2013 NHL Free Agency: A Comprehensive Guide to Next Summer's Market

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It's never to early to start looking at what players can become free agents when the NHL season comes to an end.  In fact, with no hockey being played in the NHL, it's one of the few things that we can talk about other than who is to blame for the lockout and when will the two sides come to their senses.

Here, we have the cream of the crop of next year's class of potential unrestricted free agents.  There are the players that are facing an uncertain future, as their contracts could very well expire without one minute of hockey being played during the 2012-13 season.

Some may hope that happens, while others have to have their fingers crossed hoping they can showcase themselves for new deals.

It should be noted that this list is compiled in order of current contract dollars, with the lowest paid players at the beginning of the list.  Another note, players that are nearing the end of their careers and may opt to hang up the skates have been excluded.

Mike Smith

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Mike Smith was the toast of the town during the Phoenix Coyotes playoff run last season, posting a 9-7 record, putting up a 1.99 goals against average and a .944 save percentage, all while leading the team to the Western Conference finals.

The Coyotes picked Smith up from the scrap heap after two tough seasons in Tampa Bay.  Even without a 2012-13 season expect Smith to earn a lot more than the $2 million he received from the Coyotes in 2011-12.

The reality is that the Coyotes should have signed Smith to an extension prior to the lockout.  If they lose him to free agency over the summer, expect to hear some howling from the Coyotes’ fans. (Sorry, that one was too easy.)

Jimmy Howard

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Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has a lot of impending free agents to deal with, and if they all go to free agency without having played at all this year, he will have quite a bit of thinking to do.  If there is some hockey, he will at least be able to evaluate and trade if need be.

One player that he will probably be looking to sign is goaltender Jimmy Howard.  Howard had the lowest goals against average of his career in 2011-12, posting a 2.13.  He struggled during the playoffs, and that may keep him from getting top-level goaltender pay.

I would suspect that Holland is going to try and keep the All-Star goaltender in the Red Wings fold.

Danny Cleary

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Danny Cleary went out in 2011-12 and had the second worst statistical season of his Detroit Red Wings career, putting up 33 points in 75 games played.  Those numbers are not exactly what you want sticking in the mind of the team if the 2012-13 season is lost, and you are about to become an unrestricted free agent.

The 13th-overall pick of the 1997 NHL entry draft has to hope that there is at least a partial 2012-13 season or else he may be looked at as a veteran player that is on the downside of his career.

Cleary’s expiring contract was five-years for $14 million, it will be a surprise to see him make that much in his next deal.

Ian White

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Ian White signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent during the summer of 2011.  He then rewarded the Wings by putting up a career-best 32 points and plus-23 ranking.  Prior to that, his best numbers came as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he had three seasons of 26 points.  But, and this is one of those all caps types of buts, he was paired with Nicklas Lidstrom in Detroit.

That pairing may have had something to do with White’s numbers, and with no hockey being played right now, that will be a suspicion that will continue until White takes to the ice again with the Wings.

Odds are that the Wings will want to keep White in the fold, but if the season is lost, will they be forced to overpay or sign him to a long-term deal based on the improved numbers he had in 2011-12?  

The Red Wings really need to see White on NHL ice with a different partner as soon as possible.

Valtteri Filppula

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Valtteri Filppula delivered in a big way for the Detroit Red Wings during the 2011-12 season, hitting 66 points, far surpassing his previous career high of 40.

The question the Red Wings need to ponder is: Do they sacrifice Filppula in pursuit of a badly needed defenseman, or do they hold on to him for his offensive talents?  

Filppula’s five-year deal with the Wings expires at the end of 2012-1,3 and the team has a big decision on what to do with him.

Stephen Weiss

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Stephen Weiss, the Florida Panthers first pick and the fourth-overall selection in the 2001 NHL entry draft, had heard his name mentioned in trade talk over the last two years, but with the Panthers making a playoff run, that talk ceased during the 2011-12 season.

Weiss is the Panthers all-time leader in games played and a likely candidate to be named team captain if the club takes to the ice during the 2012-13 season.

Since the 2006-07 season, Weiss has never accumulated fewer than 42 points or played in less than 74 games.

Weiss is in the final year of a six-year deal worth $18.6 million.

While he flies under the radar due to spending his entire career in Florida, he is not a player that goes unnoticed.  In fact, there was speculation that if the New York Rangers were unable to land Brad Richards, they would make a play for Weiss via trade.

The Panthers would be well served to trade Weiss if they do not plan on re-signing him.

Dustin Penner

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Dustin Penner was in the midst of a five-year $21.5-million deal with the Edmonton Oilers when the team traded him to the L.A. Kings.  When that deal expired at the end of the 2011-12 season, Penner inked a one-year deal with the Kings worth $3.25 million, a nice sum for a player that was coming off his worst career season.

Penner put up 17 points during the regular season in 2011-12, but managed to rebound in the playoffs, racking up 11 points in 20 games.

If there is a season, Penner will need to come out hot and impress, or else he may find himself being used as trade bait.

If the season is lost, expect some team to take a chance on Penner in a short-term deal, but not one that pays him $3.25 million per year.

Clarke MacArthur

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Heading toward the 2012 trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs Clarke MacArthur was getting some attention from NHL general managers and for good reason.  Since joining the Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in 2010-11, he has had his two best seasons as a pro, putting up 62 points in 2011 and 43 in 2012.

The Leafs brought in James van Riemsdyk over the summer, and that may have an effect on which line MacArthur plays on if the season resumes.

The Leafs had been offered a first-round pick for MacArthur last year, so they may explore trading him if they have that option this year.

MacArthur may not hit the 60-point plateau again, but he could prove to be a solid second-line addition for a team looking for a player that can contribute offensively, as well as adding some grit to the club.

Alexander Edler

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Prior to the lockout, the Vancouver Canucks were in talks with Alex Edler.  Nothing ever came of those talks, and Edler’s four-year $13-million deal will run out at the end of the 2012-13 season.

Edler had a career year in 2011-12, putting up career highs in points, goals and assists.  He also led the club in time on the ice, while playing in every one of the team’s 82 regular-season games.

If the season is lost, the Canucks may very much regret not getting Edler signed to a deal over the summer, as someone will surely be willing to overpay for his services if he is able to hit free agency.

Rob Scuderi

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Rob Scuderi is the type of defenseman that doesn’t do anything really flashy.  He’s a solid veteran stay-at-home blueliner, something that clubs tend to try and hold onto when they have them in the ranks.

Scuderi’s also a two-time Stanley Cup winner, taking the NHL’s biggest prize home as a member of the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins and 2012 L.A. Kings.

The four-year $13.6-million deal he signed with the Kings in 2009 runs out at the end of the 2012-13 season.

It would be a surprise to see the Kings let him walk away without a fight.

Michael Ryder

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Michael Ryder picked the right time to have a career season.  Playing for the Dallas Stars in 2011-12, Ryder broke the 30-goal barrier for the first time since he had back-to-back 30-goal seasons with the Montreal Canadiens in 2006 and 2007.  He also added 27 assists to his 35 goals.  

The drawback for Ryder is that without a 2012-13 season, the Stars may say that the numbers are an aberration.  After all, in the two prior years, he scored a total of 36 goals and 74 points.

The plus side is that Ryder is slotted to play on a line with Stars newcomers Ray Whitney and Derek Roy.  If there is a season and those three can gel, Ryder may be looking at a nice raise in his next deal.

His expiring contract is a two-year $7-million deal.

Simon Gagne

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Simon Gagne has been around, playing in 761 regular-season NHL games since being drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1998.  Gagne is a talented scorer when he’s on the ice.  The problem is that he has never played a full NHL season.  The closest he came was in 2003-04, when he played in 80 games.

Over the past three seasons, he has played in 58, 63 and 34 games, which leads to a risk/reward situation for whichever team inks him to a new deal when his two-year $7-million deal runs out at the end of the 2013 season.

A team should be able to get Gagne under contract for a short-term deal at a reasonable rate due to his health concerns.

I would not be surprised to see the Kings look to keep Gagne on the club.

Ryan Clowe

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Ryane Clowe has been a consistent performer for the San Jose Sharks.  He’ll get you close to 20 goals and 50 points while being unafraid to drop the gloves.  He’s the kind of heart-and-soul player that many teams covet.

Those characteristics should generate interest in Clowe once the free-agency period begins in July 2013.  The Sharks would be wise to sign Clowe to an extension if they can.

Clowe’s a known commodity and will do fine in his next NHL deal.

Travis Zajac

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Travis Zajac played in only 15 regular-season games last season due to an Achilles injury.  However, he was able to compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs, playing in 24 games and racking up 14 points.

The problem Zajac faces is that he lost his high scoring linemate Zach Parise over the summer when Parise inked a long-term deal with the Minnesota Wild.  Zajac needs to play in 2012-13 in order to show that he can get things done without Parise by his side.  It should be noted that he will still have Ilya Kovalchuk on his other side.

Zajac’s four-year $15.5-million deal will expire at the end of the 2013 season.

Ryan Whitney

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The Anaheim Ducks shipped Ryan Whitney to the Edmonton Oilers in March 2010.  The defenseman is in the last year of the deal he signed with his previous team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The fact that the fifth-overall pick of the 2002 draft has played for three teams already in his career should tell you that he has not lived up to expectations.  Some of that can be chalked up to the fact that Whitney has endured surgeries on both of his feet and one on his ankles.
 
It’s hard to tell if Whitney will be back in Edmonton following the 2012-13 season.  The Oilers remain in a rebuilding stage and (if there is a season) may opt to trade Whitney to aid in the rebuild, or (again, if there is a season) they may be impressed enough with his performance that they ink him to a nice deal to become the anchor of their blue line.

If there is no 2012-13 season all bets are off and it will be interesting to see what kind of offers roll in for the (now) 29-year-old defenseman.

Derek Roy

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Derek Roy signed a six-year $24-million deal with the Buffalo Sabres following the 2007 season, a season that saw him put up 63 points.  He did not disappoint the team in his first year under that deal, racking up 81 points.  He would follow that up with seasons of 70 and 69 points before a quadriceps injury limited him to 35 games in 2011.  When Roy returned for the 2012 campaign, he laid an egg, scoring just 44 points.

He was traded to the Dallas Stars over the summer.

Roy is another player that needs the season to start as soon as possible so he can go out there and show potential suitors that his 2012 season was just an aberration, and not a player entering a stage in his career where his production begins to drop off.

Nathan Horton

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Nathan Horton is in the final year of a six-year $24-million deal he signed while he was a member of the Florida Panthers.  Horton was traded to the Boston Bruins in June of 2010 while playing under that contract.

Horton has not been the luckiest player these last two seasons.

Horton sustained a concussion during the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals due to an illegal hit from the Vancouver Canucks' Aaron Rome.  When he returned to play for the 2012 season, it took him a little while to find his groove.  Unfortunately, once he found that groove, his season ended after he suffered a concussion after a hit from the Flyers Tom Sestito in January.

Horton was cleared for contact over the summer, but has made the somewhat curious decision to not play overseas during the lockout.  If the season is lost, that decision may turn out to be ill advised.  NHL general managers are going to want to know if Horton is tentative after two concussions as well as what kind of condition he is in after spending such a long period of time off the ice.

Horton’s next deal may end up being a short one if those questions cannot be answered prior to him reaching free agency.

Robyn Regehr

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Robyn Regehr is in the final year of a five-year deal worth $20.1 million.  The long-time member of the Calgary Flames was traded to the Buffalo Sabres before the 2011-12 season and endured one of the worst seasons of his career, putting up five points and a minus-12 ranking.

Regehr has a reputation as a solid blueliner with good shutdown ability.  Yes, he is advancing in age and has almost 1000 games under his belt, but he doesn’t miss a great deal of time, and that type of veteran defenseman is always valued.

Regehr should generate a decent amount of interest during the 2013 free-agency period.

Nik Antropov

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Nik Antropov was drafted 10th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1998 NHL entry draft, but he never really lived up to expectations in Toronto, cracking the 50-point barrier only once, with 56 points in the 2007-08 campaign.

With free agency approaching, the Leafs dealt Antropov to the N.Y. Rangers in March of 2009 for draft picks.  Once he hit the free-agent market, Antropov inked a four-year deal with the Atlanta Thrashers, a deal that was good for a total of $16.25 million.

That deal (now with the Winnipeg Jets) expires at the end of the 2012-13 season, and dwindling production will not help Antropov when it comes time to sign a new deal.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard

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The Minnesota Wild signed Pierre-Marc Bouchard to a five-year deal worth $20.4 million in July of 2008.  Since that time, he has played in a total of 168 games of a possible 328.  In short, Bouchard has had his fair share of injuries.

When healthy he’s a fine playmaker, he just has not been healthy enough as of late to justify a big long-term deal when he hits free agency.

Bouchard is the type of player a lost season will hurt.  NHL teams, unsure if he can hang and bang for a full season, will most likely be inclined to offer him a lowball offer for short term.  Bouchard needs as much of a 2012-13 season as possible in order to showcase himself and earn a good deal.

Brendan Morrow

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No team captain wants to hear their name mentioned in trade talks, but that’s exactly the situation that Brendan Morrow found himself in over the summer with the Dallas Stars.

The 33-year-old winger was limited to 57 games due to injury during the 2011-12 season, putting up 26 points.

If the Stars thought about trading him this summer, odds are they won’t be all that interested in re-signing him when his contract expires at the end of the 2012-13 season.  I would fully expect Morrow to explore his options on the open market.

Will he pull down a contract close to the six-year $24.6-million deal he signed with Dallas after passing up free agency the last time he had the option? Probably not, but leadership comes at a cost, so I’m sure Morrow will land on his feet.

Joffrey Lupul

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Joffrey Lupul was having the best year of his NHL career in 2011-12 until he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in early March.  At the time of his injury, he had racked up 67 points in 66 games.  His previous high in points was 53 in 81 games for the Anaheim Ducks during the 2005-06 campaign.

Lupul, the seventh-overall pick in the 2002 NHL entry draft, has been somewhat of a journeyman during his NHL career, with the Leafs being his fourth team since breaking into the league.

His play during the 2011-12 season showed that he has the talent to be the player that everyone hoped he would be when he was drafted at No. 7, however, there are questions that dog Lupul, top among them, was his play last year an aberration and will he fall back to Earth?

Lupul is in a strange spot if the season is cancelled, he’s currently in the final year of a four-year $17-million deal, will he be paid like the player he was in 2011-12, or like the player he was before that, a player that got you around 50 points per season?

If there is a 2012-13 season, he needs to pick up where he left off and the money will come.

Tim Thomas

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This is an interesting one.

Tim Thomas decided, before the lockout, that he was going to take the 2012-13 season off despite having a pesky year left on his deal with the Boston Bruins.  The Bruins, perhaps fed up with the shenanigans that Thomas forced them to endure during the 2011-12 season and with Tuukka Rask ready to take over in net, said, “Oh, OK.”

That final year expires at the end of this 2012-13 season and Thomas, who will be 39 years of age at that point, will be free to sign with any team he desires, or should I say any team that will have him.

The question is, at his advancing age and with his outspoken ways and some baggage, will any team want him and if so, at what price?

Anaheim Ducks

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The Ducks have a few decisions to make during the 2012-13 season.  The following will all become unrestricted free agents at the conclusion of the season: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu.

Koivu will be 38 when the season concludes, and Selanne will be 42 (days away from 43), for these two players, it will mostly be a question of if they wish to play another NHL season or if they decide to hang up the skates and retire.

Getzlaf and Perry will both be 28 and have a number of years left in their NHL careers, but will they remain with the Ducks, will they be traded or will they hit the open market?  At this point, it’s hard to say.

Both players have heard their names in trade talks in the past, both players are in the final year of five-year deals that paid them a total of $26.625 million.  Their futures really depend on what the Ducks decide to do and if there is a season.

If the Ducks decide it’s time for a rebuild, don’t be shocked if both players are let go or traded.  If the team wants to make one more run, they’ll probably sign one or both players, but the term will be tricky.

They may risk losing both players if they think the team is only going to offer them short-term contracts.

It’ll be interesting to see what develops in Anaheim.

Alexander Semin

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Alexander Semin has a bad reputation.  He’s been painted as a player that doesn’t play up to his abilities, as someone going through the motions, never really buying into the team concept.  For that reason, the Washington Capitals bid him adieu at the end of the 2012 season.  His reputation may have left him with very few options in the free-agent market as he eventually settled on a one-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.

If there is hockey in 2012-13, Semin will be under a lot of pressure to show that he belongs in the NHL and that he deserves a healthy long-term contract from an NHL team.  Remember, Semin is only 28-years-old and has 408 points in 469 games, so there is talent there, he just needs to show that he will be a team guy and work well with others.

If the 2012-13 season is lost, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Semin.  Will someone else roll the dice for a year or will he take his talents to the KHL?

Jarome Iginla

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One word that sums up what you get from Jarome Iginla is leadership.  Iginla has played his entire career with the Calgary Flames, racking up 1073 points in 1188 games.  He was named the team’s captain prior to the 2003-04 season and has had the “C” sewn on his jersey ever since, leading the team with tenacity, heart and talent.

Throughout the lean years in Calgary there have been cries that the team should trade the captain or that Iginla should request a trade to make a run at the elusive Stanley Cup.  Neither of those things have ever come to fruition.  Instead, Iginla has played the role of team captain to a T, saying that he wants to stay with the team that obtained him via a trade with the Dallas Stars for Joe Nieuwendyk.

If Iginla does make it to free agency in the summer of 2013 look for him to get offers from a number of teams.  He’s a rare commodity and will be in high demand.