NHL Musical Chairs Set To Begin

Every year on July 1st, the NHL’s free agent marketplace opens for business, with a handful (or more) of high-profile players changing teams. This time around, the biggest available name is Marian Hossa, whose strong play in the playoffs for the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins no doubt raised his value. Moreover, with the NHL’s salary cap rising by $6.4 million (to $56.7 million), there are more teams with the fiscal flexibility to meet Hossa’s sure-to-be-aggressive contract demands.Thirty-seven-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin was reportedly given permission to negotiate with a handful of teams (including the Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens), but hasn’t as yet made any decisions about his future. As things stand right now, it appears that Sundin will either sign with the Canadiens or retire. Similarly, Avalanche captain Joe Sakic — also an unrestricted free agent-to-be — is debating whether to re-sign with Colorado or call it quits. Both players have been among the best of their generation, consistently excellent no matter who their supporting cast is, and are virtual locks for the Hall of Fame.Of course, with every free agent signing, there’s a team left in the lurch. Last summer, the Devils were the biggest victims of this high-stakes game of musical chairs, when they lost first-line center Scott Gomez and no. 1 defenseman Brian Rafalski without compensation. But this time around, it’s the Rangers who stand to lose the most, with Jaromir Jagr, Sean Avery, and Michal Rozsival all expected to test the market.At 36, Jagr is no longer the dominant force he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the late 1990s, at least not for the entirety of the NHL’s marathon-like season. However, Jagr was still the Rangers’ best player down the stretch and throughout their two-round playoff run, so it’s difficult to see how the team could possibly improve without having him in the fold.An argument could surely be made in favor of Hossa, seven years Jagr’s junior, but the fact that his first-ever clutch playoff performance came on the eve of his contract’s expiration doesn’t bode well. The disinterested fashion in which Hossa’s tenure with the Atlanta Thrashers ended (at this past spring’s trade deadline) should give all suitors cause for pause, though it’s all but certain that at least one club will back up the Brink’s truck to secure his services.Avery is a trickier subject for the Rangers, and for the NHL at large. On the one hand, he’s a talented agitator whose presence in the Blueshirts’ lineup had an unquestionably positive impact. Since his arrival on Broadway, Avery has arguably been the Blueshirts’ most popular player, and losing him — particularly to a division rival — would be a devastating blow.However, there is good reason for worry where Avery is concerned, especially when discussing a long-term multi-million dollar contract. His game requires that he constantly play on the edge, as he did with his creative, unsportsmanlike distraction tactics utilized to maddening effectiveness against the Devils’ Martin Brodeur in the Rangers’ first-round ouster of their cross-river rivals. Avery’s tactics often draw the ire of his coaches and teammates — as well as his foes — and the distractions he causes are not always in his team’s best interests.Indeed, Rangers GM Glen Sather is in a tough spot where Avery’s concerned, and there’s no easy answer forthcoming. The Blueshirts are a much better team with Avery, at least in the short term, and there’s no comparable replacement available on the open market. Should Avery defect — especially to another Atlantic Division team — the fans’ response will not be pretty. The arguments for and against Avery are quite clear, and if anything is to sway Sather, it should be this: The fans unequivocally want him back, and they’re the ones paying the bills.The most important Devil on the open market is Jay Pandolfo, one of the NHL’s best checking forwards and a mainstay alongside John Madden on New Jersey’s top penalty killing unit. At 33 years old, Pandolfo still has plenty of gas left in the tank, and considering the Devils have about $14 million of cap space to work with, it seems a fait accompli that the loyal foot soldier will be back.For the Islanders, look for there to be considerable interest in Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, two talented forwards who will likely be bargains after subpar 2007-08 campaigns. Typically a very dangerous sniper, Satan lit the lamp only 16 times in 80 games last season. Meanwhile, Fedotenko was a playoff hero for the Lightning in 2004, scoring 12 goals to help Tampa capture the Cup, but his production for the Isles has been underwhelming.The Lightning took a novel approach to the free agency process, getting a head start by trading for the negotiating rights to a quartet of unrestricted free agents-to-be. Three players — Vaclav Prospal, Ryan Malone, and Gary Roberts — have already agreed to terms, and GM Jay Feaster is still working to sign Brian Rolston.Rangers blueliner Rozsival should attract some offers after scoring 108 points in 242 games for the Rangers, but he’s far from the only top-pair rearguard available in what should be a very compelling bidding war. San Jose Sharks trade deadline acquisition Brian Campbell is also available, as is Ottawa Senators backliner Wade Redden, both of whom are among the game’s most consistently excellent power play quarterbacks.Canadiens defenseman Mark Streit is poised to capitalize on a career year during which he scored 62 points in 81 games, while the Blue Jackets’ Ron Hainsey, the Penguins’ Brooks Orpik, and the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings’ Brad Stuart will also generate considerable interest from prospective suitors.With players as young as 25 becoming unrestricted free agents, and with the salary cap rising at a rate far outstripping inflation, rebuilding through free agency isn’t the fool’s errand it was when the Rangers opened their checkbooks for the likes of Valeri Kamensky and Stephane Quintal.However, because teams have been increasingly diligent about locking their most important young players to egregiously long-term deals, even the most spendthrift teams won’t be able to accomplish all that much in what is unquestionably a seller’s market.Furthermore, the aggressive pursuit of high-price forwards isn’t the right recipe for success in the NHL, not when it’s defense and goaltending that win championships. Of course, with Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist, and Rick DiPietro tending the pipes, goaltending is not an area of concern. So instead, look for all three teams to set their sights on Campbell and Redden. Will one — or all three — be stuck without a chair when the music stops? Tune in at noon …Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.

NHL Musical Chairs Set To Begin

NHL Musical Chairs Set To Begin

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