex. Irving

Colorado Avalanche

Gained: Darcy Tucker (2 yrs, $2.25/yr), Daniel Tjarnqvist (1 yr, $750K), Per Ledin (1 yr, $600K), Brian Willsie (1 yr, $600K), Andrew Raycroft (1 yr, $800K), Nathan Smith (1 yr, $500K)

Lost: Jose Theodore (WSH), Peter Forsberg (UFA), Andrew Brunette (MIN), Jaroslav Hlinka (Europe), Jeff Finger (TOR), Kurt Sauer (PHX), Wyatt Smith (TB)

Still needs to: Figure out the whole Sakic/Forsberg situation, realize how important goaltender depth might actually be.

Approximate cap space remaining: $12.73 million

Rumors associated with them: Nothing of significance outside of Forsberg/Sakic re-signing/tiring

Notes: The Avalanche certainly made big time strides in their overall team toughness. Tucker, Ledin, Foote (and the pre-existing Laperriere and Smyth) all added at the trade deadline or later has made this Avs team a very difficult team to play against. At the top, there’s a great scoring talent in Stastny, Svatos, Wolski and Hejduk and T.J. Hensick isn’t far out of the picture for sure. The defense is solid and balanced. The only question mark is the Budaj/Raycroft pairing with absolutely no third choice. Budaj proved that he was more than capable (especially after a late season playoff push in 06-07), but how consistent can he be? Raycroft, fresh off a buyout, is going to get one more chance to get his career on track. If something fails here, Tyler Weiman (who initially was not given a qualifying offer) and Jason Bacashihua are the other goalies in the system, and both of them are having a whale of a time stopping minor leaguers at this point. A lot of chips are in here on a Budaj/Raycroft combo and it’s not the safest bet in the world.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Wolski-[Sakic]*-Hejduk
Smyth-Stastny-Svatos
Tucker-Laperriere-Ledin
Jones-Arnason-Guite
Ex. McLeod, Hensick, McCormick

Hannan-Liles
Foote-Clark
Salei-Leopold
Ex. Tjarnqvist, Cumiskey

Budaj
Raycroft
Ex. Weiman

Edmonton Oilers

Gained: Erik Cole (1 yr, $4)*, Gilbert Brule (1 yr, ~$1.247)**, Jason Strudwick (1 yr, $650K) [* – acquired from Carolina; ** – acquired from Columbus]

Lost: Joni Pitkanen (CAR), Raffi Torres (CBJ), Curtis Glencross (CGY), Marty Reasoner (ATL), Geoff Sanderson (UFA)

Still needs to: Realize that the position “defenseman” does not always mean that the player can play it; find a goaltender, besides Garon, and insert him anywhere in the organization; turn Gilbert Brule’s career around so we can finally label Columbus as a “black hole for prospects.”

Approximate cap space remaining: $2.19 million

Rumors associated with them: Now that Roloson appears to be an immovable commodity, there’s nothing of significance surrounding the team.

Notes: The Oilers made some tweaks and changes from mid-June and on, and [gasp] they weren’t terrible! What’s this? Steps in the right direction for Edmonton? I think it is! Their defense has a lot of offense to it, maybe too much, Visnovsky and Souray have struggled at times on the blueline and Gilbert/Grebeshkov can’t be counted on to save the bacon; age is catching up with Staios it appears. Garon has proven to be capable starter, Roloson is just a big money vacuum at this point and the next two in line (Deslauriers and Dubnyk) don’t project to be more than backup netminders, if that. The offense is good though, and the grit lost from the Torres trade was replaced in the Cole trade. I would like to see Edmonton and Tampa Bay play each other, first to ten goals wins – it might not take long.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Cole-Horcoff-Hemsky
Nilsson-Gagner-Cogliano
Penner-Brule-Pisani
Moreau-Brodziak-Pouliot
Ex. Stortini, Schremp, Jacques

Visnovsky-Souray
Gilbert-Smid
Grebeshkov-Staios
Ex. Roy, Strudwick

Garon
Roloson
Ex. Deslauriers

Minnesota Wild

Gained: Marek Zidlicky (2 yrs, $3.35/yr)*, Andrew Brunette (3 yrs, $2.333/yr), Antti Miettinen (3 yrs, $2.333/yr), Owen Nolan (2 yrs, $2.75/yr), Krys Kolanos (-, -), Craig Weller (2 yrs, $600K/yr), Corey Locke (1 yr, ~$545K)**

Lost: Pavol Demitra (VAN), Brian Rolston (NJ), Mark Parrish (UFA*), Keith Carney (UFA), Sean Hill (UFA), Branko Radivojevic (Europe), Aaron Voros (NYR), Petteri Nummelin (Europe), Wes Walz (retired), Matt Foy (STL), Todd Fedoruk (PHX), Chris Simon (Europe), Shawn Belle (MTL) [* – waived with the intent of being bought out at the time this article was drawn up]

Still needs to: Hope that some young potential stars like Pouliot and Sheppard step up big time for the club; keep Marian Gaborik or else.

Approximate cap space remaining: $2.17 million

Rumors associated with them: None, other than the waiving and potential buyout of Mark Parrish.

Notes: The Wild underwent an inordinate amount of turnover this offseason. They replaced Rolston with a cheaper Brunette and added Miettinen and Nolan for higher-than-thought sums. They left room for young players to step up and contribute. Adding Zidlicky to the blueline prevents players that can’t play defense from taking regular shifts (I’m looking at you Bergeron). It’s not out of the realm of reality to think that Josh Harding overtakes Backstrom as the starter during the course of the year.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
Brunette-Koivu-Gaborik
Pouliot-Sheppard-Bouchard
Miettinen-Belanger-Nolan
Boogaard-Gillies-Veilleux
Ex. Weller, Kalus, Clutterbuck

Burns-Schultz
Zidlicky-Johnsson
Skoula-Bergeron
Ex. Reitz, Mojzis (provided that Foster misses most of the year, otherwise, he’s 5/6)

Harding
Backstrom
Ex. Schaefer

Vancouver Canucks

Gained: Pavol Demitra (2 yrs, $4/yr), Steve Bernier (1 yr, $2.5)*, Rob Davison (1 yr, $560K), Ryan Johnson (2 yrs, $1.15/yr), Darcy Hordichuk (3 yrs, $750K/yr), Jason Krog (1 yr, $700K), Nolan Baumgartner (1 yr, $500K) [* – acquired from Buffalo, matched offer sheet tendered by St. Louis]

Lost: Markus Naslund (NYR), Brendan Morrison (ANA), Aaron Miller (UFA), Trevor Linden (retired), Byron Ritchie (UFA), Mike Weaver (STL), Brad Isbister (UFA), Drew MacIntyre (NSH)

Still needs to: Acquire goal scoring (for a change of pace), that’s pretty much it, with Luongo and that defense, you shouldn’t have a problem stopping the puck from going in your net.

Approximate cap space remaining: $9.51 million

Rumors associated with them: Apparently they are one of the front runners for Mats Sundin (at 2 years, $20 million). Ryan Kesler, Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo have had a lot of trade talk surrounding them, most of which concerning Antoine Vermette heading to VanCity from Ottawa.

Notes: With a new GM at the helm, the Canucks have brought in a new guard and a little different team. No Markus Naslund for the first time in a decade, no Brendan Morrison either, and of course, no Todd Bertuzzi (previous regime). Provided the Canucks can’t make good on rumors of Vermette and Sundin, they will hope (read: pray) that Raymond, Kesler and Bernier really step up to score, or they are going to be a one line offensive team. The aforementioned is not out of the ordinary, but it’s not desirable either. The defense is very good and very deep and Luongo is elite and with Cory Schneider on the way, Vancouver shouldn’t have any problems in net for quite some time.

Current lineup (for depth purposes, not actual lines):
D.Sedin-H.Sedin-Demitra
Raymond-Kesler-Bernier
Pyatt-Wellwood-Burrows
Cowan-Johnson-Pettinger
Ex. Hordichuk, Grabner, Krog

Ohlund-Mitchell
Edler-Salo
Bieksa-Krajicek
Ex. Davison, McIver

Luongo
Sanford
Ex. Schneider