As the free transfer circus kicked into gear over the weekend; Who are the winners and losers? Here's my take on that.
The Philadelphia Flyers are certainly looking better and better, now with Daniel Briere in the line up they look sure not to repeat this years disasterous season. The Rangers chose not resign these playoffs leading scorer, Michael Nylander, and instead grabbed top centres Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. They are well below their salary cap and only need to reink Shanahan, Lundqvist and Avery. The Broadway Blue are looking really strong. Islanders did what they could to keep Ryan Smyth on Long Island, but in the end he chose to play with Colorado Avalanche in the western conference. I have already said the Avs will be a top team next season, and this certainly enforces that belief. Ken Holland showed smartness when signing Michigan boy Brian Rafalski after losing Mathieu Schneider to the Ducks.
And the losers? New Jersey, Nashville and the Islanders. I am interested to see what the Devils will do to rebalance the team after losing both Rafalski and Gomez. Do the Islanders have any forwards left? The Nashville Predators aren't likely to resign Peter Forsberg and now the team is falling apart. Maybe the move will do them good.
Toronto? Jason Blake.. what a blockbuster move! It's becomming clear they will have to wait another hundred years for the cup in TO.
4 comments:
Nik,
Nice to see you back!
"Toronto? Jason Blake.. what a blockbuster move! It's becoming clear they will have to wait another hundred years for the cup in TO."
Love this! What do you think TO needs to do? Who can they get? I hear Slava Kozlov. Also, I know you love Nylander, what are your thoughts on him joining the oilers? I wonder if Rafalski's 6 million a year will hurts Detroit's chances in signing Z after next year?
Whoa, I was wrong. I thought Nylander was going to the Oilers, but I guess he just moved to Washington. Thoughts?
TO obviously needs to get rid of some people in their front office. They are going nowhere, and if I were Mats Sundin I wouldn't waist another minute there. Raffi Torres might be a good fit for them I guess. He works hard and is pretty solid.
I think getting Rafalski was one of the best moves by any team so far. If it would effect signing Zetterberg a year from now I don't know. I doubt it. He's not as likely to whine about money as, let's say Datsyuk.
As for Nylander, too bad the Rangers couldn't fit him. Going back to Washington is obviously better than joining to a prairie shit team going nowhere. I think Washington might surprise a lot of people this season. Offensively they will be leathal with Ovechkin, Nylander and Backström.
Actually, the Blake signing is not that bad of a pick up by the Buds. The guy potted 40(!) last year. Somewhat of a bargain too at $4m. He'll ride shotgun with Sundin come September. Keep in mind, this is a club notoriously known for inking over-the-hill bums like Nolan, Housley and (with all due respect) Francis and Leetch.
But yeah, the Leafs won't have a cup parade...ever.
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