9 replies to this topic

[SacredCow]

This is a great link to an article on what players are under contract per team, for how much money, which players are RFA's, which players are UFA's and which players are likely to be bought out. Great, great stuff, and a lot of fun to look at and think, "What if...?"

[jigglypuff]

Great article, I love the 'what if ...' factor

[GoDuxBooKings]

15spots to fill.......At least.

[JasonAKADfan8]

Great article SC...we'll see how this all pans out for the Ducks

[pixiedawn]

Only problem is, a lot of the Cincy players who really should have been in Anaheim (Foster) are not included, nor is Getzlaf and Perry

[DropThePuck]

Even so, Martin Gelinas is preparing to go stampeding.

Wedging himself into that massive, unruly stampede of aging, big-name, formerly high-ticket players now free agents or soon-to-be buyouts jostling and pushing for somewhere to play in a re-configured National Hockey League. When they do open the gates and cut them loose, it'll make the running of the bulls in Pamplona seem organized by comparison.

All of a sudden, there's going to be a glut of guys like Gelinas on the market.

<link>

[DropThePuck]

Laidlaw is not so certain there will be a feeding frenzy in the free-agent market, but he said some teams actually would have to spend more for players than previously with a minimum payroll requirement of $21.5 million after the rollbacks.

"I think you're going to see teams sign the guys they have the rights to first," said Laidlaw, who counts Chicago Blackhawks restricted free agent Bryan Berard among his clients. "Then the teams will say, 'How good are we? Do we have a chance at winning a Stanley Cup? Do we have to be at a certain level to sell season seats?'

"There will be a lot of different factors to determine what they'll spend in the free-agent market, but I don't think teams are going to go crazy."

<link>

[DropThePuck]

That won't happen until the end of next week. But enough is known about the salary cap and the proposed rules changes to give Hitchcock and Flyers management an idea of where they are going. As soon as the deal is done, the Flyers will buy out John LeClair and Tony Amonte to jettison salary. They then will work to sign the players not yet under contract while seeking out a top free-agent defenseman.

Other than the identity of that free agent - and New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer seems to be at the top of the list - the Flyers know the makeup of their team. It will be a combination of top veterans and a group of skilled young players and prospects who just won a Calder Cup championship with the Phantoms.

<link>

[sykora_39]

Both of Sykora and Shanahan among who should be bought out! Huh! Tough!

[DropThePuck]

So, beginning -- tentatively -- Aug. 1, there will be more than 250 players available for the 30 NHL teams to sign.

That's two year's worth of free agents, mind you. And many of these players won't be going back to their old teams because of the new world NHL -- the salary cap era.

"It's unprecedented in our sport," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said of the free-agent bonanza.

<link>