Monthly Archives: June 2010
NHL FanHouse Top 50 Free Agent Tracker
Lebda…Leopold…Tallinder…Lydman…Park…Jokinen…Sim…Kariya…Bergenheim…Whitney…Mitchell…Turco…Theodore…Lalime…and on and on. I don’t know what the rest of the week has in store, but the Point Blank 2010 Free Agency blog starts…now! Thoughts on today’s events in free agency ONLY are welcomed in Comments.
9:55 am: In about seven hours, it will be nine years from today. My cell phone rang. “Hi, it’s your new goaltender. They told me to give you a call. Look forward to working with you.” My, what time has brought in those nine years. Today, that former goaltender has the responsibility of spending the money and cap floor space (about $6-7 million) to fill the Islanders’ four or five holes to make the playoffs in 2010-11 – and in the process, not hurting the slow and steady rebuild.
Garth Snow is at the Coliseum, with Kenny Morrow and a small handful of staffers at his side, ready to make his moves. As I wrote the other day, this won’t be a two-day process. Could take the entire two months before training camp starts.
10:15 am: If the Islanders cannot get one of the top defensemen available in the $3-5 million per year range, there could be a reunion with Andy Sutton. The contract would almost certainly be for just two years or one, and for less than he signed with the Islanders three years ago. While Andy is 35 and his return would not exactly be a forward-thinking move, at least the Islanders would know what they were paying for. Scott Gordon is also a supporter.
11:25 am: I’ll be interested to see where Sean Bergenheim ends up. I believe that if his agent is on top of his job, he should be able to get a good one-year contract to prove himself in a new setting. New Jersey could be a good place for him.
11:35 am: Andy Sutton texts, “I would love to be an Islander again.”
12:35 pm: Martin Biron to the Rangers. Starting around the Olmpic brean, there was a 0% chance he had the Islanders were going to do another year.
12:40 pm: Alex Tanguay back to the Calgary. I thought he might be a good cheap fit for the Islanders last season. I was wrong.
12:43 pm: Sergei Gonchar for three years, $5.5 mill a year at Ottawa. Amazing how a deal like that gets done within a half-hour after opening of the market.
12:53: The Islanders will not get big boy Jesse Winchester. Re-signs with Ottawa.
12:55: Paul Martin to Pittsburgh? Update: No, not yet. They are in the mix.
12:57: Gritty-gutty, Rangers-connected Steve Zipay reports that the Blueshirts are $11 million under the hard cap. They will spend some of it, even if they are committed to youth.
1:11: Pittsburgh signs the very reliable Z Michalek from Phoenix. Volchenkov still available.
1:13: Garth Snow gave Martin Biron permission to negotiate early. He went next door and got two years. Good for Garth and Marty.
1:20: Paul Martin is looking for five years. He’s young enough. Should be able to get it.
1:35: Colby Armstrong comes off the list. Three years at $3 mill a year to Toronto.
1:36: Antero Nittymaki, who wasn’t in play here, signs with San Jose.
1:40: Sean O’Donnell to Philadelphia for one year.
1:48: According to a report, the Islanders have contacted the agent for oft-injured free agent defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo.
2:25: Manny Malhotra to Vancouver. Dan Hamhuis will be signed in the next few hours.
2:27: What you usually see the first day is that most fans rip on every team’s signing – they over-paid – until their team signs a guy.
2:30: Winning a game eventually in Pittsburgh just got a little harder, unless the Islanders make strong improvements this season: Paul Martin is a Penguin.
2:37: The Boogeyman is a Ranger.
2:58: Toni Lydman gets over-paid – like everyone else! – by the Ducks. Three year, $9 mill.
3:17: Ray Whitney to Phoenix for two years.
3:25: No news to report yet on discussions between the Islanders and Pat Morris, the agent for Andy Sutton. The Islanders are likely focused on their top targets for now.
3:55: New Jersey signs Henrik Tallinder.
4:00: Kurtis Foster comes off the list. Signs for two years with Edmonton.
4:01: As long as Volchenkov is still on the list, the Islanders have a shot.
4:20: Agent Jay Grossman tweets that Anton Volchenkov is on his way to New Jersey on a six-year deal. Dan Hamhuis to Vancouver for six years.
4:25: Jeff Tambellini to Vancouver. Player personnel man Lorne Henning is close friends with Steve Tambellini, which is purely a coincidence.
4:35: Looks like Lou got Volchenkov for a manageable $4.25 million per.
4:40: Chicago losing more salary – this time Andrew Ladd to Chicago. Hey, Stan Bowman got good value in the Byfuglien trade. Would have liked to have seen Islanders get in on Versteeg or Ladd, but many disagreed.
5:13: All the D are flying out now. Jordan Leopold gets three years from Buffalo, hurting after saying goodbye to Lydman and Tallinder.
5:15: And to think, some of my cherished readers we annoyed that I had written about - but to be sure, did not stump for - players like Sutton, Nystrom and Asham the last few days.
5:20: Katie Strang reports that she has just checked in with the Islanders again and “nothing is brewing.”
5:28: New Jersey signs Johan Hedberg.
6:55: Catching up after dinner and a few beers – Tim Jackman gets two years from Calgary, which is really great news for a solid guy. Matt Cullen going to Minnesota on a three-year deal. Dallas gets Point Blank favorite Adam Burish, who would have been a blast just for the trash talk.
7:02: As you might have seen if you follow me on Twitter, agent Allan Walsh tweeted that he is speaking with Garth Snow about a number of clients. Of those still available, his best is the concussion-healing ace defenseman Willie Mitchell. Allan also reps Miro Satan. Allan also likes to do his best to make his friends on the GM side look good. There’s nothing here that would classify as major.
7:15: I’ll be here until about midnight, writing for FanHouse and waiting on an Islanders move if one comes. We made it this far; will start new thread with Day 2. Thanks for continuing to stop by.
7:20: On conference call, Lou Lamoriello says Volchenkov brings something “in our own zone” the Devils haven’t had since Scott Stevens.
7:55: Great, great news for Eric Nystrom, who signed for three years with Minnesota. Very happy for him and his family. It’s not the East, but Minny gets him a lot closer than Calgary.
10:10: If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my reaction to the blame being thrown on decrepit Nassau Coliseum. The short version: ridiculous. Paul Martin got $25 million for five years to sign with a team led by Sidney Crosby and run by Mario Lemieux. The overrated Dan Hamhuis got $4.5 mill a year to play on a contending team in his home province.
Eight hours into free agency, and we’re blaming the Coliseum for not signing players? What does that say about the guys who do sign in the next few days? More later.
10:58: The Islanders are not going to extend an offer sheet to Marc Staal, you have to understand that. Anyone who knows the relationship between the owners of the Islanders and Rangers knows why. And do you really want to leave yourself open to revenge from one of the deepest-pocketed franchises in the NHL?
11:52: Nine minutes to go and nothing to report. Will start a new thread with Day 2.
5:35 pm: Arron Asham would be honored if the Islanders considered him for a second stint in New York.
“Are you kidding? If they were interested in me, it would be really flattering and I’d have a lot to think about,” Asham told Point Blank this afternoon before boarding a plane for a vacation – and keeping an eye on the free agent frenzy.
“The Islanders have come a long way in the three years since I’ve been gone. They’ve added so much young talent. I’m 32 now and I’ve grown up myself a lot over the years. If I had the chance to be a leader and stand up for those great young players, I’m confident I could help out.”
Asham will be an unrestricted free agent on Thursday, but not because the Philadelphia Flyers do not want him. The Stanley Cup Finalists have no room under the salary cap. “There are no hard feelings,” said Asham. “I wanted to be there and I know they would like to keep me. Things are too tight.” To be sure, when I covered the Flyers’ opening round victory over New Jersey and the Cup Final loss to Chicago, Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette raved to me about Asham’s improvement as a player and leader. In 72 games last season, Asham had 10 goals, 14 assists and 126 penalty minutes.
The 5-11, 205-pound right wing – one of the best middleweight punchers in the game and the owner of a blazing slap shot he doesn’t use enough - has several Long Island connections. He still has his home in Point Lookout. His longtime girlfriend lives in New York. He spends most of the offseason here. Asham maintains a good relationship with general manager Garth Snow and the handful of teammates that remain from his first stint with the team. In the summer, he skates with several Islanders and Long Island NHLers at Iceworks in Syosset.
“The Islanders are the team I’m closest to, the team I’ve spent the most time with,” said Asham, who played four seasons here from 2002-2007. “You never know what’s going to happen in free agency, but maybe the Islanders are a possibility. I’m confident I’m going to be with some NHL team. I just won’t know who for a few days. No matter what happens, I can tell you I have nothing but great feelings about the organization, the fans and all of the people on Long Island.”
Comments on Arron Asham are welcomed. Details later tonight on the PB plan for the opening of UFA.
CB at FanHouse: news of Volchenkov, Martin
FanHouse: The Top 50 44 Free Agents
Lighthouse Hockey blog: Dominik on NYI Free Agency
3:15 pm: As the unrestricted free agent market sets to open on Thursday at noon, the Islanders have an estimated $6-8 million they will eventually have to spend in contracts for 2010-11 just to reach the CBA-mandated salary cap floor.
The Islanders’ shopping list is expected to include the following:
- One potential top-four defenseman
- One reliable, experienced, tough third-pair defenseman
- One potential top-six forward
- One reliable, experienced, rugged, penalty-killing, bottom-six foward
- One low-maintenance backup goaltender
- Size. The Islanders’ prospect pool has been filled with some big bodies. The Islanders’ current NHL roster? Not so much.
Do not – repeat, do not – expect Garth Snow to have all of his shopping done by the Fourth of July. He may have only one or two of the above signed by the end of the weekend. As he has wisely done in the past, Snow will wait as several good players slip through the cracks and begin to get nervous after the first ten days of July. For the kind of players Snow wants and needs out of this year’s crop, there is no rush.
This is not a top-heavy free agent market filled with stars. This actually works out well for the Islanders. While Ilya Kovalchuk might go to LA, Snow and his staff can look at a host of top-9 forwards – many whom would fit in nicely with the slow and steady rebuild. Among the available forwards:
Lee Stempniak
Alexander Frolov
Matthew Lombardi
Maxim Afinogenov
Raffi Torres
Dominic Moore
Chris Higgins
Colby Armstrong
All of the above are 30 years old (Afinogenov) and younger.
While top defensemen like Anton Volchenkov, Dan Hamhuis and injury-prone Willie Mitchell are almost certain to go elsewhere, Snow and his staff will still analyze the market for a large number of quality defensemen. Among those available:
Paul Martin
Andy Sutton
Zbynek Michalek
Pavel Kubina
Henrik Tallinder
Randy Jones
Jordan Leopold
Brett Lebda
Derek Morris
Joe Corvo
Kurtis Foster
Like last year, when Snow could not pass up the opportunity to sign Martin Biron for $1.4 million, goaltenders will be available to him at great rates – especially if, as is his style, he tells all agents he doesn’t feel the immediate pressure to sign one. There are more UFA goalies than desirous teams in this summer’s market. If the Islanders add a goalie, it probably won’t be for a while.
And that’s okay. Snow has higher priorities. Remember, his publicly-stated goal is for his Islanders to make the playoffs next season.
About that shopping list above: the key word may have to be “potential,” as in potential top-six-forward and potential top-four defenseman. If Snow cannot get any of the bonafide top veterans to sign, he’ll court younger players that have yet to blossom.
Getting a Matt Moulson every summer is an accomplishment you cannot expect of any hockey staff, but the Islanders will try again. From Mark Streit to Dwayne Roloson to Moulson, Snow, deputy Ken Morrow and the rest of hockey ops have done well with quality-value free agent dealings.
Even if it’s not many (or any) of the players listed above, the Islanders will get the men they need in this market. My only advice: while some of the perceived best available free agents are coming off the board on July 1 and 2, stay cool. The season does not start for another three months. Whether it’s free agency or salary cap-relief trades, Snow has plenty of avenues to explore.
Comments on free agency are welcomed. I’ll be on News 12 Long Island tonight at 8:20, talking about the draft and free agency. I realized this afternoon that, before saying anything on TV, I should get my views across to this blog’s readers. Thanks for stopping by…CB
A few weeks after Bobby Nystrom scored the overtime goal to give the Islanders’ their first Stanley Cup in 1980, his first offer from general manager William A. Torrey included a $5,000 reduction in pay. Those were different times. Nystrom never gave much thought to free agency.
“None of that stuff would have mattered,” Nystrom said in a phone conversation late Monday night. “I wouldn’t have left the Islanders anyway.”
I decided to have a father-to-father chat with Mr. Islander – also known as the son of Eric of the Calgary Flames – when the news broke that the Islanders did not give a qualifying offer to Sean Bergenheim. Just like that, Bob Nystrom’s old team had even more money under the salary cap floor to sign unrestricted free agents beginning Thursday. At the ripe young age of 27, fiery forward Eric Nystrom will be available to any NHL team for the cost of a contract.
Of course, I did not expect Bob to specifically discuss whether his son would be comfortable playing at home. The call was more to learn about his role as advisor, NHL veteran of 900 games, and very proud papa.
“As a father, you just want to see your son go to a place where he’ll be happy and have an opportunity,” said Bob Nystrom, a Long Island resident for almost 30 years now. “Money is always going to be part of it, but let’s face it: just about all of these players do well nowadays. If Eric is a free agent on July 1 and is fortunate enough to garner some interest, I suspect he’s going to look more at the franchise’s reputation and the state of the team. He’ll want to look at who is on the team and if there is a good role for him. He’ll want to try and figure out where he fits best.”
That’s when I mentioned to Bob about the Islanders’ decision to not extend a Q.O. to Sean Bergenheim.
“Hmm…that’s interesting,” said Nystrom. “I didn’t know that. I…well, I guess that maybe opens up some space on the roster. I guess that could open up a door. I don’t know. Eric and I haven’t spoken much about it yet. He has an agent (Wade Arnott) and I’m sure they’ll talk things through.”
After his freshman season in Michigan, Eric Nystrom was drafted tenth overall in 2002 by the Calgary Flames. Scouts did not project him as a big scorer, but a supreme role player who could bang in 20 goals a season after gaining some experience. After some time shuffling back and forth from the minors, Eric was with the Flames for the entirety of the last two seasons. Playing almost exclusively on the third and fourth lines, he had only 16 goals and 29 points over 158 games.
If the Islanders extend a contract offer later this week, it won’t be with expectations of Eric becoming something he is not. This would be a major signing in name, intangibles and one big newspaper headline only; no one is saying Eric Nystrom would put the Islanders over the top.
But with role players such as Jon Sim and Richard Park all but gone, the Islanders could do a heckuva lot worse than signing a 6-1, 200-pound, hard-hitting wing with Long Island roots and the ultimate Islanders bloodlines. He’ll stick up for teammates with the occasional middleweight scrap. His presence would make a segment of the fanbase feel even better about the Islanders. No doubt Scott Gordon, who coached Nystrom at the World Championships in Germany in May, will be asked for his opinion. The cost per year would be less than half the average salary of an NHL player.
While he and his wife Michelle would be ecstatic if their son returned home to play hockey, all Bob Nystrom wants is the best for Eric.
“I’ll admit this: if he leaves Calgary, which is pretty far away, the Eastern Conference would not be so bad,” the four-time Stanley Cup winner said with a laugh. “I’m just so proud of the player and the man Eric has become. The NHL TV season pass has been a godsend, but I would go anywhere to see him play. Above everything else, if Eric has the opportunity to consider a few teams, my biggest wish is that he ends up where he’ll be the happiest.”
Comments on this story.
4:15 pm: By not receiving qualifying offers from the Islanders, Bergenheim and Tambellini will become unrestricted free agents on July 1. As I’ve written countless times in this space, Sean’s best chance to be better will likely have to come somewhere else. By extending QOs to Matt Moulson, Rob Schremp, Dustin Kohn, Dylan Reese and Nathan Lawson, the Islanders hold on to their rights. Comments.
To be sure, there were plenty of NHL teams that weren’t drafting Kirill Kabanov in any round.
“I hope he figures it out and becomes a good player for the Islanders,” one general manager told me moments after his team made its seventh round selection on Saturday. “We decided, no matter the talent, that we didn’t want him in our organization. Didn’t want him around our players or at our prospect camp, didn’t want to give our coach and our staff any more work. No one is saying he’s an awful person or that he’s beyond repair. I actually think the chances are good the Islanders will make him a very productive player. Each team has its ways of doing things, is all it is.”
What does this say about the New York Islanders? Certainly nothing bad. In fact, for Charles Wang, Garth Snow and Ryan Jankowski, it’s all good. Taking a chance on an otherworldly talent like Kabanov – even if he shows signs of being a brother from another planet – is exactly the type of home run swing this franchise needs to take.
Until the franchise and its facility become a destination for foundation players 26 years of age or older, until Nassau/Queens is drilled with push-pins on the maps of agents on July 1, 2015, 2018 or whenever, the Islanders are going to have to find the majority of their best players in the draft.
When you’re the Islanders and a top-ten talent is going to be available at pick 65, you don’t hesitate. Perhaps the Islanders’ only hesitation was over picking another kid high on their board with the fifth pick in the third round. There was an excellent chance Kabanov would have been available with their later pick in the round, just as Kirill Petrov was two Junes ago. For the record, the Islanders didn’t “get lucky” with Kabanov’s fall. No, they decided to tackle a problem few other teams would. (Here’s an idea for NHL Network: Kabanov and 6-6 development coach Eric Cairns, starring in the reality television program “Scared Straight.”)
Do not discount Charles Wang’s role in the selection of Kabanov. While Wang has been a commanding early-round presence at the top of the Islanders’ draft table for years now, he stayed until the very end on Saturday. It is not a leap of the imagination to picture the feisty Wang during round two, while teams started reaching for Central Scouting’s 61st and 86th ranked prospects, saying, “Hey guys, what are we doing here? Are we really going to pass up a kid mentioned last year in the top four? You really want to throw a dart on another kid going to the NCAA that we might see in four years”?
(Of course, I don’t know for a fact whether Wang said anything of the sort. But it is one of the things I admire about the man. If that’s what he was thinking, good for him. I know that’s what I would have said as Connor Brickley and Devante Smith-Pelly and Jason Zucker came off the board. You weren’t thinking that, too?)
When it was over, and Kabanov was property of the Islanders, both sides played it perfectly. Snow was at his stodgy best, not jumping up and down like Tom Cruise over his high-end/deep-end prospect. Instead, he came off as a stern papa, talking about “guidelines” and “ground rules” and “second chances” and “the way we expect Islanders to be.”
Besides being the proper stance, it wasn’t acting. Snow has now been at this long enough to understand it’s hypocritical to be comforted by Cam Fowler’s fall six spots behind the Islanders’ slot, while Kabanov fell 60 in six months. Like the GM said, “There are reasons.” Despite the endless upside of Kabanov, his arrival is another challenge for Snow in a job that had plenty of challenges to begin with. While the Islanders, like every team, inspect for “character,” most would rather their prospects come off as gum-chewing grumps like Brett Connolly than life forces like Kabanov. He’s really going to make Scott Gordon earn that Adams Trophy nomination.
As for the kid, well, you’re seen the pictures, read the interviews. Kabanov wa in no position to grumble about the plummet of his reputation or his draft stock. Besides having a New York-based model girlfriend, there were plenty of reasons for him to be ecstatic:
1. He could have really been embarrassed, going in the fifth round (likely to the Islanders).
2. When he arrived at the Islanders’ table, he wasn’t scolded or lectured, but embraced (he’s not used to that).
3. The kid without a team had finally found a home.
At 18, Kabanov has set a speed record for running out of second chances. Unlike his junior days, when he had alternatives to Moncton and the KHL and the Russian National Team, Kabanov is reaching a point when he will no longer have many options. In the rebuilding of Kabanov’s image, while Snow continues to rebuild the team, the Islanders have the ultimate leverage, the ultimate reward for Kabanov to fetch: a three-year, Entry Level contract to play in the National Hockey League.
He’s a mere third round pick; the Islanders are under no pressure to give him money. Kabanov is going to have to earn it. Should the team and Kabanov continue to play this right, the snake-charmer right wing won’t just be a fun story to follow. First, he can be a man. Then he could become a star. In the end, it will be up to Kirill Kabanov.
Comments on Kirill Kabanov.
No real news here, no quotes of substance. The ToH’s plan for the Coliseum property, first expected by Memorial Day, then in June, should be ready this week. Will probably come out just as free agency starts on Thursday, right? The article says Kate Murray’s vision is expected to include “many of the pieces of the original Lighthouse Project…but on a smaller scale. Ya think? If you’ve got a subscription, here’s the story.
