Happy free agent day

Happy Canada Day, too. Well, free agency gets under way at 11 am (CT) today. The Sedins got locked up by the Canucks before they hit the market today. TSN is reporting that the pair re-signed 5-year deals worth $6.1 million per year. Scratch them off your list.

Free agency is one of the most exciting times of the year in the NHL, but I expect the Stars to be fairly level headed and prudent at a time when teams can make some poor decisions and throw money around recklessly.

Let’s face it, the money is tight this year. It’s tight for a lot of people, but Stars owner Tom Hicks has some things on his plate with his sports empire that need to be resolved and that makes things a little tighter in the case of the Stars. Things could change, but for now the Stars are on a budget. Exactly what it is, I don’t know. They’ve already got about $41 million or so committed in actual payroll (not cap costs) for 18 likely roster players. I get a sense there might be some flexibility if needed. But when you are on a budget, throwing money around starting July 1 is not how you stay within your budget parameters.

The Stars answered one of their free agency question yesterday, re-signing Jere Lehtinen to a one-year deal. He gets $1.5 million in base salary and $1 million in incentives that are based on games played and playoff rounds. It’s a good deal money-wise and when he’s healthy Lehtinen is still an effective player. What happens with Sergei Zubov, who will hit the open market today, remains up in the air.

The Stars still have the goaltender issue out there. Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson threw a bit of curveball when he decided to put off his decision until after July 1, but all that means is the Stars proceed is if they don’t have him and explore some other options. If they get Gustavsson, fine. If they don’t, then they are going to need to lock up another option.

As for the market itself, I still think they need some help on defense. I don’t expect a big name splash, but I think there’s a chance they might be able to get a good player somewhere along the lines in free agency. If not, there’s always the trade option somewhere down the road.

I haven’t counted up the numbers on the prospective players for Austin next season, but I’d expect to see some players signed that can help there and maybe provide some depth for the big club as well. 

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.