There are still quality players out there for teams with enough cap space and stones to take a calculated risk.
Hey Buffalo dude: worried about that gaping hole up the middle in the wake of Chris Drury signing with the New York Rangers and Daniel Briere inking a seemingly for life contract with the Philadelphia Flyers?
Yo, Ottawa boy: wondering how to improve on that lack of second-line scoring that scuttled that one-step-short drive to the Stanley Cup championship?
Attention long-suffering (and perhaps deservedly so) Leafs lackey: still hoping there's room under the ever expanding salary cap for a defenceman who can actually play the position, isn't older than a CBC commentator, younger than the kids who do the throw the disk in the pickup truck stunts between periods and can do something besides fish the puck out from behind Andrew Raycroft?
Fear not bubbies. The NHL silly season - commonly known as the free-agency period - may be coming to an end, but there are still some players out there who a) have not been scooped up by the overpaying and over payroll New York Rangers; and b) could still help a select team, providing of course that the money and the situation are right.
That's the new deal in the new NHL. The big buck, high priority, go where the money is right guys have pretty much cleared the shelves now that camps are close to opening for the 2007-08 season. What's left is a collection of unrestricted free agents whose best days are clearly behind them, but can still contribute to a team that might just need a little something extra to clear that last hurdle. There are also a handful of restricted and unrestricted free agents who, because of contract issues or various "reputation issues (injuries, character problems or the like), might be obtainable for teams willing to take a risk.
It's not necessarily a bargain bin, but what follows is a Sportsnet.ca non-inclusive list of discounted, disrupted, discouraged or just dissed players who might help your hockey team (or perhaps your hockey pool if you or your favourite general manger can get them to the table on time.
Choice Centre
OK, Michael Peca finally hooked on with a team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, but the plum still on an admittedly aging tree is unrestricted free agent Peter Forsberg. Sure he's older than you want him to be and a bit too banged up for anyone's liking. There's also the complication that he is in a financial position that allows him to be the one who makes the final decision as to where he will play if he even chooses to do so, but that doesn't mean he isn't still really, really good.
Forsberg was reasonably healthy at the end of last season and he showed it with an impressive (though short-lived) playoff outing with the Nashville Predators. The run went nowhere (pretty much the path the team is now following since owner Craig Leiopold opted to pull the ownership chute) but those who watched the Preds in the playoffs last spring will tell you that Forsberg was their best player. He still has the moves, the hockey sense and that passionate drive to the net. It may he hindered by injuries during the regular season, but limit his playing time and have him healthy and ready at the start of the postseason and you've got a winner, a leader and, for a limited time, an impact player.
He won't go just anywhere mainly because he wants to win another Cup before he's completely out of the NHL. That severely limits the field, but there's a tug of loyalty to both Philadelphia and Colorado (two teams where he's had long stints) that could factor into any decision. Detroit will also be sniffing around, but if any other team has anything they think might make a difference (a Swedish cheer-leading squad, a personal skate-boot maker or even a chance to car pool with a guy named Mats and his new girlfriend/driver/Toronto Sun love interest, hey, you never know.
After that, not so much, but one could consider Eric Lindros as a role player or perhaps try to lure Pierre Turgeon out of his just announced retirement or (dare we say it) take a chance on Alexei Yashin making an NHL comeback.
Winging it
Out on the wings no one denies unrestricted and former Anaheim Duck Teemu Selanne still has it. The question is whether or not you can get it and if you can, how to you trump the Ducks. Selanne seems to be heading for retirement now that he's finally won a Stanley Cup but anyone who saw him dangle through the playoffs knows he's still a competitor and once the cool weather rolls around the Finnish Flash will have a more difficult time listening to the call of the rocking chair.
Selanne has speed, moves, a competitive instinct second to none and a passion for playing well. If he does come back he's likely to pick his spot and Anaheim, should they have cap space, would be a favourite, but lots of teams would pony up to this guy if he just gives them a hint. Ottawa probably can't afford him, same for Vancouver (a team that certainly needs a scoring boost), but St. Louis could do it and playing with old pal Paul Kariya might be fun. Seems like out of left field, but San Jose has coin and the need for this kind of veteran experience.
For a team needing a decent two-way player, Jan Bulis, late of Vancouver, can still do a job as can the Ville's Nieminen (San Jose). We think Tony Amonte, late of the Calgary Flames, is through, but not everyone agrees with us on that one and he does lend a veteran presence. Peter Bondra can still score when he's in the mood and needs only to drop his price point. Same can be said for Anson Carter (an annual event in recent years). Jeff O'Neill may have something left to give, but it would take a special coach to find it. It's very thin in the tough-guy department, but Aaron Downey, late of Montreal, is still a worthy pickup providing he makes it back from his concussion problems.
Blue chippers on the blue line
Lot of guys you've heard of -- including seemingly half the roster of the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks -- but precious few you would really want. If it were up to us we'd make a Kevin Lowe bid on restricted Phoenix Coyote free agent Keith Ballard. He's not big, but he plays that way. He's also smart, good, young (just 25), and he's destined to be a top four d-man on any team that acquires his services. It's not that the Coyotes don't want do be that team, they just have money problems. New GM Don Maloney calls Ballard a "priority player" which means a rival GM would likely have to pay to the point of giving up a first, second and third round pick, but if you've got them and want to take a better than calculated risk, he's your man.
Richard Jackman, late of Anaheim, is a serviceable depth player at the position who can still be had. One might want to take a chance on the workmanlike Rory Fitzpatrick late of the Vancouver Canucks and NHL ALL-Star Game write-in fame.
In the Nets
Are you kidding? OK, you can take a flyer on Ed Belfour, the potential Hall of Famer who doesn't know when to quit and might play in Europe until some NHL team gets desperate or Mike Keenan goes off the charts in Calgary. There's a reasonable list of guys who deserve one more chance even though they couldn't get it done with the previous team - Robert Esche in Philadelphia, Mike Dunham with the New York Islanders and J. S. Aubin in Toronto -- to name three. Sean Burke is still unsigned but essentially retired. If I had the call and the cash I'd contact Curtis Joseph for a look-see as a veteran backup.
