Ritter's Rant: 15 Unrestricted Free Agents & Other NHL Notes

Mark RitterMar 4, 2010

What is going on in Calgary? Why the sudden love affair with all the Toronto Leafs Castoffs? The fact that the Flames decided to cut-bait with Dion Phaneuf was questionable enough, but now, after bringing in former Maple Leafs goaltender (and an underachieving one at that) Vesa Toskala at the deadline, I have to question Sutter and Co.

Nik Hagman is a decent player, Ian White can play the game and Matt Stajan is a good guy to have in the locker room, but none of these players ever had me thinking “championship” in Toronto and I don’t think for a minute any of them will bring a championship to Calgary either.

Two words Calgary fans, “good luck”....

I have already chimed in on whether or not teams should be able to trade for cap space (dollars) at the deadline, I am down with it, completely. Not onside yet? Imagine the deals that might have been pulled off yesterday instead of the “crap” we witnessed on Tuesday—it’s time the NHL considered this, it’s needed.

Not sure what I am talking about? Click Here— http://theslapshot.com/brian-burke-is-right-nhl-teams-should-be-allowed-to-trade-salary

As it turns out, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke was in on three of the biggest trades of the season, namely the Alexei Ponikarovsky trade, the Dion Phaneuf trade and the J.S. Giguere trade. Say what you will about Burke, the man has a plan and he’s willing to put his neck out to get it done.

If you ask me, Burke should be applauded for his work, outside of the Ponikarovsky deal (which he was all but forced to make) I think he won both the Phaneuf and Giguere deals. Not bad for a guy that many have called an “idiot” in the past.

Some interesting players may opt for retirement next season. Rod Brind’Amour, Aaron Ward, Owen Nolan, Keith Tkachuk, Mathieu Schneider and others will have to take a good look in the mirror when the off-season rolls around, there may even be a name or two that surprise us, perhaps even the legendary Nik Lidstrom and Scott Niedermayer?

In my opinion here are the top five unrestricted free agents that will be available this summer:

Forwards:

Ilya Kovalchuk
Patrick Marleau
Tomas Plekanec
Colby Armstrong
Olli Jokinen

Defense:

Scott Niedermayer
Nik Lidstrom
Sergei Gonchar
Paul Martin
Willie Mitchell

Goaltenders:

Evgeni Nabokov
Chris Mason
Marty Turco
Jose Theodore
Dan Ellis

Needless to say, it’s going to be slim pickings this summer. Many of the so called top-tier unrestricted free agents will either come at an enormous price (Kovalchuk, Marleau) or come with a long list of questions (Turco, Theodore, Jokinen).

Most NHL Gm’s will be better off looking to add small pieces rather than diving into the bigger names, it appears as if many of them will not be worth what they will likely sign for and, in these salary cap times, GM’s can’t afford to take those kind of chances.