Some of the Best Signings from Free Agency

(Penguins) Peter Budaj: 1 year $8 mill cap hit. This was a target from the start, was a glaring hole on the roster and wanted it settled right away to address other areas. Considering it is a 1 year deal and most consider him to have top 12 rates, really pleased to get him at this cap hit and this early.

(Panthers) PK Subban: 1 year $800K cap hit. Considering where Rex is at with the franchise I love this deal for him. Its no secret he is going for broke to win the cup and this gives him a lot more flexibility to work with. Honestly just feel Eric fucked up with attempting to poison pill him.

(Avalanche) Zdeno Chara: 1 year $6 mill. Like this signing a lot, Bryce gets a great 2-3 Dman at a great cap hit.

(Bruins) Ryan Getzlaf: 1 year $12 mill cap hit. Really like this deal for Dan. Gets his top line C out of the way and can move on to address other areas. Now take into consideration a lot of the crazy contacts given out towards the end of free agency and Dan gets great value on one of the top Centers.

(Penguins) Mark Giordano: 2 years $7 mill cap hit. Solid signing getting the 2^nd year. With an open spot for expansion and a very reasonable $7 mill cap hit Pens have locked up a great top 4 D for the next two years. Some had concerns using the remaining expansion slot on him but I feel he is sure to rerate like a top pairing D again and truthfully have lots of open slots up front they plan on trying to take advantage of around deadline.

(Capitals) Jay Bouwmeester: 3 year $5 mill cap hit. Wish this was a 2 year deal not 3 but at only a $5 mill cap hit I think Joe has a lot of flexibility between retention, buy out or simply moving him if Jays age starts to catch up to him. But for the next two years get a solid blueliner for his top 4.

(Lightning) Keith Yandle 2 years $ 4 mill cap hit.  Really like the cap hit and term, feel Eric took advantage of early free agency and landed a Power Play Specialist. He can be paired up and protected with a number of well rated DF guys but can run his top PP line and wouldn’t be surprised to see him rate even better next year.

(Flyers) Claude Giroux 5 years $12 mill. I know there are some mixed feelings with this signing but personally I like it a lot for Anthony. Preferably could of taken a year off the term but realistically this makes sense. Obviously Giroux had a down year, but many including myself are expecting him to bounce back (and a down year with 92 PH, 97 FO and 87 PA is still pretty damn good in my books. Every year top guys go in that 10-15 mill range and I see Anthony having many great oppurtunities to flip him to a contender with a little retention. At 29 years of age the term isn’t bad and actually even opens up the choice of him keeping Giroux until he is ready to step up with the rest of the team. As long as he shows patience and picks his spot I think this is a good deal he can cash in on.

(Blues) Joe Pavelski 3 years $10.75 mill cap hit. Arguably the best Center in Free Agency. Like I said before top players generally go $10-15 mill each year. Hell look how the prices for forwards seemed to jump right after this signing. Like the term love the cap hit. Think Eric did exceptional locking Joe in like this and think he has a top line C for the next few years, and if he drops year 3 it wont be by a lot and easily retained.

(Capitals) Dan Girardi 1 year $4.5 mill cap hit. At first I was not a huge fan of this contract. Girardi is pretty one dimensional but boasts a solid 90 DF. But what ended up landing him on this half of the article was seeing what other Dmen got for contracts with similar ratings and taking into consideration Joe had the cap to spend the extra little here and there to get the pieces he needed to fill the roster.

(Avalanche) Ryan Kesler 1 year $11 mill cap hit. Kesler is the best ALL AROUND rated Center in free agency and I like it a lot because Bryce had the cap to pay the little bit more and got a very good piece he can use throughout his top 6 and special teams.

(Bruins) Alexander Edler 1 year $5 mill cap it. Like this signing a lot for Dan. Edler is a very well rounded Dman with 82 SK, 75 PH and 88 DF. Great value especially this deep in free agency and fills and obvious need for Dan on the back end ( haha ). Was honestly surprised he did not get upped but good for Dan.

(Ducks) Blake Wheeler: 1 year $11 mill cap hit. Let me start by saying I hate these sign and trades from teams that are not competing. I fucking hate it because it is not realistic and it gets in the way of teams that are trying to be competitive. That being said I do understand the signing from a team like Devon’s perspective. I really wanted to put this on the next article but after doing some background checks it made me lean more towards liking the deal in the long run, let me explain. The best straight deal I can use as a comparison was Bryce trading $18.5 mill cash to Rex for Philly 2^nd (late) at about deadline last year. I remember everyone at the time didn’t like it and thought it was a crazy overpayment. So Devon gives an $11 mill base with $5.5 mill SB, then for him to retain like he will have to will be another $5.5 mill he will be paying off and finally the $4 mill penalty for moving the high priced newly signed Free Agent. $5.5 SB+ $5.5 Retention + $4 fine comes to $15 million in cash he will be spending on Wheeler plus the angle where he is technically on the roster and would hurt the tank effort for the first 30 days before he can get moved. BUT when I look at Wheelers rates and what the market usually fetches Devon should be able to get a late 1, or good 2^nd or 2^nd +. So when comparing to $18.5 mill for a late 2^nd, I cant sit here and completely rip $15 mill for what should be a better package. As long as Devon finds the right suitor this should work out for him by draft time next year.

(Devils) Dustin Brown 3 year $ 2.8 mill cap hit. This deal makes a lot of sense to me. The way I see it usually a 3^rd line guy is well rounded and will be about $2-4 mill in most teams budgets, so at $2.8 mill with most ratings across the board in their 70s I love this deal. Not to mention the term where who knows he may get off to a hot start or easily bounce back a little more and then can either be flipped for a good return or help big time on Tims own team the following year. Great investment signing.

(Hurricanes) Kris Russel 1 year $4 mill cap hit. Like this deal a tonne value wise getting a 91 DF defenseman who can skate especially this far into free agency and coming in cheaper than a lot of Dmen rated similar who have already came off the board. Would of LOVED the deal if it was 2 years simply because with Sekera out for a large portion of next season Russel will just get more ice time and opportunity.

(Capitals) Patrick Eaves 1 year $8.5 mill cap hit. Hey top rated SC in the entire free agent class and after seeing what Centers with a high passing were getting was very impressed to see Eaves go this cheap. Is a very very good addition to the Caps top 6 this year.

(Islanders) Corey Crawford 1 year $10 mill base. Best rated goalie in free agency. Cant believe there was not more people in the market for a starter this year. Rich has probably the best team on paper thgoing into this season and is a definite contender now that he has filled his starter role with a top 10 tender.

(Penguins) Andrei Markov: 1 year $5.8 mill cap hit. One of the better offensive defensemen in the league this year and with a 79 DF is still atleast defensively responsible and doesn’t need to be sheltered at all 5 on 5.

(Flyers) Marc Andre Fleury 2 years $5 mil cap hit. Really like the deal for Anthony as an investment on Fleury. I don’t think its hard to expect over 55 games next year and a 0.918 Save %. He should rerate like a good starter and will fetch a very good return to help the rebuild effort. And Fleury showed inn this years playoffs he can still play at a top level. Great signing

(Jets) Mike Cammalari: 2 years at $3.85 mill cap hit. Considering he has a 77 SC, 70 PA and 79 PH he is a very good 3^rd liner on a good team. He theoretically should be very easy to move as the season progresses especially with a little retention, but I love the 2^nd year on the deal, good chance he bounces back in LA where he is sure to get top 6 minutes with better talent and this could be a great steal in a years time and will just help with the negotiations OR if Jordan decides to make a push next season.

(Hurricanes) Henrik Zetterberg: 1 year $10 mill cap hit. Really like this contract for Rich, he had a need for a top Center and Zetterberg definitely can play that role. He had the cap and with the market shrinking was a really good signing especially after seeing the extra pressure it put on the market once he came off and what some of the remaining 2^nd tier guys got. I was right with Rich on him but with other spots to address in my line up I opted out and made the Sedin trade leaving Zetterberg for him.

(Avalanche) Jeff Carter: 1 year $11.75 mill cap hit. Bryce lands one of the best Centers in free agency and solidifies himself on paper as the team to beat in the West. Like the signing because of the obvious skillset he brings and Bryce had more than enough cap to do it. And looking more in depth stripped him away from a divisional rival he will be battling with all year for the Central Division.

(Panthers) Brent Burns: 1 year $12.615 mill cap hit. Rex was extremely patient after being upped repeatedly last minute he kept his cool and ended landing the top rated free agent Dman at a cap hit I think everyone was expecting to be higher, his patience seemed to wait out the others until the competing teams bidding on him simply ran out of cap with other signings they had on the go. Rex lands Burns and solidifies what is most likely the best blue line on paper going into his final season with this squad.

(Blackhawks) Andrej Sekera 3 years $4.95 mill. One of the few well rounded Dmen in the class is a great value at just under 5 bills. Really like the term here, if it was a 2 year deal it probably would of made the other list but at a 3 year term Sekera will have a real great chance to rebound after his injury and come back strong at a really good salary, dave just needs to figure a way to work around him next year but may get lucky if Sekera gets some games in at the end of this season and can salvage a good rerate and then can just have limited ice time in his 2^nd year.

(Avalanche) Erik Johnson 3 years $8.5 mill cap hit. Top pairing all around Dman who is now locked in for a few years at a very reasonable cap hit. Once again patience prevailed as the other teams who kept upping him ran out of cap while Bryce was able to wait them out before the hit got much higher. Johnson IS the anchor on the Avs blueline and with his absents with injury last season showed how valuable he really is and is a great multi year piece for Bryce to compete with now that he finally is trying to compete and not play scout for a season.

(Canadiens) Frans Nielsen: 2 years $5 mill cap hit. Well rounded forward, 3^rd liner on a good team definitely over paid for this year but the reason he makes the likes list is because of that 2^nd year of term and I like many think it is very possible he puts up a great rerate in year 2 as the entire Red Wings organization does a reboot this season.

(Maple Leafs) Thomas Vanek  2 years $6mill cap hit. I was very on the fence with this one. What pushed him on to this side of it is Vanek actually has very good all around offensive rates this year (82 SK, 76 PH, 83 PA, 76 SC ) and this deep in free agency and with the other who were on the board with him I am shocked his cap hit went this low. However the half that has me worried is Vanek carries that $6 mill with him next year, as of right now he is still a free agent without a team, rumours have it he wants back in Detroit where I think would give him great opportunity and make this a real good deal but what worries me is Detroit is tight to the cap and if he lands elsewhere hard to say he would get the same ice time with young talent like in Detroit, concerned he has to settle and gets buried in a lineup. But worst case he is a good retention next season and should have at worst good 3^rd line rates.

(Flyers) Dustin Byfuglien 1 year $10.5 mill cap hit. Once again I hate these obvious sign and trades teams who are not competing make but that being said I do understand the move for Anthony. Similar analysis as Wheeler. $5.25 SB + $5.25 remaining salary being retained + $4 mill fine for moving recently signed big free agent. Basically $14.5 mill for what is expected to be a mid to high 2^nd round pick or even a late 1^st to a contender. Deal makes sense when comparing it to straight cash deals for picks that have happened in the past. All depends when and what he moves him for.

(Blues) Jake Muzzin 5 years $4.8 mill cap hit. Loved this deal simply because it was hilarious to watch the drama around this signing.

(Capitals) Jason Chimera 1 year $3.8 mill cap hit. 3^rd round guys of value are for the most part $2-3.5 mill cap hits IMO if you want to budget a good deep team. Chimera has descently rounded stats none that stand out but all around a good 3^rd liner so to get him at this cap hit this late in free agency was a good signing.

(Stars) Ryan Miller 1 year $7.3 mill cap hit. Very good signing. Junya now has a good tandem in net with Miller and Reimer. Just getting the starter and at this good hit is a big win. He had loyalty and this signing just made sense from the start.

(Predators) Roberto Luongo 2 year $5.8 mill cap hit. Luongo had good rates this season really like the 2^nd year of the deal locking him up taking advantage of this years low goalie prices. No reason to believe he cant put up starter rates next year. Great signing for Ty.