Free Agency: Week 1 Analysis.

Hello friends and family of the Wilderness. While this year's Free Agent Frenzy could hardly be called a frenzy so far this year, it doesn't mean significant changes haven't been made by teams this year. We can look at what the Wild have done so far and smile and salivate at the thought of finally making a comeback to the playoffs, but what about the other teams standing in our way? I've taken the liberty of analysing a couple of the changes our good ‘'friends'' in the Northwest division have made, since they're the ones the Wild share nearly 30% of the regular season with. What I've done is enumerate all of the free agent signings as well as all the re-signings, because they were technically free agents. So don't tell me ‘'they already had that guy'', I know! I've also listed the departures from each team, their salary cap status and my thoughts. I thought Bryan and Nathan would jump in, but it turns out they were busy, so I'm flying solo this time around, but it may be just as well, because this analysis turned out to be pretty lengthy.

(Salary cap info from capgeek.com)

Make the jump and prepare to study our opposition.

Minnesota Wild

Additions/Signings : Guillaume Latendresse, Brad Staubitz, Eric Nystrom, Matt Cullen, Warren Peters, Drew Bagnall, Matt Kassian, Nate Prosser, James Sheppard, Jarod Palmer, Jon DiSalvatore, Jamie Fraser, Dennis Endras, Robbie Earl

Departures : Derek Boogaard, John Scott, Andrew Ebbett, Jamie Sifers

Cap situation:    Payroll: 56,846,028

                        Bonuses: 975,000

                        Cap space: 3,528,972

                        Roster spots filled : 23 (Which is the max: 20 dressed, 3 scratched. We have the most spots filled in the league!)

Thoughts

The Wild have certainly become a better team, regardless of what anyone who wanted Boogey re-signed says. For one thing, they got rid of Boogs and Scott, two fighters, not hockey players. In their stead, we've got Brad Staubitz and Eric Nystrom, two hockey players who can certainly hold their own in a fight, play with energy and *gasp* can actually score more than 0 goals in a season (Sorry Boogs, please don't find me and punch my face off!). I will give credit where credit is due though, the both of them were fun to watch destroy their hapless competitors and they almost matched James Sheppard's production this season.

They've also re-signed last season's surprising hero Guillaume Latendresse to a 2 year deal worth 5 million, and if he continues in his 25-goal-in-55-games pace, he will be a hell of a bargain! I have no doubt that with the signing of Matt Cullen, our first bona-fide 2^nd line center in a while (don't let the fact he never broke 50 points fool you, he's a 2^nd line center.) Martin Havlat will return to his natural form and Guillaume Latendresse will continue to rip it up for us.

Andrew Ebbett signed with Ed Jovanovski and the Phoenix Coyotes interestingly enough. It's too bad, because he's got potential, but I guess he didn't fit into CF's plans anymore.

We've still got some cap space left, but no more roster spots to fill (Which I find strange, since we don't officially have a back-up goaltender signed just yet), meaning the most reasonable course of action would be trades, but it seems CF has either had some troubles selling the very little assets we have, or the right deal hasn't come along yet.

I love how thehockeynews.com considers the Wild to be one of the three losers in the Free Agent Frenzy, when we made our team considerably better than it was by letting dead weight go and getting a top six forward. Calgary of course, wasn't one of those three losers, because well.... you figure it out! The columnist doesn't even really explain why the Wild did badly enough that they were one of three teams to be considered losers. I just don't get it. They don't see it from a Wild fan perspective I guess...

What still needs to be done? Well, re-signing Hards should be a top priority, and maybe trying to get a scorer for Mikko Koivu and a 6^th d-man for insurance. If Pierre-Marc Bouchard comes back, the scorer may not be as needed, although it would be interesting to see a *Scorer*-Koivu-PMB line, but it would be very unlikely and very costly, as in probably Brent Burns + prospects.

Our latest signing of goalie Dennis Endras gives us even more depth at a position we're already strong in, and gives us some more trade options, plus if we do trade away a goalie, we'll still have a good starter, a good back-up, and 2 good goalies in Houston, which is fine by me. In fact, this signing could very well mean the departure of a goalie in the near future.

Our prospect pool just got MUCH better with the additions of Casey Wellman, Nate Prosser, Jarod Palmer, Mikael Granlund and Dennis Endras. We've got very solid depth at D, we've gotten better at center and forward as a whole, and we've got some good up and coming goaltending in Matt Hackett and Anton Khudobin (assuming he re-signs), to go along with Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding, a very good tandem.

Wild fans, we're on the right track. Brace yourselves for the playoffs.

Vancouver Canucks

Additions/Signings : Keith Ballard, Victor Oreskovich, Dan Hamhuis, Joel Perrault, Manny Malhotra, Jeff Tambellini, Alexandre Bolduc, Aaron Rome

Departures : Andrew Raycroft, Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner, Nathan McIver

Cap situation:    Payroll: 58,033,333

                        Bonuses:  None

                        Cap space:  1,366,667

                        Roster spots filled : 22

Thoughts:

Ahhh the Nucks... They undoubtedly became better since the end of the playoffs, but not by that much. I believe Hamhuis is overrated and overpaid. I expect that signing to bite them in the ass a la Jay Bouwmeester. Manny Malhotra was grossly overpaid as well. They also acquired the goalie whacker, Keith Ballard, whom I don't think will be much of an improvement to their squad. Sure he's got his moments, but nothing special IMO (I probably just pissed off a whole lot of people here, sorry!).

Andrew Raycroft is gone, meaning either they want a less expensive option, or they're bringing up Cory Schneider, which just may end up stunting his development more than anything, because Bobby Lou's clearly the top dog in the V (although you never know)

A Bieksa for Filatov rumor has been floating around, which could be bad news for us, because if you remember well, in his short time in the NHL, he scored a hat-trick against the Wild.

They've added a couple of depth players in Joel Perrault and Jeff Tambellini (son of Oilers GM Steve interestingly enough!)

All in all, the Nucks don't have too much cap space left, but they could end up moving some players to make way for Cody Hodgson and Jordan Schroeder, and when all's said and done, the Nucks may give us a pretty hard time this season. They're one of  the most improved team in the Northwest Division. Look for them to get maybe a back-up goalie for Roberto Luongo so that they can keep Schneider in the minors and maybe get some more depth at forward as they now have a very well-balanced defense.

Calgary Flames

Additions/Signings : Alex Tanguay, Olli Jokinen, Tim Jackman, Raitis Ivanans, Henrik Karlsson, Logan MacMillan, Cam Cunning, Henrik Karlsson, Ryan Stone

Departures : Eric Nystrom, Chris Higgins, Jason Jaffray, David Van Der Gulik

Cap situation:    Payroll:  58,250,000

                        Bonuses:  None

                        Cap space:  1,150,000

                        Roster spots filled : 21

Thoughts:

Good Lord did this team plummet quickly! Trading Dion Phaneuf, re-acquiring Jokinen, getting Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins (the latter is gone, Kotalik likely gone too), and they're getting rather old too. Sutter's head may be on a stake right now, but you can't say he isn't trying.

He re-invited Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen for another round in CGY, which made many eyebrows go crazy and a lot of drinks spit out by Flames fans. While I do think Sutter's reasoning for bringing back Jokinen is utter idiocy, it's not as bad a move as everyone thinks. Let me explain: In his first stint with the Flames, Jokinen cost 5.5 million to underachieve rather badly. This time around, he costs 3 million, which is much more reasonable for a guy who had 50 points. While he's far from the form of his Florida days, the move shouldn't be dismissed so quickly, although I think we should all understand Flames fans, because after all, Shep's been re-signed!

Other than that, I think Tanguay's not too bad of an acquisition in itself; not too expensive, played not too bad hockey in CGY, but the thing is, they're planning to make an Iginla-Jokinen-Tanguay line as their top line, which to me looks kind of iffy. But then again, who are we to talk?

Fan favourite Nystrom is now on our side, and they seemingly replaced him with Raitis Ivanans, who is a feared fighter, but not much else. They might as well have signed Boogaard. That being said, Ivanans will bring order and fear on the ice during his few minutes of play.

Barring major changes, which are unlikely to improve the team too much since they're close to the cap maximum, look (and hope) for the Flames to flame out once again this year. They would need some youthful players to take over on forward in the near future. They still have a pretty good defensive corps and one of the best goalies in the business in Miikka Kiprusoff, but this squad could be among the oldest this year.

Edmonton Oilers

Additions/Signings : Taylor Hall, Colin Fraser, Steve MacIntyre, Jason Strudwick, Alexandre Giroux, Jim Vandermeer, Martin Marincin, Kurtis Foster, Richard Petiot, Brad Moran

Departures : Riley Nash, Denis Grebeshkov, Patrick O'Sullivan,  Chris Minard, Ryan Stone, Ethan Moreau

Cap situation:    Payroll:  48,646,167

                        Bonuses:  3,977,500

                        Cap space: 14,731,333

                        Roster spots filled : 20

Thoughts:

Here's a team that's being completely Over-Halled (see what I did there? Hahaha) Drafting Taylor Hall will certainly have an immediate impact and help them VERY much. They're also expected to buy out Robert Nilsson, and they've already shed Ethan Moreau, Denis Grebeshkov and Patrick O'Sullivan, as well as putting Sheldon Souray on waivers. All this can be called shaking things up.

 They've acquired Kurtis Foster. It will not be fun to have to see him in an Oilers jersey that often, not only because of sentimental reasons, but because he's coming off a career year in which he finally proved he's a good player in this league.

They've also made quite a few depth improving moves, which will help because Lord knows they've got a habit of playing lots of different players during the course of a season.

All of their shedding has given the Oilers lots of cap space to play with, but they're likely going to play it conservative this time around to not put themselves in the pickle they were in this year again. That, and they still need to re-sign some key RFAs in the likes of Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano and maybe Gilbert Brule and Devan Dubynk.

They should also look to try and get rid of the Bulin Wall and get a new #1, because JDD isn't ready yet. The Oilers won't be in the cellar of the NHL this year, but I would be surprised to see them make the playoffs because they still have a ways to go.

Colorado Avalanche

Additions/Signings : Daniel Winnik, Julian Talbot, Kyle Quincey, John Grahame, Greg Mauldin, David Liffiton, Jason Bacashihua, Kevin Porter, Raymond Macias, Philippe Dupuis, David Van der Gulik, Brandon Yip,

Departures : T.J Hensick, Brett Clark, Tom Pressing (Maybe, Mile High Hockey says his contract has been bought out and according to capgeek, it's all but official), Brian Fahey

Cap situation:    Payroll: 37,686,667

                        Bonuses:  2,787,500

                        Cap space: 24,500,833

                        Roster spots filled : 19

Thoughts

JS: They haven't made much of a splash yet in FA, but they've made a boatload of minor league and depth signings. Their key acquisition so far is Daniel Winnik, so... yeah... you know what I mean. They do have three important-ish departures in T.J. Hensick, Brett Clark and reportedly Tom Pressing, whose alleged buyout puzzles many Avs fans.

We've fared pretty good against the Avs this year, but they're going to be even more dangerous as guys like Matt Duchesne, Ryan O'Reilly and Peter Mueller (assuming he re-signs; he's a RFA) continue to grow.

Looking at their depth chart, I'm seeing a massive minus on defense. It's certainly something they should look to improve over the summer and they have more than enough cap space to do so right now. Another big question mark is Marek Svatos for two reasons: A) He had an absolutely horrible year, scoring only 11 points in 54 games (rather close to James Sheppard territory... in fact, since Svatos has posted better numbers than Shep over the years, I feel he might've had exactly as bad a season as Shep) and B) He's an unrestricred free agent. There's no doubt the guy's a good player, but right now, he's not in the Avs depth chart so they will be looking to either re-sign him, which could be surprising, or finding a replacement for him, perhaps on the second line. While there aren't too many options in the FA pool, I believe they could easily trade to get the spot filled.

It's clear the Avs won't be staying pat for long. They, as well as many other GMs around the league, are waiting on how things play out for the next few days. Clearly the signing of Kovalchuk will spawn a lot of movement since it would put whoever he signs with (likely Devils, but maybe Kings) in an obligation to move some salary.

It would be hard to imagine them not making the playoffs this year, but it may depend on their off-season moves and a quick start like they had last season.

Overall, I believe the Oilers are the most improved team, followed by the Canucks, then the Wild, the Flames and finally the Avs.

The Oilers shed a lot of cap space, drafted Taylor Hall, got rid of many underachievers (with a bit of luck and shrewd moves).

Then the Canucks, for the obvious reason that they got 2 top-4 d-men and a great 3^rd-4^th liner, albeit they overpaid for all of them.

The Wild finally got a 2^nd line center, got rid of our hockey-impaired players to get some real 4^th liners and got some tantalizing college talent on our side. Some will say that Cullen got overpaid, mostly because they compare him with Matthew Lombardi, who got the exact same deal. I would only half agree with this. I believe we signed the better of the two. Sure Lombardi is quick and young, but he isn't nearly as well balanced as Cullen. What's more, Cullen is ecstatic to be home in Minny (or so I've read). 3.5 million a year may be rather high, but that's the reality of the FA market: EVERYONE gets overpaid. I also can't wait to see Wellman and Palmer, two of the most wanted college UFAs of 2010, as well as Prosser. I believe CF struck gold with these guys.

 4^th on the improvement chart would be the Flames because even though they made some questionable acquisitions, they made more of them than the Avs. Plus, Jokinen DID have 50 points this year, which is more than we can say about guys like Winnik

The Avs are last for now because they haven't done much at all, but that's likely to change during the course of this week.

Other things I have noticed:

• - No team has had a very significant departure so far. And no, Boogaard doesn't count as a significant departure, let it go!
• - How the hell did Edmonton give away nearly 4M in bonus money? Do they have a losing bonus or something? Seriously though, they're the fifth highest team in terms of bonus money given and well, I don't really understand how that works...
• - Matt Cullen has a limited NTC... I probably missed this while I was moving (I missed out on all the fun!)
• - Nhl.com doesn't have the best free agent tracker. By far.

Hope this gives you an idea of what we'll be up against come October, I'll have another update for you next week, and every following week until the end of the free agency period!