Happy Holiday Friday Edition - Analysis of Cap Teams vs. Mid-Range Teams

As we have officially passed the initial frenzy of free agency and are enjoying the extra day off the pace of free agent signings appears to have slowed tremendously.

Ken Campbell at The Hockey News has a good article on the lack of restraint shown by some GMs during these tough economic times. I continue to preach that some of the cap teams have no better talent than mid range teams that stick to a more frugal plan and don't jump at every big name that tests the free agent waters. Detroit is the best example and hopefully when the Preds return to the playoffs next year, they will be another.

As I go down the list of free agent signees, the vast majority appear to have been paid on the high side of their value. In my mind, $4 million dollars is a lot of money. This is a figure where only the better players that produce stats at a high level and attract folks to the rink should reside.

Here are a few contracts that are out of line in my opinion:

• Marion Hossa at $5 million seems about right, but maybe for 3-4 years, not 12.
• Marion Gaborik at 7.5 million - absurd.
• Brian Gionta at $5 million (about a million too high)
• Martin Havelat at $5 million, not a bad deal if you could guareantee he would average 75 games over the course of the contract.
• Nik Antropov $4 million/4 years - does not meet my criteria listed above.
• Mike Cammallari $6 million - about a million too high.

My thoughts are that anything above $6 million needs to be a player that is the face of the game, not just on a individual team. By that too, I require production, not just hype. I'm talking Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Geno Malkin. The $4-6 million range should be for very special players that are the face of the franchise and produce big numbers consitantly and are not often out of the line up with injury.

Had the teams pushing the cap, followed my guidelines, then they would be much closer to a mid-range team than a cap team and still have the same players. Anyway, that's my rant for the day.

In Pred Nation...

Forechecker has a good analisys of where the Preds stand after their two signings and shows that the Preds do follow my advice well with the exception of David Legwand and Marty Erat. He alos has an article on Premium seating at the Sommet which was discussed today in the Tennessean.

John Glennon announces the birth of Jason Arnot's new baby and gets his reaction to the Pred's signings. He also has a piece on farewells to Greg Zannon and Vern Fiddler.

David Poile says that he is almost done with signings but Paul McCann has a few suggestions on the one additional offensive player that he and I feel the team needs.

Around the NHL...

I have not put up the Twitter feed today for free agent signings but will refer you to Ryan at the Red Light District who continues to do the best job of anyone staying on top of all the signings and analysis of done deals. Ryan is also helping out at The Program while Chris has issues with Time Warner. Chris is still getting his opinions out, and they are good ones. Between the two sites, you should be covered on the latest.

NHL.com has the official free agent list and what category that each player fits in to.

NHL Snipers is doing a good job of keeping the "still avalible" list up to date for all those who want more foor their teams.

Kevin Greenstein at Inside Hockey has a good piece on the salary cap and the dynamic of the Hossa deal over it's 12 year life.

On Frozen Blog has a great piece on how Twitter has revolutionalized hockey coverage.

Ex-Pred Captain Tom Fitzgerald moved from the bench to the Assistant GM slot in Pittsburgh. Congrats to the Captain!

TSN's Bob McKenzie points out that the parody account of him is not really him.

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass