re: NHL Free Agency Thread

ESPN Free Agency Team Grades

This is ESPN Insider so I'll share for you guys. I'll post the excerpt for the teams I know we have a few fans of in here.

Sabres C-
Flames C
Blackhawks A
Avalanche B-
Oilers C+
Panthers C-
Wild A-
Canadiens B-
Devils C+
Rangers C
Lightning A
Leafs C
Canucks C

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Dallas Stars: B

It was a great day for GM Jim Nill, although this grade is strictly for his free agent signings and not his trade for Spezza. Ales Hemsky is a better fit in the Eastern Conference, but he certainly gives centers Tyler Seguin and Spezza a talented option on the wing at a fairly reasonable price. Hemsky played well for the Senators down the stretch, with 17 points in 20 games after coming over from Edmonton.

The move to Dallas allows backup goalie Anders Lindback to start fresh and try to reach the potential he flashed as Pekka Rinne's backup in Nashville. Dallas starter Kari Lehtonen has benefited under the tutelage of goalie coach Mike Valley, and so should Lindback.

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Pittsburgh Penguins: A

We’ll be the first to admit the James Neal trade leans in Nashville’s favor, but GM Jim Rutherford’s first July 1 at the helm in Pittsburgh was a strong bounce-back.

At a time when GMs make some of their biggest mistakes, he passed on huge money for veteran defensemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen to instead land Christian Ehrhoff on a one-year deal worth $4 million. Along with Brad Richards, that was the best contract of the day.

Signing Thomas Greiss on a one-year deal worth $1 million was another value move, for a guy who had a .920 save percentage in Phoenix this past season and sports a .915 career mark. With Marc-Andre Fleury on the final year of his contract, there’s an opportunity in Pittsburgh for Greiss to steal time and possibly future employment.

Marcel Goc was another short-term value signing by Rutherford, coming in at $1.2 million. Depth on the cheap is exactly how playoff contenders are built in the cap era.

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St. Louis Blues: A

It must have been hard for GM Doug Armstrong to watch Western Conference rivals such as the Ducks and Stars shore up their center position while he waited on a decision from Stastny, but the Blues GM got his man, and he got him without having to commit to a max-term contract.

Stastny was the best center on the market, and could have landed more term elsewhere. The annual value of this deal ($7 million) is only a slight raise on Stastny’s last one in Colorado, and is not unreasonable considering the Blues were able to add him without giving up an asset like the Ducks and Stars had to in their center search. Stastny is a proven playoff producer, an ingredient that has been missing from the Blues the past couple seasons.

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Washington Capitals: B-minus

GM Brian MacLellan promised to address Washington's lackluster defense, and did it in a huge way. The Brooks Orpik contract (five years, $27.5 million) isn’t going to look good in a few years -- and has the potential to be a buyout candidate at the end of it -- but in the meantime, he gives Barry Trotz and the Washington coaching staff a veteran defenseman who can coach up the young blueliners in the system, much like he did in Pittsburgh.

The term on the Matt Niskanen deal (seven years, $5.75 million per season) is also concerning, but that’s what it takes to land the No. 1 defenseman on the market. For years, the Capitals needed to upgrade their top four on defense, and finally addressed it this offseason without touching their talent up front.

Justin Peters at $950,000 per season is good value as Braden Holtby's backup. The knock on former Caps GM George McPhee was that he was too conservative at times. You can’t say that about MacLellan.

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