We're getting into the grueling summer that hockey fans loathe, but we must make it to next season somehow. Baseball and soccer aren't getting the job done, so why not catch up on the recent news in the hockey world? July 1st and the ensuing days produced a sizable amount of movement and there are a lot of new faces on many different teams. Tonight's entry will detail the teams that improved themselves the most with free agency signings and trades so far this summer.
Washington Capitals
Notable Additions: Troy Brouwer, Forward. Joel Ward, Forward. Roman Hamrlik, Defenseman. Tomas Vokoun, Goaltender.
Washington GM George McPhee has had a very busy summer so far, and the results look good on paper. After questions about having proven goaltending during the playoffs, McPhee signed Tomas Vokoun to a 1-year, $1.5M contract that could prove to be the steal of the summer. Among the league's elite netminders while playing for the teams at the bottom of the barrel, Vokoun has never had a chance to be on a Stanley Cup contender. This came after the Caps performed highway robbery on the Avalanche by shipping off Semyon Varlamov for a 1st and 2nd round pick. That is a hefty price to pay for a goalie who has never been an established starter and who was about to bolt for Russia. If Vokoun does falter, both Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby are future starting goaltenders in the NHL that will step up. The Caps also added power forwards Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward who will help come playoff time, where Ward absolutely dominated with seven goals and six assists in 12 games. If he can produce like this during the regular season, both he and Brouwer (who has had 17 and 22 goals in his last two seasons, respectively) can provide scoring depth to a team that needs it. Hamrlik is a veteran presence on a defense that needs it, and he will slot in and is capable of playing anywhere from 18-22 minutes as needed. Adding him to a group that boasts Mike Green, John Carlson, Karl Alzner and Jeff Schultz makes the Caps that much harder to play against.
Florida Panthers
Notable Additions: Tomas Fleischmann, Forward. Scotty Upshall, Forward. Kris Versteeg, Forward. Tomas Kopecky, Forward. Sean Bergenheim, Forward. Brian Campbell, Defenseman. Ed Jovanovski, Defenseman. Jose Theodore, Goaltender.
Florida is going with an approach based on quantity of players brought in, as they have added a total of eleven new faces to the squad. Making the biggest headlines for the squad are Fleischmann, Campbell and Jovanovski. Fleischmann posted 21 points in 22 games with the Avalanche last season before missing the final 36 games of the year due to a blood clot issue. He is healthy and will provide some scoring punch that the Panthers lacked last year. Campbell and Jovanovski offer two different skill sets that the Panthers desperately need. Campbell is a puck-moving defenseman and a powerplay quarterback and while his contract is expensive ($7.14M cap hit), he will help the Cats' PP unit that was among the worst in the league. Jovanovski has lost a step since the prime of his career in Vancouver and his first year in Phoenix, but he provides veteran leadership, grit and a booming shot to a group that features youngsters Dmitri Kulikov, Keaton Ellerby and potentially Erik Gudbranson. Bergenheim is coming off of an outstanding playoff run for the Tampa Bay Lightning where he scored nine goals in 16 games, and he cashed in with a 4-year deal worth $2.75M a year. It remains to be seen if the Finn who has a career high of 15 goals in a season can replicate the goalscoring success, but at the very least he is a good, yet expensive, checker and penalty killer. Additions like Upshall, Kopecky and Versteeg make the Panthers a tough team to play against, though the question of success for the club will lie in the hands of Jose Theodore. Can he ever retain the success he had with the Canadiens or the Avalanche years ago? Or will he continue to be a 1A goaltender that is not capable of being a true starter for a club. If the answer is the latter, then Scott Clemmensen will see between 35 and 40 starts. The ability for the Panthers to win hinges on how the goaltending is, but at the very least no teams will take playing Florida for granted with their wealth of grit and tenacity.
Buffalo Sabres
Notable Additions: Ville Leino, Forward. Ales Kotalik, Forward. Christian Ehrhoff, Defenseman. Robyn Regehr, Defenseman.
Buffalo chose to approach free agency with the opposite philosophy of the Florida Panthers, with quality over quantity. The Sabres only have four new faces in the room, though Kotalik is making his second tour of duty with the Sabres. Buffalo's main problem in the playoffs was the lack of depth on the blueline, featuring a top-3 of Tyler Myers, Shaone Morrison and Jordan Leopold. Now, while Myers remains, the other two players in that rank are Ehrhoff and Regehr. Ehrhoff has had an eventful summer, to say the least. His rights were first traded to the New York Islanders who unsuccessfully attempted to sign him. After that, the Isles dealt his rights to the Sabres where the team and Ehrhoff agreed to a 10-year, $40M deal. Ehrhoff is a good two-way defenseman that eats minutes and plays in all situations. He can effectively run a powerplay and he can also be counted on to kill penalties. Regehr is more of a one-dimensional defenseman that is very good in his own zone. He is regarded as one of the top shutdown defensemen in the NHL and will help the Sabres contain opposing forwards. Ville Leino cashed in on a 19 goal, 53 point season with the Flyers to the tune of six years and $27M. He will add a creative weapon to the Buffalo arsenal and is capable of playing all three forward positions. He is also a proven playoff performer as well, posting 26 points in 30 playoff games. Kotalik is now with his third team in three years, originally signing his contract with the Rangers and then getting traded to the Flames. While he has a heavy shot that can be utilized on the powerplay, he is a liability defensively and his $3M cap hit is a bit much for a 3rd line powerplay specialist. The only move left to make by GM Darcy Regier is to re-sign RFA goalie Jhonas Enroth to back up Ryan Miller. Enroth played very well in limited action for the Sabres, and is certainly capable of playing 30 games to allow Miller adequate rest. With the added star power on defense, the Sabres are in the conversation as contenders for the top of the eastern conference.
Minnesota Wild
Notable Additions: Dany Heatley, Forward. Devin Setoguchi, Forward. Mike Lundin, Defense.
The Wild land on my list because of the two trades that they made with the San Jose Sharks. First was the Brent Burns trade, where the Wild traded Burns and got Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle and a 1st round pick in return. Setoguchi provides secondary scoring (he has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last three seasons), while Coyle is a blue-chip prospect that currently plays for Boston University. In the second trade where they acquired Dany Heatley, the Wild shipped off playmaker Martin Havlat. Heatley is a fomer 50-goal scorer who has topped 25 goals eight times in his NHL career. He is the best player that Mikko koivu will ever have played with in the NHL, and the two could finally provide the Wild with some offense to compliment their post-Lemaire system. While the defense could use one more addition to solidify the top-6, the Wild are in a much better position to fight for a playoff position if goaltender Niklas Backstrom can perform like he has in years past. Josh Harding attempts to come back after missing all of last season to injury, and he can provide solid goaltending in a backup role. Though in actuality the Wild added very little, the players they added may be enough to propel them back into the conversation of the NHL playoff race.
LA Kings
Notable Additions: Mike Richards, Forward. Simon Gagne, Forward.
The Kings have had a relatively busy off-season, trading Ryan Smyth to the Oilers in return for Colin Fraser (who they planned to buy out), but mostly because of the acquisitions of two former Philadelphia Flyers that solidify the Kings' top-6 forwards. Mike Richards, the now former captain of the Flyers was brought in via the trade route with Wayne Simmonds and top prospect Brayden Schenn going the other way. While Schenn could potentially develop into a good scorer in this league, Mike Richards is much more of a sure thing for a Kings team that is looking to go far into the playoffs and contend for the Stanley Cup. He does a little bit of everything and while his scoring was down last season, he is an effective two-way player that plays with flair and tenacity at the same time. He plays in all situations and will fit perfectly among the gritty two-way forwards that the Kings already have in wingers Dustin Penner and captain Dustin Brown. Bringing in Gagne will ease the loss of Smyth, who became a cap casualty. Gagne and Ricahrds have chemistry from when they were teammates in Philadelphia, and if they can rekindle that then the Kings have a potent second unit that will aid the team where they need it most. The Kings still have a lot of talent in the minors with players like Andrei Loktionov and Thomas Hickey developing, and they can contend for the Cup next season with the additions they have made this summer.
I decided to leave a few teams off of the list, most notably the Rangers, Leafs and Blue Jackets. The exclusion of the Rangers may come as a surprise and while Brad Richards is the most significant acquisition since Jaromir Jagr in my opinion, there are still holes to fill on the top line with a left wing and there are several question marks on defense. The Leafs signed Tim Connolly who could boom or bust depending on his health, and the same goes for trade acquisition Matthew Lombardi. Cody Franson could evolve into a great offensive defenseman in Toronto, but that alone does not make the Leafs winners. The Blue Jackets improved with the addition of top line forward Jeff Carter and blueliner James Wisniewski, but there are several questions among the forward group in Columbus and the Jackets could still use another good defenseman to shore up that group.
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