FA Winners and Losers

Whew

The first day of free agent season was not for the faint of heart or anyone with short attention spans. A list of the winning and losing teams in my opinion.

Winners

NY Rangers: Significantly bolstered their D-corp by resigning Roszival, and adding Redden and Rissmiller. (There is a 3-R joke in there, but I'll leave it for a New York scribe to come up with in November.) They also got through the day without losing Jagr and Avery.

Chicago - picked up Campbell and Huet. They might have paid too much for these guys, especially Huet but they have definitely taken a significant step toward playoff contention. The NW division with NOT be sending four teams to next years playoffs.

Capitals - Started the day by signing Mike Green and add Jose Theodore. A high price tag of Theo but the shorter-term deal reduces the risk. If Theo captures regular season 07-08 form the Caps'll compete with the Canes for the SW title.

Oilers - adding Gilbert Brule and Vitali Visnevsky give the Oilers more of what they have in spades, youth up front, and mobile D. Erik Cole will give MacT a few more options for his top two lines. Kudos to Kevin Lowe for getting these three with the bargain chips he had and sparing himself the "nobody wants to play in Edmonton" saw.

Isles - Mark Streit is a good addition and about what they could hope for. Also a sharp contrast to being gutted last year by actually adding to the roster.

Devils - Recycle Holik and Ralston and hang on to their UFAs. Not quite the splash some might have been anticipating but they keep with the character of their team and probably aren't the right fit for the bigger UFAs like Campbell and Hossa.

Columbus - Adding Mike Commodore is a step toward strengthening their blueline. Adding Raffi Torres from the Oil may not seem to be a significant move but it brings in a bit of experience and grit. There are more moves to come. If RJ Umberger builds on his playoff performance and the Jackets sign a few of their UFAs like Hainsey, they can pinch another spot away from the NW. They also need to add a few more forwards to really gear up for next season.

Losers

Leafs - They spend $14 million on Jeff Finger, a move that sent most of their fans headed to the archives to find out who he used to play for. The TO media will be feasting on him first chance they get and have his dissected remains run-out of town on a buyout. Maybe Finger is the loser. Niklas Hagman is a good add and Cujo will bring stability to the locker room and crease. He'll be the most interviewed back up since... Cujo in Detroit as Hasek's back-up.

Avalanche - bring in Tucker and Raycroft, lose Theodore and Finger. Hang on to Liles and Foote. Put them behind the Oilers and in next spring's lottery for John Tavares.


Bolts - Bold moves for Malone and Roberts quickly strengthen them up front. Their real needs are on the blueline and perhaps in net and for all the splash they need something to strengthen the backend. Adding Radim Vrbata and Adam Hall (more forwards) won't help much on the back end. Kolzig is a great bargain and might just challenge for the starting job. The rumours of putting Dan Boyle on the market do not bode well, however.

Other thoughts
By getting a prospect and a draft pick for Marek Zidlicky, the Predators are managing their talent quite effectively. Zidlicky was probably drifting down their depth chart with Shea Weber and Ryan Suter maturing and it was a better chance for MZ to get more power play time. Good addition for the Wild too.

The Flames looked to be moving sideways, making little change to a roster that barely scratched into the playoffs but shouldn't have. Without a lot of talent coming up they will be in for a long battle to make the playoffs.

Metropolit will be a good fit with the Flyers.

The Bruins overspent on Michael Ryder at $4M a year. Did they fall out of the race for Hossa and start moving their money elsewhere?

The Wings served themselves well by securing Brad Stuart and Ty Conklin.

I'm not sure why the Kings traded so much for Denis Gauthier, who the Flyers had waived.