The question has come up often since the NHL unveiled its post-lockout package of new rules designed to make the game something other than a crawl through T-REX at rush hour.
Overnight, did the highly physical, stay-at-home, punish-the-superstars defenseman become less of a prized commodity?
More to the point in Denver, did it all help make Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote’s departure in the upcoming unrestricted free agency period at least an acceptable option for Colorado general manager Pierre Lacroix?
It’s starting to look as if the Avs are thinking that way, as the open market for unrestricted free agents begins this morning.
On defense, Rob Blake, Ossi Vaananen and Bob Boughner are under contract; and Colorado retained the rights to John-Michael Liles, Kurt Sauer, Karlis Skrastins and Brett Clark with the qualifying offers. Especially in the New NHL, with a $39 million salary cap serving to limit ambition, that could be a solid group of six, with Clark as the seventh defenseman and spare part. Blake is the only one taking up major payroll space, and the rest have what pass for highly “reasonable” contracts in the new order.
Yet the Avs should be at least uneasy about letting Foote walk.
Until the referees actually enforce the zero-tolerance standard on obstruction for an entire season and – more important – through the playoffs, it is perilous to assume the new rules and brave pronouncements are going to change the game.
In the Old NHL, Foote was invaluable. Even if the New NHL delivers what it has promised, he could be adaptable and effective. He was a stalwart on Canada’s World Cup team last year, and he is more of a two-way threat than often is acknowledged.
New Avs head coach Joel Quenneville, a former defenseman who worked with the defensemen as a Nordiques and Avalanche assistant, doesn’t have to be briefed on Foote’s talent and value.
But this new system still comes down to choices and prioritization.
And now the wild card seems to be Peter Forsberg’s apparent willingness to accept a below-market salary to return to Colorado, whether alone or – even more intriguingly – as a two-man package with Vancouver captain Markus Naslund. Frankly, I probably was too cynical about Forsberg’s financial flexibility in the past couple of weeks.
If Forsberg was thinking about money alone, and he checked around, he would find another team with considerable cap room and the need for credibility (e.g., Boston) his signing would provide. In that instance, it would have been difficult for the Avalanche to justify bringing him back. By the time they were done clearing cap room, the Avs would have had a handful of stars, a supporting cast mostly making the minimums, and bad chemistry.
But what of this choice?
a) Forsberg, the Avalanche’s longtime star and (yes, this is a cliche, but also true) the best player in the world when healthy, and Naslund. At below-market salaries.
Or,
b) Foote.
If signing both Swedes becomes a viable option without stripping the rest of the roster, that’s an automatic choice.
The Boys from Ornskoldsvik.
If they both want at least $5 million, Lacroix has to say hejda – goodbye in Swedish. If the duo tells him they’ll take anything that would keep Colorado under the cap and also leave Lacroix comfortable with his roster as a whole, that – and just about only that – could work.
The Avalanche could talk with agent Don Baizley last week about Forsberg. For all we know, a deal with him alone might have been cut in the last few days, and it could be announced as soon as today. But today also is when all teams can talk to all free agents, and it would allow Colorado – as well as everyone else – to start making pitches to both Swedes. Naslund’s agent is Mike Gillis, the Colorado Rockies’ 1978 first-round draft choice who was Quenneville’s teammate in Denver from 1979-81.
The longer this goes in the free-agency period, the less likely the Swedes could come to Colorado (or Vancouver). If their itinerary starts to look like a Dave Matthews concert tour, they’ll find a better package deal, whether from the Rangers or Boston, or possibly even from a persuasive Mario Lemieux at Pittsburgh. Toronto could jump in, too, at least with a compelling one-man offer for Forsberg.
The problem from the Avalanche point of view is that if it waits too long to see what will happen with Forsberg and perhaps Naslund, Foote will be gone. He probably will have at least one compelling offer by 10:05 a.m. today, whether from his hometown Maple Leafs or Flyers, or someone else.
Good work if you can get it
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, NHL teams had through Friday to buy out veteran contracts at two-thirds of their value and not have the payments count against the salary cap. In theory, the bought-out players who aren’t completely washed up become potential bargains for other teams because they have money coming in from the teams that bought them out and don’t need to be particularly ruthless in negotiating another contract. For example, Bobby Holik is still a highly respected defensive center but was overpriced under his wiped-out Rangers’ deal. Considering he will make $4.5 million in his buyout, he could afford to sign with a contender for whatever veteran salary it takes to keep his new team under the cap. The buyouts and the scheduled buyout payments, which must be made over the remaining time on the contract (* denotes million):
Tony Amonte, Phila. ($2.96*)
Mathieu Biron, Florida ($705,000)
Andrew Cassels, Columbus ($1.6*)
Chris Gratton, Colorado ($1.26*)
Derian Hatcher, Detroit ($3.29*)
Bobby Holik, N.Y. Rangers ($4.5*)
Matt Johnson, Minn. ($582,000)
Scott Lachance, Columbus ($1.01*)
John Leclair, Philadelphia ($4.51*)
Darren McCarty, Detroit ($1.13*)
Brian Savage, Phoenix ($1.9*)
Pierre Turgeon, Dallas ($2.97*)
Ray Whitney, Detroit ($1.77*)
Unrestricted free agents
NHL teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their “own” unrestricted free agents through Sunday. Beginning today, they’re fair game for any teams. Some major unrestricted free agents also might retire, but the list includes:
Jason Allison, Los Angeles
Adrian Aucoin, New York Islanders
Donald Audette, Florida
Peter Bondra, Ottawa
Andrew Brunette, Minnesota
Sean Burke, Philadelphia
Anson Carter, Los Angeles
Roman Cechmanek, Los Angeles
Chris Chelios, Detroit
Mariusz Czerkawski, N.Y. Islanders
Vincent Damphousse, Colorado
Adam Deadmarsh, Los Angeles
Pavol Demitra, St. Louis
Eric Desjardins, Philadelphia
Tie Domi, Toronto
Mike Dunham, New York Rangers
Martin Gelinas, Calgary
Sergei Gonchar, Boston
Travis Green, Boston
Roman Hamrlik, N.Y. Islanders
Alexander Khavanov, St. Louis
Alexei Kovalev, Montreal
Curtis Joseph, Detroit
Paul Kariya, Colorado
Nikolai Khabibulin, Tampa Bay
Martin Lapointe, Boston
Brian Leetch, Toronto
Eric Lindros, New York Rangers
Bryan Marchment, Toronto
Shawn McEachern, Atlanta
Dan McGillis, Boston
Mike Modano, Dallas
Alex Mogilny, Toronto
Glen Murray, Boston
Markus Naslund, Vancouver
Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey
Joe Nieuwendyk, Toronto
Teppo Numminen, Dallas
Chris Osgood, St. Louis
Ziggy Palffy, Los Angeles
Yanic Perreault, Montreal
Felix Potvin, Boston
Brian Rafalski, New Jersey
Mike Rathje, San Jose
Gary Roberts, Toronto
Cliff Ronning, New York Islanders
Martin Rucinsky, Toronto
Miroslav Satan, Buffalo
Mathieu Schneider, Detroit
Teemu Selanne, Colorado
Scott Stevens, New Jersey
Martin Straka, Los Angeles
Jozef Stumpel, Los Angeles
Glen Wesley, Carolina
Steve Yzerman, Detroit
Alexei Zhamnov, Philadelphia
Alexei Zhitnik, Buffalo
Restricted free agents
With qualifying offers, their previous teams retained the rights to compensation and the right to match offers from offer teams. The list is so long and the potential compensation so daunting, going through it would be a waste of time. Suffice to say most, if not all, of the movement will come from the ranks of unrestricted free agents.
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
Frei is the author of “Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming” (hardback 2002, trade paperback August 2004) and “Third Down and a War to Go” (hardback September 2004).
