Wednesday, February 29, 2012

35 interesting UFA's for July 1st, 2012

Just looking ahead to one of the best day's of the year for any hockey fan, here are 35 player's scheduled to UFA on July 1st (some of these guys will re-sign with their current club, some may retire)

SCORING FORWARDS (12) -

1. Zach Parise, 27 - likely to re-sign, but there is a belief that he could hit the market
2. Alex Semin, 27 - I actually think he won't stay in Washington, they need some big changes
3. Shane Doan, 35 - Probably staying with the 'Yotes, but some uncertainty there
4. Teemu Selanne, 41 - Could retire or stay in Anaheim, but when it comes to Teemu, who knows?
5. Jaromir Jagr, 40 - The man can flat out still play. Could stay in Philly, retire, or test the market
6. P.A. Parenteau, 28 - 50+ pts last year, and close to pt per game this year, could cash in
7. Olli Jokinen, 33 - honestly, would be surprised to see the rejuvenated sniper leave Calgary
8. Jason Arnott, 37 - Veteran is more of a 2nd/3rd line C now, but 15 G so far this year, decent
9. Ray Whitney, 39 - Vet has not slowed down. A bit under a pt per game again, every year
10. Brad Boyes, 29 - his last 20+ G season was in '09 (33 goals). Could be a gamble signing
11. Petr Sykora, 35 - Comeback player of the year candidate likely sticking in NJ
12. Steve Sullivan, 37 - The man can still fly out there, would be a solid addition anywhere

ROLE PLAYING FORWARDS (12) -

1. Paul Gaustad, 30 - Big 6'5" frame, he's the ideal 4th line centre
2. Dustin Penner, 29 - Brutal year aside, he still has good hockey left in him
3. Jordin Tootoo, 29 - Having a career year, could be a cap/salary casualty in Nashville
4. Brandon Prust, 27 - Posts tons of PIMS, had a career high in pts with 29 in 2011
5. Jamie Langenbrunner, 36 - former playoff hero has slowed down, but still a great leader
6. Shaun Thornton, 34 - one of the toughest grinders in the league.
7. Jarret Stoll, 29 - Having an off year, typically good for 45 pts. Reliable 3rd line C, and tough
8. Taylor Pyatt, 30 - Big 6'4" 230 lbs, gritty, veteran winger
9. Darcy Hordichuk, 31 - Tons of energy. Great agitator as a 4th line centre
10. Travis Moen, 29 - Big grinder does a lot of the little things well
11. Dan Carcillo, 27 - Major league agitator, prone to bad penalties
12. Zenon Konopka, 31 - Big 4th line centre, drops the gloves, hits, limited minutes

DEFENSE (8) *could've done way more, lots of role players out there

1. Ryan Suter, 27 - Could test the market, would be a huge prize for any team
2. Brad Stuart, 32 - Excellent steady D-man, although the Wings have some cap room to re-sign
3. Matt Carle, 27 - Matt "Hot" Carle is a quality puck mover and will get attention
4. Dennis Wideman, 28 - Quality hockey player has bounced around. Likely seeking longer term
5. Hal Gill, 36 - PK specialist and 5 on 3 king pin. Solid veteran.
6. Pavel Kubina, 34 - Slow, but still has the big shot and plays with a physical edge
7. Scott Hannan, 33 - one of the many vets scheduled to be available
8. Colin White, 34 - see Hannan. And there are more like this so I'm stopping here

GOALIES (3)

1. Evgeny Nabakov, 36 - Isles trying hard to sign him. His #'s have been good this season
2. Tomas Vokoun, 35 - Having a bad year, but wouldn't be too quick to call him washed up
3. Martin Biron, 34 - Best back up out there for my money. I think he could be a 1A in a lot of towns

And that wraps it up, 35 UFA's for July 1st. Although expect half these guys not to make it to free agency, as per recent NHL trends. Oh I left of Grabovski because this was originally a Leaf wish list, then it morphed into something else.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Leafs would love Parise, but they NEED Nabby. One of the young tenders will hopefully be good eventually, but need to back up for a year or three.

Good read Mojo,

-JoelLeafs

Anonymous said...

Good list. The Leafs could use some size like Gaustad or Arnott if they're not too expensive. But that's not going to be enough.

Anonymous said...

Parise would obviously be the best fit in Toronto, but I wouldn't mind capturing Suter if he went to UFA.

Picking up Suter leaves room for the Leafs to flip Komisarek, one of Gunnarsson/Franson, and a forward for that first line center we have been looking for.

Won't happen but would be interesting.

Wallace said...

Hopefully with Burke's feet held to fire he'll have no choice but go all out for Parise (in which case I think it makes sense to hold onto Wilson given he and Zach's history) to wash the taste of the season out of Leaf Nation's mouth.

But let's be honest Burke is more likely to take the trade route. We could try to trade our pending lottery pick and a couple spare parts for Nash (Tank Nation is our best bet).

Ideally I hope Chicago bombs in playoffs and looks for a shake and Burke puts a package together for Bolland. Bolland/Steckel would be the league's best one two punch in the bottom six.

Cheers,

Word

glotz said...

I only way i can see the Leafs having enough cash to sign Parise is to trade Komisarek or demote him to the Marlies and get rid of either connolly, lombardi or amrstrong and sign crabb to a two way deal or let him walk.

With Carlyle on board I wonder if they are going to try to re-unite anymore Anaheim connections, Dustin Penner, Travis Moen maybe.

I thought of two other goaltenders that could be cheap backup options, Josh Harding (never really got a chance in Minnesota despite putting up good numbers) and Antero Nittymaki (lost his spot in san jose and has been playing in the AHL but might be a decent backup for a minimum salary deal)