What Can You Do?

It's seems things can't get any worse for the Montreal Canadiens . After missing the playoffs for the 1st time in 2 years, the Habs looked to get better offensively and get a substitute for Sheldon Souray during the NHL free-agent signing period. But that plan is very quickly falling a part for Bob Gainey and the Montreal Canadiens.

After the 1st day of July was done (which was the 1st day of free-agency), almost all of the big names in the free-agent market were gone. Daniel Briere signed an 8-year, $52 million with Philadelphia, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez both signed on with the Rangers, Ryan Smyth went to the Avalanche and Jason Blake signed on with Toronto. Other notable signings include Paul Kariya going to the Blues and Brian Rafalski to the Red Wings.

But where you might ask are the Canadiens in this signing frenzy? Your 1st reaction might be that they didn't try for anyone, or at least didn't make a very good try at anyone. But this is where we get to the problem. The Canadiens did try for some of players, and they made good offers as well. So good, that they offered more money to Ryan Smyth, Paul Kariya and Quebec boy Daniel Briere than they signed for.


These players all signed lucrative contracts, and to think that the Habs offered more money is mind boggling. So what is the Habs answer to this problem, that players don't want to play in Montreal? Well, to the dismay of Habs fans everywhere, there isn't one. The Canadiens can't help it, if players don't want to learn french. The Canadiens can't help it, if free-agents sign for less money, than what they offered.


So the Habs plan to upgrade their offense is gone, but what about their defence? Well the Habs where so caught up in trying to sign offence, they missed out on all of the big defence men. Rafalski as I already told you went to Detroit, Matthieu Schneider went to the Ducks and Scott Hannan signed with Colorado. So the Canadiens solution to Sheldon Souray's is..., Roman Hamrlik? Yes the defence man who was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread, and then never developed signed with the Habs for 4 years and $22 million! It was quite evident to the world that they Habs signed him for to much, but what happened next was a shocking blow too Montreal.

Sheldon Souray, who was supposed to sign for $6-7 million in either the free-agent market or in a contract extension with the Habs ended up going to Edmonton for 5 years and $27 million! Do the math and Hamrlik, a liability offensively and not much better on defence will make $100,000 more than Souray!

Now, Montreal couldn't of seen the massive under payment of Souray coming. But really, the Habs free-agent troubles are getting embarrassing.

Top 6 NHL Free Agents

Right now, all of the NHL's teams have lots of spots because of players lost to free agency. Even with all of the signings that are going to happen in the next few days, there will probably be over a hundred players going into the free agent market. But I narrow them down to the top 6. 3 forwards, 2 defenceman and 1 goalie.

Forwards

(LW) Ryan Smyth - After many years as an Oiler in the city of champions, Smyth finally had an all-star year. But at the trade deadline, he was dealt to the New York Islanders to help them get to the playoffs. He did help them as they took the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. He finished the season with 36 goals and 68 points. Now, without a contract, Smyth is one of the top forwards on the free agent market and will probably be signed to a contract worth $6-7 million. But the Islanders may be able to re-sign him, so if he is your key free agent that you want to sign, maybe start talking with him now.

(RW) Keith Tkachuk - Tkachuk spent most of last year playing with the St. Louis Blues . But at the trade deadline, he was shipped off to the Atlanta Thrashers to help with a playoff run. Although the Thrashers went out pretty early, he contributed great as he was a scoring threat and a physical presence. He scored 27 goals and 58 points in the regular season. Tkachuk is getting older though,s so I predict he will go for $3-5 million with a short-term contract. The Thrashers have not publicly expressed that they want to re-sign Tkachuk, so put him on your wish-list.

(C) Daniel Briere - Briere is one of the best players of the new NHL. He spent the entire '06-07 season with Buffalo, going deep into the playoffs. They went to the Eastern Conference Finals, but were then knocked out by the Senators. He scored 32 goals and a whopping 95 points and is by far the best centre in the free agent market. The Sabres though may want to re-sign either him, or Chris Drury. Buffalo only has room for 1 of those players. If Briere does go out into free agency, he will be getting $6-7 million with a long-term contract.

Defencemen

Sheldon Souray - The skilled defenceman from the Montreal Canadeins had a huge year last season. He added some spark to the Canadiens (who missed the playoffs for the 1st time in a while last year) on the powerplay. He became the Bryan McCabe of the '06-07 season. He was 2nd on the Canadiens in goals with 26 and was 2nd on the team in points. Montreal has not expressed publicly that they want to sign him, so he will probably be on the market. He will go for $5-7 million with a short-term contract.

Roman Hamrlik - After being signed to a big contract with Calgary 2 years ago, Hamrlik played averagely this year. He had 7 goals and 38 points, but can play better. The Flames just got Arian Aucoin in a trade, so they have no need for Hamrlik. He will probably try to get back on his game with a short-term contract worth $ 1-3 million.

Goalie

Curtis Joesph - Cujo may be a little passed his prime, but he is still a solid goalie. Playing for a bad team last year, he had a GAA (Goals Against Average) of 3.19. He is the perfect goalie for any team looking for a short-term commitment with a goalie. He will probably go for a short contract because of his age and be paid around $2-3 million.

Those are my top 6 free agents.