Free Agency: Defense

I finally had sometime to sit down and actually look at Free Agents. I went to our friends over at Cap Geek, if you have never checked this site out it is must viewing for Hockey fans, and reviewed the upcoming Free Agent Frenzy. The way I broke it down in the following paragraphs is first by who on the Canucks are Free Agents (Restricted and Unrestricted) and who should be kept, then I looked at who will be available.
For evaluating the current, and hopefully future, Canucks I have looked at level of play, for the regular and post seasons, cost, what other teams are willing to pay, and my opinion. I am going to start off with looking at the Cap, then players from last year's team, then go to NHL Free Agents. Here we go:
CAP:
The Salary Cap went up this year to $64,300,000 this year. The Canucks current payroll (with my moves for Forwards) is at $51,033,333, which covers 17 players. Luckily for the Canucks this covers the core of the team, with most of this should be going to the Defense, but we will get into that later. So to start off we have $13,266,667 of Cap Space to have some fun with after my spending on Forwards. I will be keeping track as I am "spending money" with parenthesis throughout. Lets do this!

DEFENSE:


The depth of the Defense definitely carried the team last year. With all the games lost to injury Christopher Tanev, Andrew Alberts and Aaron Rome became key players for this team. This depth will help as Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo, and Andrew Alberts are all Unrestricted Free Agents. Lets start with the obvious:

Sami Salo came back at the right time for this time, although it looked as if it was a little bit early. I like the guy. He keeps coming back from all these injuries and just puts his head down and grinds it out. However, after watching him last season, and in the playoffs, he has lost a lot of his former luster. He looked timid, slow, and lost. He made half-hearted attempts at poke-checks and got beat time and time again. He made $3.4 million last year, and even if he would play for half that he is not worth it. This is a business move and for what you get, he's not worth it. See you Sami ($13,266,667).

Christian Ehrhoff was the rock for the blue-line last year, playing in 79 games. He also came through offensively with 14 G, 36 A, and a plus 19. He played well in the playoffs, but was up and down in the playoffs. He was up and down in the playoffs, looking spectacular at times, and giving up breakaways and odd-man rushes. He is by far the biggest Free Agent Defenseman this year. He will go for big money, bigger money than the Canucks can afford. Thanks Christian, enjoy the big bucks ($13,266,667).

Kevin Bieksa stepped up his game in the playoffs big time. He hit, blocked shots and scored. He wasn't as offensively-gifted as Ehrhoff (6 G, 16 A, and was a ridiculous plus 32), but keep in mind that was in 66 games. He is a huge presence in the locker room and is a popular player. He made $3.5 million last year, and will get paid this year. At 30 years old, he will get a long term deal at around $6 million per year. I think the Canucks will pay him that ($7,266,667).

Andrew Alberts was almost a savior for the Canucks down the stretch with all the injuries. He played big minutes in 42 games and was an even rating, with seven points. With the departures of Salo and Ehrhoff, he and Tanev will have to shoulder much of the load. He made $1.4 million last year, and at 29 he will get a bump in pay, at around $1.8 million per year ($5,466,667).

With these changes my Canucks blue-line looks like this: Edler, Bieksa, Hamhuis, Tanev, Ballard, Rome, Alberts, and Sauve every now and then. Not too formidable and not much money ($5,466,667) to bring in new players. But this is where they need to trade Keith Ballard. It's obvious Alain Vigneault hates him since he only played him when he had to during the playoffs. The guy had seven points in 64 games and makes $4.2 million per year for the next four years.

Now I know this is better said than done, but there are plenty of teams that need to reach the salary floor, (New York Islanders) or teams looking for a revival (Anaheim Ducks). Ballard is still a good player, but at that salary and the fact the coach hates him, you have to ship him out, no matter what you get in return. I would rather have $4.2 million than a high pick and Keith Ballard ($9,666,667).

NHL FREE AGENTS:


I am going to start first with the bargain guys. I have found three that would be a great fit in Vancouver:

Ed Jovanovski's triumphant return to Vancouver would be nice. He is older (34) and coming off a big contract with a lackluster season in the desert with the Coyotes. At this point I have to expect he is motivated to win a Cup and will come at a much lower price tag as before. Plus he used to play in Vancouver, so that would garner a nice discount as well. They could probably get Jovo-Cop for around $1.5 to $2 million per year.

Andreas Lilja doesn't set the league on fire, but is a very nice third pairing guy, that can eat up games during the season. He is 35 years old and coming off an average season for him. At this point he is most likely a one-year contract guy for the rest of his career, which means he will be motivated to increase his pay for the next year. He could come in at a price tag of about $1.5 million or less a year. Not a bad addition for a big, tough Defenseman.

I have narrowed down the big guns to four players that I think could be great contributors to this team and would come in at a fairly decent price.

Anton Babchuk benefited from a change of scenery after being dealt from Carolina to Calgary last year. He finished with 11 G, 24 A, and an impressive plus 14 on a non-playoff team in all 82 games. Now as of this morning Calgary had dealt Robin Regyhr to Buffalo, possibly with the idea of resigning Babchuk. He is only 27 years old and will probably garner a lot of attention. He will probably get around $4 to $5 million per year.

Joni Pitkanen is a big puck moving Defenseman that hasn't really been living up to his $4.5 million per year contract. He is another Defenseman that had a nice year on a non-playoff team (5 G, 30 A, -2 in 72 games). He was floundering in Edmonton and a change of scenery seemed to do some good for him as well. He will command a little less than his previous contract but still around $3 to $4 million per year.

James Wisniewski is yet another Defenseman that benefited from a change of scenery (I see a pattern) after being dealt to Montreal last year (10 G, 41 A, -14 in 75 games). This high point total will most likely garner him offers of pretty hefty dollar amounts, not much higher than the $3.25 million he made last year. He will probably command around $5 million per year.

Andy Greene is my fourth choice for possible top line Defense. He was a lone bright spot for the New Jersey Devils last year (4 G, 19 A, -23 in all 82 games last season). He is still relatively young (28), and had only 22 PIM, which means he is smart as well. I think he would be a great fit for the Canucks, and coming off a $750,000 per year contract he would not go for too high of price. I would figure him to be around $2.5 to $3 million per season.

So with the subtraction of Ballard we are left with a nice amount ($9,666,667). If I were the Canucks I would go after Andy Greene at about $2.75 million per year and Andreas Lilja at $1.3 million. This would give us a blue-line of Edler, Bieksa, Hamhuis, Greene, Alberts, Lilja, Tanev, and Rome, with a decent amount left over ($5,616,667).