The Draft and Free Agency Madness

A lot of action going on in the NHL recently. Let’s start with the draft…

Taken number one overall this year was Steve Stamkos. Stamkos is a young center who shot up the ranks playing for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. In 61 games played for the Sting Stamkos posted 58 goals, 47 assists, and 88 Penalty Minutes. What was really impressive to me however was the fact that he scored 11 goals in just 9 playoff games. That’s pretty clutch.

While I don’t think he will be a bust you can never tell with these things. For every Sid ‘The Kid’ theres an Alexandre Daigle. For every ‘Super’ Mario theres a Brian Lawton. And for every Joe Thornton theres a Patrick Stefan. We would like to think that the #1 overall pick becomes a star for all to enjoy but as we all know thats just not the case.

I do like Stamkos though and you can put me on record right now; this guys going to be great.

Some intriguing trades took place during the draft. The deal that sent Olli Jokinen to Phoenix was a total head scratcher for me. The first player in this deal made sense; Keith Ballard. Although Ballard has been traded a few times in his young career he is a very good young defensemen. Big, mobile, and steady. Florida needed a good young defensemen too with the issues they are having with current #1 guy Jay Bouwmeester. The second part made less sense; Nick Boynton. For those who don’t remember, Nick Boynton is a pirate. Or at least he looked like one when he gave a throat cutting gesture a few years back to (then) Montreal Canadians forward Mike Ribiero. All that was missing from that scene was a plank and a crows nest. And as is usual in a package deal, a second round pick was also thrown in.

Rumors of a deal from Ottawa that may have included Antoine Vermette, rumor of a deal from Minnesota that may have included Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and rumor of a deal from Vancouver that may have included Kevin Bieksa made this one tough to understand. So what was Jacques Martin thinking? Who knows. Most fans feel as though he could have gotten much more than what he did. And if you’re a fan of Florida then I just feel bad for you. Jokinen was your #1 center, a 4 time 30+ goal scorer, and your captain.

Now I’m going to move on to Free Agency…

If you’re a Colorado fan then you have my deepest sympathies. Enjoy Andrew Raycroft. Tyler Arnason wasn’t enough? If the goal in Colorado is to acquire the laziest players in the league then you are about half way there with those two. For those who haven’t seen it there is a great video of Raycroft falling asleep on the bench in Toronto… pretty much sums up his career. The video of course can be found on YouTube. I guess Mariusz Czerkawski or Roman Turek weren’t available….

And what would Free Agency be without the Leafs making a stupid decision? $3.5 million dollars a year for Jeff Finger? Jeff Finger? I could only hope this Finger plugs a big hole for you Leafs fans. Back in 2003-2004 this guy was playing for the ECHL’s Reading Royals. For those who don’t know the ECHL is the equivalent of the Federal League portrayed in the movie Slapshot. He has a total of 94 NHL games at the age of 28. While he did play pretty well last year this is still a massive overpayment. Old Fletch’ better make sure Brian Burke doesn’t catch him in an alley…

The disaster that is the Canucks has been fun to watch this off season as well. $10 million dollars a season for Mats Sundin? Yes, I am aware that they have the money to spend… but that doesn’t mean you spend it all like that!! What makes this hilarious though is the fact that Sundin doesn’t want to sign anywhere for another month or two. This leaves the ‘Nucks completely handcuffed. Oh and lets not forget… Sundins good friend and former Canuck captain Markus Naslund has headed to the Rangers…

Finally I wanted to discuss the Devils. Their off season reminds me of a bad version of the show High School Reunion. I love Brian Rolston but the guy is 35. Not exactly an ideal time to be giving him $20 million over the course of 4 years. Bringing back Bobby Holik was an odd move too, seeing as how he is 37 years old and hasn’t been relevant since his last season in the blue and red. Playing the role of the sad puppy outside the Prudential Center would have to be Sergei Brylin. While all his old friends are coming back he is being sent packing. Poor Sergei. Hopefully someone will bring him in. He has always been a great two-way player. Not to mention he has 3 Stanley Cups to his name.

Well thats it for now. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to comment!

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