NHL UFA Season - 2008 - First Look

PunjabiOil has been on top of the UFA signing list for a while now. I usually let this go for quite a while yet but given the stuff I have been reading on some fanboards I figured it was time I did an initial weigh in.

You may notice that this post is FAR less in-depth than the posts I made last year on the same subject. Yes, that was deliberate. When I took a look at what was available this year it just wasn't that special. Not a lot of value out there this year imo.

Qualifier(s)

I will only list those players that I think are worth signing based on a combination of price and performance or price and upside.

I will exercise a slight Edmonton bias (Glencross) but the players listed are those I would recommend to any team.

If I have not listed a player it is because I think they are more trouble than they worth (Avery), more expensive that I can justify even though I like them otherwise (Demitra) or over-rated in my opinion (Campbell).

The Ratings

'*' = from '*' (take a flyer) to '*****' (well worth a contract)
'$' = from '$' (relatively cheap) to '$$$$$' (gonna hurt)
'?' = from '?' (death and taxes) to '?????' (like the weather)

The Rankings (in order)

F - Glencross .. (EDM) .. ***** .. $ ...... ???
D - Hejda ...... (CBJ) .. ***** .. $$$ .... ?
D - Hainsey .... (CBJ) .. ***** .. $$$$ ... ?
L - Williams ... (CHI) .. ***** .. $$$ .... ??
D - Salvador ... (NJD) .. **** ... $$$$ ... ??
D - Malik ...... (NYR) .. *** .... $$$ .... ?
D - Roszival ... (NYR) .. *** .... $$$$ ... ?
D - Commodore .. (OTT) .. *** .... $$$$ ... ?
L - Malone ..... (PIT) .. *** .... $$$$ ... ????
D - Modry ...... (PHI) .. ** ..... $$ ..... ?
L - Dupuis ..... (PIT) .. ** ..... $$$ .... ???
D - Janik ...... (TBL) .. ** ..... $ ...... ?????
D - Sauer ...... (COL) .. ** ..... $$$ .... ???
D - Weaver ..... (VAN) .. * ...... $ ...... ?????
L - Hagman ..... (DAL) .. * ...... $ ...... ??

Malone is the only player on my list who is both a high-risk and (I anticipate) an expensive signing. This breaks my own risk management rules and for that I am sorry. The gamble here is that he, as a long-time veteran, can now play to his potential. Sometimes you have to take a chance.

Unless his price has gone over the moon, Lowe should sign Glencross to a nice 4 year deal asap.

Final Notes

So if the players listed above are all gone there ARE still players a team should look to sign BUT they should be looked at as either:

- Rentals, or
- Cornerstones

Rentals (Nagy) are guys you sign to one year deals to fill a spot and both you and they know they are probably gone at the trade deadline if the team is not solidly in the play-off race.

Cornerstones (Campbell will want this kind of cash) are guys you sign to expensive long-term deals knowing that you might be overpaying them but they should be 50/50 to cover the bet.

Since cornerstone players are pretty rare this coming off-season it means everyone else is a rental.

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Have a great evening everyone.