re: NHL Free Agency Thread

I think the Stars clearly won the day. Added Spezza and Hemsky, plus a backup goalie. Still have plenty of cap space to re-sign Dillon and maybe bring in another blueliner. Other than that, their team is set other than a few back end moves. They went from a playoff cusp team to a Stanley Cup cusp team.

The Pens were certainly helped by Ehrhoff taking a far under-market value deal. That 1 year, $4mm deal is obscene. He could've gotten $5m AAV easily.

But honestly, did the Pens make themselves better than they were when the offseason started? They went into the offseason with an extremely top heavy roster and almost no cap space.

So, the team looks pretty much the same today, only slightly worse. They added Horqvist and Comeau on offense, and lost Neal, Jokinen, Glass, Pyatt, and Stepniak. Sutter is still a pending RFA. On defense, they added Ehrhoff, and lost Niskanen and Orpik. In goal, they traded out Vokoun for Greiss, a net zero move but it saved them some on the cap.

So, they now an even thinner team than they were on June 1, and they still have $8.3 million to sign a minimum of six players (and that's just to get to the minimum). Sutter's qualifying offer is $2.7 million, leaving them $5.6 million to find another D and replacements, essentially, for Stepniak and Jusi.

I think the Pens did the best they could given the salary cap apocalypse they are facing, but they are nowhere near out of the woods. They are not an improved team from June 1, and have pretty much the same issues, only now less defensive depth and if possible, less offensive depth.