Frozen Pucks – Free Agent Edition, Part I

July 2, 2009 3:09pm CDT

Free agency opened up and the floodgates were filled with a myriad of teams signing players to contracts to bring them into the fold. In today's entry we'll hit on the free agents that moved on to new organizations. In the next addition of Frozen Pucks we'll discuss the players that chose to stay where they were comfortable by re-singing with the teams they played for in 2008-09.


HOSSA TO BLACKHAWKS: 12-years, $62 million
Adios Mr. Havlat. Hossa signed a massive 12 year deal that is font loaded (he will make roughly $3.5 million over the final four years of the deal). Slated to skate on a like Jonathan Toews, Hossa joins an up and coming club that should allow him a chance to finally win that elusive Stanley Cup he has been longing to hoist. Hossa, one of the top scoring wingers in the game, has scored at least 29 goals in each season since 1999, and since the start of the 2002-03 campaign the man has averaged 39 goals and 82 points a season. There is little reason for him to fall from those marks in the coming season given that he is only 30 years old. The Blackhawks got one hell of a scorer, more reliable than the outgoing Martin Havlat by a massive amount. Now it just remains to be seen if the organization can sign all of their talented youngsters long-term.

GABORIK TO RANGERS: 5-years, $37.5 million
One of the top-10 skaters in the league, hell one of the top-10 talents in the league, will take his game to the Big Apple in search of the one thing that has eluded him - consistency. Gaborik appeared in just 17 games this past season and two years ago he appeared in 48 games, and it's not like he was super healthy the two years before that when he appeared in 65 games each time (2003 and 2005 - there was a strike in 2004). Still, the man can light up the scoreboard as he has averaged 36 goals a season per 82 games in his career, and just two seasons ago he scored a career-high 42 times. The Rangers haven't had a player of this skill set since the Russian Rocket - Pavel Bure - graced the ice for them, but that doesn't mean that his addition will lead to massive amounts of fantasy success - he is still a huge injury risk no matter what color his sweater is.

HAVLAT TO WILD: 6-years, $30 million
Out with the old, in with the new. In one of the oddest twists in recent memory, the Wild rid themselves of the most talented/injury prone forward on the market only to sign --- the second most talented/injury prone forward on the market. Crazy. Havlat, coming off a career season of 81 games and 77 points, will be asked to replace the scoring exploits of Gaborik. While Havlat is surely a talented winger, he won't be skating with anywhere near the talent that he found himself surrounded with while in Chicago which is obviously a concern. When you factor in that he has averaged just 48 games a season the past four years, well, you had better be awfully cautious when evaluating his chance of success in his first season with the Wild.

KHABIBULIN TO OILERS: 4-years, $15 million
With Dwayne Roloson signing with the Isles (see below), the Oilers wasted little time in filling their vacancy between the pipes by tabbing this veteran. After failing to live up to expectations his first three years in Chicago, the Bulin Wall performed very well when he was healthy this past season finishing the year with a 25-8-7 record. Khabibulin also finished sixth in the league with a .919 save percentage while his GAA of 2.33 was third. It's doubtful he will be able to duplicate those numbers with the Oilers, but with health there is no reason to think he wont be capable of being a netminder one in fantasy leagues.

JAY BOUWMEESTER TO FLAMES: 5-years, $33 million
The club took a big gamble, and it paid off. After sending Jordan Leopold and their third round pick in the just completed draft merely for the rights to negotiate with Bouwmeester before he became a free agent, the Flames where able to land their man on the blue line with this five year deal. Bouwmeester, who is from the province of Alberta, will eat up roughly half the game in ice-time, and when coupled with Dion Phaneuf gives the Flames twin hammers on the blue line. Bouwmeester, who has averaged 14 goals and 40 points the last three seasons, moves to a better team and could see his numbers grow in his seventh NHL season.

MICHAEL CAMMALLERI TO CANADIENS: 5-years, $30 million
Cammalleri converted a career best effort of 39 goals and 82 points into a big payday with the Canadiens. His particular specialty is the power-play, he scored 19 goals with the man-advantage last season the second best mark in the league behind the 20 markers posted by Thomas Vanek, and his total of 60 PP goals the past four years is the sixth best mark in the NHL. Face it, the guy is a sniper. Still, don't underestimate the effect of not skating on a line with Jarome Iginla will have - it might make it impossible for Cammalleri to duplicate his production from last season.

MIKE KNUBLE TO CAPITALS: 2-years, $5.6 million
Quite the coup for the Caps who not only add the goal scoring spark plug to their lineup but also deprive the Flyers of a piece they needed to hold on to. Knuble, who will more than replace the offense lost when Sergei Fedorov decided to return to Russia, has scored at least 24 goals in each of the last six seasons. If he can skate with either Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin or Nicklas Backstrom, a virtually certainty, his numbers could improve. He could also be a power-play force having scored at least 10 goals each of the past four seasons with the man-advantage, and his bull to the net attitude is just the type of addition the highly impressive group of talented scorers in Washington need.

BRIAN GIONTA TO CANADIENS: 5-years, $25 million
The Habs recently acquired Scott Gomez in a deal that sent, among others, Christopher Higgins to the Rangers. As a result of that trade, and the signing of Brain Gionta, there appears to be a great chance that the former line mates from their days in New Jersey will be reunited in Montreal. For his part Gomez has produced at least 70-points in three of the past five seasons, and he is a veritable assist machine which should fit in nicely with he sniper that is Gionta. Over the past five seasons Gionta has scored at least 20 goals each time. Of course, the Habs didn't give this mighty mite five million smackers a year to score 20 goals, they hope that he will be able to return to the level that saw him score 48 goals when he was riding shotgun to Gomez. Time will tell if that is realistic or not, but he should be given copious amounts of ice-time to find out.

ANTROPOV TO THRASHERS: 4-years, $16 million
Will the big winger, he stands about 6'9" with his skates on, skate on a line with sniper Ilya Kovalchuk? The 29 year old, who had spent his entire 9-year career with the Leafs before being moved to the Rangers at the trade deadline, is coming off the most productive season of his career that saw him score 28 goals and record 59 points while appearing in 81 games. The good news for the Thrashers is that his effort last season comes fresh on the heels of a 2007-08 season that saw him produced nearly identical numbers with 26 goals and 56 points. His value should remain about the same this season with some room for growth if he is given a lot of power-play time, but if the club were to trade Kovalchuk then a whole lot of pressure would fall on Nik. Could he leave up to those expectations?

DWAYNE ROLOSON TO ISLANDERS: 2-years, $5 million
Maybe Rick DiPietro isn't going to be healthy after all (DiPietro is set to resume skating in August)? Roloson, who is 40 years old, had a strong season for the Oilers despite going just 28-24-9 with a 2.77 GAA. Roloson was able to post a .915 save percentage, his highest figure since the 2003-04 campaign, as he appeared in more than 60 games for the second time in three years. If he appears in that many games in the coming season things have gone horribly wrong for the Isles, but at least now they can rest a bit easier knowing that if DiPietro isn't physically able to give it a go that they have an NHL veteran capable of taking over the starting net minding duties in Roloson.

SCOTT CLEMMENSEN TO PANTHERS: 3-years, $3.6 million
Forgotten about as soon as Martin Brodeur was healthy (he was actually sent back to the minors so that the club wouldn't lose it's other netminder), the erstwhile backup finds himself heading to yet another squad where he figures to serve in a supporting role as the Panthers will likely turn to Tomas Vokoun on most nights. Still, Clemmensen doesn't figure to make only a handful of starts as he did when suiting up behind the 70-plus game stalwart that is Brodeur -he is probably in line for at least 25 starts, possible even more down in Florida. Don't overlook Clemmensen at the draft table, after all he was 10th in the league with a .917 save percentage while his 2.39 GAA was eighth while playing for the defensively superior Devils.

IAN LAPERRIERE TO FLYERS: 3-years, $3.5 million
Just the type of hard nose player the Flyer faithful adore. Laperriere is a leader on the bench and in the dressing room, and though his offensive exploits are limited (7g, 12a) he is always the first one into a fracas to help out a teammate. As a result he is borderline play in deep leagues as he is coming off the second most productive PIM season of his career (163), the 11th time in 12 seasons he has hit triple-digits.

SAMUEL PAHLSSON TO BLUE JACKETS: 3-years, $7.95 million
One of those guys who is much more valuable on the ice than in the fantasy game, Pahlsson is a defensive dynamo up front that the Jackets will almost assuredly match up against the other teams top snipers on a nightly basis. Pahlsson scored seven goals and dished out 11 assists last season, and while he might bump those numbers up a bit, he appeared in just 65 games, there isn't enough offense in his game to warrant a look in fantasy pools.

CRAIG ANDERSON TO AVALANCHE: 2-years, $3.4 million
With Andrew Raycroft out of town, the club needed to address their issues in net. This signing likely means that Jonas Gustavsson isn't going to land here. As for Anderson, over the past two seasons amongst goalies who have appeared in 40-games, Anderson leads the NHL with a .928 save percentage, quite the accomplishment for a man who has backstopped an often poor Panthers squad. He could very beat out Peter Budaj for the starting role, in fact he is the favorite for the starting role at the moment, so keep an eye on all news out of the Rocky Mountains.

BRIAN BOUCHER TO FLYERS: 2-years, $1.85 million
The club has finished its complete overhaul of their netminders with the addition of Boucher and Ray Emery to take up time in net. Emery has to be looked at as the starter at this point, but that doesn't mean that Boucher isn't going to see his fair share of starts, especially with Emery playing last season in Russia do to his off-ice issues that he must prove are behind him. If Boucher is forced to play a fair amount of time that isn't a bad thing since over 30 games the past two seasons he has posted a .919 save percentage along with a strong 2.12 GAA while with the Sharks.

TY CONKLIN TO BLUES: 2-years, $2.6 million
Over the past two years Conklin is 43-19-0 for two strong teams in Pittsburgh and Detroit, and he will bring a game that has seen him produce a 2.51 GAA over the past two seasons to the Blues. Given that the team is committed to Mason, Conklin shouldn't be expected to appear in more than 25 games in the coming season.

MATTIAS OHLUND TO LIGHTNING: 7-years, $26.25 million
This move might not register much in terms of awaking anyone's fantasy passion, but it's a nice move for a team that clearly needs to establish something on the ice. "This signing accomplished two primary goals for us," GM Brian Lawton said. "First, we have added the top-two defenseman we coveted to lead our blue line and second, we have found a leader and a mentor for Victor Hedman as he prepares to play in the NHL this fall." Ohlund scored only 25 points last season, the eighth straight year he has recorded at least 24 points, and he is coming off his first season of triple-digit PIMs with 105 to give him just enough value to round out your defensive squad with.

SPACEK TO CANADIENS: 3-years, $11.5 million
A nice addition to the blue line for the Habs who have added a blue liner capable of helping at the point on the power-play. Coming off a season of 45 points, tying his career-high from 2002-03, he should be a nice option as a depth scoring option.

MIKE KOMISAREK TO LEAFS: 5-years, $22.5 million
If blocked shots matter in your league, then this is a man to keep an eye on since he finished fourth in the league last season with 207(he also racked up a team leading 191 hits). If your league doesn't count this statistic, you likely will be better off not valuing this man as highly as the Leafs did as he has yet to recorded even five goals or 20 points in any season of his career. He has posted at least 96 PIMs in each of the past four years, so he does offer something there as well.


PLAYER WHO REMAINS WITH HIS TEAM DESPITE PROTESTATIONS

Dany Heatley is still a member of the Senators after turning down a deal with the Edmonton Oilers, this according to the Edmonton Sun. The report is that a deal was agreed to that would send him to the Oilers for Andrew Cogliano, Ladislav Smid and Dustin Penner. No word on why Heatley reportedly turned down the chance to move west as he had expressed a desire to do.