2012 NHL Free Agents: Expect Thin Class to Be Overpaid in June

The NHL's free-agency period usually equates to chaos and mass hysteria each and every year, but this year it won't make a lot of sense, either.

That's because 2012's crop is relatively thin, meaning talent-hungry teams will be overpaying for players who frankly shouldn't be paid very much.

Of course, you have stars like Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Alexander Semin, but there isn't much beyond them.

Several teams are well below the cap floor so you can expect them to spend, and spend not so well. It's not that some of these players won't be nice additions, it's that they'll garner more than they are worth. It's like paying full price for a used car—sure, it will work, but there's still that gaping hole in the windshield.

In 2012, there's the potential for teams to spend so much on players who are merely above average that they won't be able to adequately fill other holes. So, you're not only spending too much for a player, you're hurting your overall team in the process.

It's another argument against the NHL's cap floor, which may as well be called a cap ceiling at this point. The elite teams of the league offload players they could care less about and reach that safe salary cap limit. With the salary cap so high nowadays, premier teams don't have to do much to stay within the boundaries. In short, it ends up hurting the weaker teams, who spend too much on players who won't help them much, or spend a boatload on the significant free agents, who will probably leave soon after anyway.

The NHL is already being criticized for not keeping its players safe on the ice. When 2012 free agency comes around, the ineffectiveness of the cap system will be exposed in full bloom, and you can bet more frustration will sprout up throughout the league.

There's nothing worse than being a league that doesn't make sense, and the NHL is teetering on the edge of a cliff.

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