NHL Free Agency '08: Hossa Joins Champs

NHL Free Agency started with a bang last week with a ton of big names finding new homes through FA signings and some big trades. One of the biggest stories was not a signing though, it was a departure from the NHL. Former Ranger, Capital, and Penguin F Jarmoir Jagr is leaving the NHL to play in Russia. It became quite clear to the Ranger captain from a season ago that his NY home no longer wanted him after they made a bevy of roster moves already this offseason.
Lets stick with those New York Rangers because they have been a busy team. A lot of expectations last postseason for this club, but NY made an early exit in the second round. The Rangers are restocking their roster and have gotten quite defensive. The Rangers inked D Wade Redden who besides D Brian Campbell who ended up on a young Chicago team, was considered the best defenseman available. Redden is a big piece the Rangers were missing last season. The Rangers may have lost Jagr, but signed winger Markus! Naslund and traded for winger Nicolai Zherdev. Zherdev was a fantastic pickup, but I am not as high on Naslund. Naslund's numbers have been in free-fall over recent years. In the end, it is tough for me to say the Rangers improved because Jagr is irreplaceable and NY also lost its enforcer C Sean Avery to the Dallas Stars. Avery was such a big part of what this team did last year and he himself will be difficult to replace. The Rangers are a playoff team but are not yet championship contenders.
The biggest free agent prize of all was RW Marian Hossa. Hossa hooked up with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings with a one-year deal hoping to get a ring of his own next season. With Hossa in the mix, the Wings are once again the Stanley Cup favorite. The Boston Bruins came up short on the Hossa lottery so they settled for underrated RW Michael Ryder. Detroit also locked up D Brad Stuart and added G Ty Conklin to back up starter Chris Osgood. The Br! uins lacked offense and Ryder is a great scorer, so I really l! ike this signing. Other marquee signings included, D Mike Commodore and F Kristin Huselias heading to Columbus, New Jersey adding C Bobby Holik and F Brian Rolstan to their already talented roster, goalie Christobal Huet joining D Brian Campbell on a young and talented Blackhawks squad, and embattled F Todd Bertuzzi heading over the border to Calgary. The Sharks got very defensive adding veteran Rob Blake and trading for Dan Boyle. Colorado added scrappy forward Darcy Tucker to their veteran squad. Washington replaced the departing Huet with netminder Jose Theodore. The Edmonton Oilers bolstered their offense with Erik Cole, while Carolina traded for D Joni Pitkanen. Pittsburgh did their best to replace the departing Hossa with F's Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedetenko. Philly made a under the radar move picking up former Bruin Glen Metropolit.
The busiest team of all this offseason though has been those Tampa Bay Lightning. It all started with TB hiring ESPN analyst Barr! y Melrose as their new head coach. TB then quickly locked up C Vincent Lecavalier with a enormous contract. After that Tampa has stolen away former Penguin forward Ryan Malone, traded for D Matt Carle, and signed a ton of FAs including, G Olaf Kozlig, F Gary Roberts, F Mark Recchi, F Ryan Vrbata, and F Adam Hall. It is safe to say TB is restocking after an abysmal season and is doing whatever possible to give Barry Melrose a chance to make it back to the playoffs.
It has been a busy offseason so far, but I am sure there is plenty more to come. Nonetheless, the upcoming NHL season looks to be a great one.