Remaining free agents as of 08/18/2009

Here is a list of the remaining free agents. Will they land a spot before training camp? Who has a better chance and who do you want to have on your team?

Who's left: A look at the remaining free agents

Tuesday, 08.18.2009 / 11:00 AM / 2009 NHL Offseason News
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist
It's now been almost seven weeks since the free-agency market opened. The first few days saw the likes of Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik sign blockbuster deals with new teams. But with training camps getting closer and closer, a number of quality players are still looking for a place to play in 2009-10.

Here's an updated look at the top unrestricted free agents still on the market (players unsigned through August 17):

Forwards	Current team	'08-09 stats	Scuttlebutt
Miroslav Satan	Pittsburgh	17-19-36 in 65 GP	Satan has been among the NHL's most consistent scorers for the past decade. But he didn't mesh as a linemate with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin and is coming off his worst season since 1995-96. He'll have to prove his scoring touch hasn't disappeared.
Robert Lang	Montreal	18-21-39 in 50 GP	Lang turns 39 in December and is coming off an Achilles tendon injury, potentially cutting down on the number of interested teams. But before he got hurt, he showed he still had something left in the tank.
Michael Peca	Columbus	4-18-22 in 71 GP	The former Selke winner may still have some value as a checker, penalty-killer, faceoff man and leader. But he's now 35, and injuries have taken away most of his offensive ability.
Ryan Bayda	Carolina	5-7-12 in 70 GP	Bayda, a college star at North Dakota, finally managed to play a full season in the NHL after bouncing up and down between Carolina and the AHL for five seasons.
Blair Betts	N.Y. Rangers	6-4-10 in 81 GP	Betts and Fredrik Sjostrom (who signed with Calgary) formed one of the NHL's best penalty-killing tandems last season. But Betts is coming off a serious facial injury, and no one is rushing to sign checkers and penalty-killers.
Maxim Afinogenov	Buffalo	6-14-20 in 48 GP	Afinogenov's play has dropped off severely in the past two seasons, during which he's also been plagued by injuries. He's all but certain to be somewhere else in the fall.
Dominic Moore	Buffalo	13-32-45 in 81 GP	Moore, a mid-tier center, was having a decent season for Toronto before being dealt to Buffalo at the trade deadline. He's a nice No. 3 center but might be stretched as a No. 2.
Petr Sykora	Pittsburgh	25-21-46 in 76 GP	The 32-year-old is coming off his 10th consecutive 20-goal season, but he was a non-factor in the playoffs, playing in only seven games (just one in the Final) and producing only 1 assist. He'll need a new home.
Todd Bertuzzi Signed by Detroit - 1.5M for 1 year.	Calgary	15-29-44 in 66 GP	The former All-Star is nowhere near the player he was earlier this decade, but he showed in Calgary last season that he still has some hands and offensive ability left.
Eric Perrin	Atlanta	7-16-23 in 78 GP	The soon-to-be 34-year-old still has good wheels. But finding a job may not be easy after his offensive output fell from 45 points in 2007-08 to 23 last season.
Rob Niedermayer	Anaheim	14-7-21 in 79 GP	Brother Scott is back in the fold, but Rob's future is still undecided after an up (14 goals) and down (minus-17) season with the Ducks.
Alex Tanguay	Montreal	16-25-41 in 50 GP	Like Lang, Tanguay is coming off an injury-ruined season. His point production has dropped from 81 to 58 to 41 in the past three seasons, and he'll have to take a shorter-term, lower-value deal to find a new team.
Nikolai Zherdev	N.Y. Rangers	23-35-58 in 82 games	Zherdev, New York's top scorer last season, became a free agent when the Rangers walked away from his arbitration award. Though he's still not yet 25, Zherdev's poor showing in the playoffs won't help his bid to get the kind of deal he feels he deserves.
Manny Malhotra	Columbus	11-24-35 in 77 GP	Malhotra has never lived up to his lofty draft status (No. 7 in 1998), but he's a competent third-line center who's had to play a line or two above his offensive ability with the Blue Jackets. He'd be a good fit and a good value in the right situation.
Taylor Pyatt	Vancouver	10-9-19 in 69 GP	The former first-rounder is still only 27, but he's never had more than the 37 points he managed in '06-07 and '07-08.
Kyle Calder	Los Angeles	8-19-27 in 74 GP	He's now 30 and hasn't reached double figures in goals since 2006-07, so Calder is going to have to take less money and a short-term deal if he hopes to keep an NHL job.
Andy Hilbert	N.Y. Islanders	11-16-27 in 67 GP	Hilbert is a hard worker in all three zones, has some offensive ability and can also kill penalties. He'd make a solid bottom-six forward for someone.
Mike Comrie	Ottawa	10-17-27 in 63 GP	Comrie's value is down after the worst season of his career. But the five-time 20-goal scorer is still just 28 and could be a bargain if he's finally over the injuries that slowed him in '08-09 -- and willing to take a big pay cut.
Mats Sundin	Vancouver	9-19-28 in 41 GP	The Canucks hoped adding Sundin at midseason would be the last piece needed for a long playoff run, but he never really found his game after joining the team in January. At 38, he's in the twilight of his career.

Defensemen	Current team	'08-09 Stats	Scuttlebutt
Martin Skoula	Minnesota	4-12-16 in 81 GP	At 29, Skoula doesn't bring a lot of offense to the table, but he's been a reliable minutes-muncher for years and owns a Stanley Cup ring from his days in Colorado.
Mathieu Schneider	Montreal	9-23-32 in 67 GP	Even at 40, Schneider remains a useful offensive force on the blue line, especially on the power play.
Marc-Andre Bergeron	Minnesota	14-18-32 in 72 GP	Bergeron owns one of the NHL's biggest slappers from the point but struggles in his own zone. He could thrive in the right situation.
Christian Backman	Columbus	2-5-7 in 56 GP	Backman was something of a disappointment for the Blue Jackets, who acquired him from the Rangers last summer. He might benefit from a change of scenery.
Philippe Boucher	Pittsburgh	3-6-9 in 41 GP	He's now 36 and hasn't been healthy for a full season since 2006-07, when he scored 19 goals for Dallas.
Francis Bouillon	Montreal	5-4-9 in 54 GP	Bouillon is coming off an abdominal/groin muscle tear that kept him out for the last two months of the season (except for a brief playoff cameo appearance). He turns 34 in October, so the pickings may be slim.
Jassen Cullimore	Florida	2-8-10 in 68 GP	He's now 36 and has never produced more than 5 goals or 17 points in a season, so the 6-5, 240-pounder may find a limited market.
Darryl Sydor	Dallas	3-12-15 in 73 GP	At 37, Sydor's resume includes a couple of Stanley Cup rings. He can serve as a mentor for young defenders and still contribute on the ice.
Dennis Seidenberg	Carolina	5-25-30 in 70 GP	The almost-28-year-old is coming off the best season of his career and showed he can play major minutes (22:19 average ice time in '08-09).

Goaltenders	Current team	'08-09 stats	Scuttlebutt
Manny Fernandez	Boston	16-8-3 2.59 GAA	With Tim Thomas firmly in place as the starter in Boston, Fernandez will have to look elsewhere if he has any hopes of getting a job. He's played more than 44 games in a season just once in his career (2005-06, with Minnesota).
Olaf Kolzig	Toronto	2-4-1 3.66 GAA	"Olie the Goalie" has 303 career wins -- but he's 39 and coming off an injury-plagued season. To extend his career, Kolzig will need to find a team with a young starter that needs an experienced backup/mentor.
Curtis Joseph	Toronto	5-9-1 3.57 GAA	At 42, Joseph is likely to have a hard time getting a chance to extend his regular-season victory total past 454.
Manny Legace	St. Louis	13-9-2 3.18 GAA	One season after making the All-Star Game, Legace spent the last half of 2008-09 in the minors after Chris Mason took the No. 1 job. At 36, his options get slimmer by the day.
Kevin Weekes	New Jersey	7-5-0 2.42 GAA	Had the first winning season of his career in 2008-09, but he couldn't hold the starting job in New Jersey after Martin Brodeur was injured and will likely have to go elsewhere.
Marc Denis	Montreal	(in AHL) 27-18-0 2.46 GAA	Journeyman backup is looking for a job after a solid season with the Canadiens' AHL affiliate in Hamilton. Denis has more than 300 games of NHL experience, but has spent almost all of the last two seasons in the minors.

This is a great chart to have access to. Good work Stargate.

I want Lang on the Sens, he was unbelievably awesome last season and could help us out a lot here.

How much is he seeking after that season?

Marc-Andre Bergeron egads look at him. 14 goals in 70 games...

Booming slap shot...sounds good!!!!!!!!!!

Mathieu Schneider would be good here as well.

Dennis Seidenberg as well.

I know there are quite a few good players left, especially D-men.

Sadly (or not), we cannot take a run at any of them. We need Smith on the LTIR just to start the season out of cap-jail and have some money left for injury callups.

how is Tanguay still available at this point? is his asking price way too high or do no teams legitimately not have any interest in this guy?

SensFan71 wrote:how is Tanguay still available at this point? is his asking price way too high or do no teams legitimately not have any interest in this guy?

I think at first he was asking for too much. Because there were tons of team showing interest but none actually signed him. Pretty sure he lowered his asking price though or at least he should

Sens19 wrote:

SensFan71 wrote:how is Tanguay still available at this point? is his asking price way too high or do no teams legitimately not have any interest in this guy?

I think at first he was asking for too much. Because there were tons of team showing interest but none actually signed him. Pretty sure he lowered his asking price though or at least he should

well it's either bring down your salary demand or be forced to go back to Europe or sit at home playing PS3 or Xbox 360, sheesh Alex, give your head a shake.

The big surprisers to me are Manny Fernandez and Dennis Seidenberg.

If we didn't have Leclaire/Elliott as a tandem, I'd be all over Manny. I think he's a great goaltender.

Jordo wrote:The big surprisers to me are Manny Fernandez and Dennis Seidenberg.

If we didn't have Leclaire/Elliott as a tandem, I'd be all over Manny. I think he's a great goaltender.

I know, I'm really surprised that Manny wasn't picked up, but it seems that teams are going ahead with their young goaltenders.

I would be all over him too if we didn't have Leclaire.

I'm sure Washington and Chicago are kicking themselves over their goaltending woes, I'm sure either team would love to be able to pick Manny up.

Jordo wrote:The big surprisers to me are Manny Fernandez and Dennis Seidenberg.

If we didn't have Leclaire/Elliott as a tandem, I'd be all over Manny. I think he's a great goaltender.

Such an arsehole though.