NHL Free Agency 2012: Biggest Winners and Losers Thus Far

It has been just over four days since the free agency period has started, and there have already been multiple huge deals all over the NHL.

Some teams have filled missing pieces to their puzzles and will enter next season very confident in the guys they have on the roster, while others have failed to make the necessary moves and will find themselves picking up crumbs when they needed a whole slice of bread.

One of the worst things a team can do is put all of their eggs in one basket during the free-agency period, and while some have understood this philosophy thus far, others have failed to recognize it.

One thing is for sure, the free-agency period is far from over, but let's take a look at the biggest winners and losers thus far.

Winner: Dallas Stars

The Stars have lost Sheldon Souray and Adam Burish, but have countered their losses with one of the best trades of the free-agency period, and they also signed Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney.

People may argue that $4.5 million was too much to sign the 40-year-old Jagr, who only made $3.3 million last year with the Philadelphia Flyers, and that may be true, but it was the right move to make. Dallas needed a star winger to play with Loui Eriksson and/or Jamie Benn, and that is exactly what it got in Jagr. He even admitted that Montreal was his first choice, but after its lack of interest in him, he decided to go with Dallas.

Ray Whitney, who was drafted into the NHL all the way back in 1991, quietly put up 77 points last season and has had over 50 points nine out of the last 10 years. He adds another offensive threat that should help increase the Stars' 2.57 goals per game that they had last season.

Throw in that they get a great second or third-line center in Derek Roy from the Buffalo Sabres, and there is no doubt the Stars should be heading to the postseason next year.

Loser: Calgary Flames

This was the perfect offseason for the Flames to decide that they wanted to go into rebuilding mode and ship off some of their veteran players while their trade values were still high, yet they have failed to pull the trigger.

They lost Olli Jokinen and overpaid both Dennis Wideman and Jiri Hudler. Wideman signed a five-year, $26.25 million contract, while Hudler signed for $16 million over four years.

Instead of trying to ship their star players and try to acquire young talent through the draft like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers have done in the last three or four seasons, the Flames have continuously been making moves to just edge themselves into the 7 or 8 seed in the West.

Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff are only losing value as time goes on, and it is time to make a move if they want to be Stanley Cup contenders anytime soon.

Winner: Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers continue to make the right steps in order to make themselves a playoff and Stanley Cup contender as they move forward. The rebuilding stage is far from over, and they have made two great signings thus far.

First, they signed defenseman Justin Schultz fresh out of the University of Wisconsin, who was one of the most heavily sought after young D-men once the free-agency period started. Schultz was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks back in 2008, but never agreed to terms, and will more than likely be a top-four defenseman in Edmonton.

Then they re-signed Ryan Smyth, who will continue to bring a veteran leadership to the Oilers that they need to surround all of the young talent. Smyth is loved by fans in Edmonton, and had 19 goals and 46 points for them last season.

Now on the roster are Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov and Justin Schultz... Edmonton is going to be a great team in the near future.

Loser: Phoenix Coyotes

After winning the Pacific Division a year ago, the Phoenix Coyotes are in huge trouble entering next season. They have already lost their leading scorer in Ray Whitney to the Dallas Stars, and it has been reported that Shane Doan is the No. 1 priority for the Coyotes, but he will be testing the free-agent market.

They have signed Steve Sullivan and David Moss but will be playing in perhaps the deepest division with San Jose, an improved Dallas squad, and the defending Stanley Cup Champions Los Angeles Kings. If they lose the face of the franchise in Shane Doan on top of that, which I believe they will, they are done like dinner.

It was nice to see a small-market team from the West Coast make some noise last season, but sadly for Coyotes fans, that time will be short-lived.

Winner: Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks could have been almost completely silent during the free-agency period and still been one of the favorites to win it all after capturing the Presidents' Trophy two years in a row. But they decided to make a huge move early on by signing defenseman Jason Garrison to a six-year deal.

After losing Aaron Rome to Dallas and Sami Salo to Tampa Bay, they needed to fill the hole on the blue line, and Garrison is an absolute perfect fit. Behind Ryan Suter, he was arguably the most proven defenseman available in the free-agency pool, and the Canucks did not sit back and wait for another team to make a move.

It should also be noted that by giving goaltender Cory Schneider a new contract, the Canucks have opened up the market for Roberto Luongo, which should only help them improve their roster even more if they find a team willing to take on his hefty contract.

Although they missed out on Justin Schultz, they will be happy with the presence that Garrison will bring to the squad. The Canucks will once again be a Stanley Cup favorite when next year kicks off.

Loser: Detroit Red Wings

If they end up getting Rick Nash via trade, then completely forget that I said the Red Wings are losers, unless they give up somebody crazy like Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg, but that, of course, won't happen.

The fact of the matter is that it appeared Ryan Suter was going to Detroit and would fill the gaping hole that was left there when Nicklas Lidstrom retired. That didn't happen, and now the Wings find themselves in an unfamiliar situation considering they have been one of the most sought after teams by free agents for years.

They lost Jiri Hudler and failed to make a serious attempt at signing defenseman Matt Carle. If the Wings don't find a way to trade for a solid defenseman and/or land Rick Nash, they will really be behind the eight-ball when next season begins.

Winner: Minnesota Wild

Free agency has been buzzing around two players since it began on July 1: Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. It was honestly anyone's guess as to where these two players were going to end up, but it turns out that they both landed in Minnesota.

Both players were signed to the same contract, which was $98 million over the next 13 years, and many people believe they were overpaid, but the signings of both players makes the Wild very relevant when next season starts up.

Do I believe signing those two players makes them contenders to win it all? No, I don't, but it is a great start in an organization that has a ton of young talent, and having two leaders in place for the future is going to be huge for the franchise.

Add in that both of these players have family connections to the state of Minnesota, and it will be nice to know that they will both be as comfortable off the ice as they are on it.

Loser: Any Team Depending on Getting Rick Nash

Remember how I mentioned earlier that putting your eggs in one basket was the worst thing a team can do during free agency? Well, how the saga of Rick Nash plays out may explain exactly why.

Teams like New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Nashville all believed that they would grab either Zach Parise and/or Ryan Suter, and if they do the same thing with Rick Nash, crazy things could happen.

It only takes one matter of frustration from a team's front office to make a ridiculous trade offer and send off way too much cargo in return for Rick Nash.

I'm interested to see who Nash ends up getting traded to, if he even does, but one thing is for sure, the franchises that are frustrated with what has happened during the first four days of free agency need to sit back, relax and look over every little detail before doing something crazy.