Who’s the Hottest Free-Agent?
There’s only 38 days until the free-agent market opens on July 1, which begs the question: who will be the hottest commodity? To set the stage, here’s a list of the highest-profile unrestricted free-agents:
Daniel Briere, Buffalo
Chris Drury, Buffalo
Scott Gomez, New Jersey
Ryan Smyth, NYI
Teemu Selanne, Anaheim
Paul Kariya, Nashville
Peter Forsberg, Nashville
Bill Guerin, San Jose
Mike Comrie, Ottawa
From early scuttlebutt, Briere could be the belle of the ball given Montreal, Philadelphia and Buffalo are all interested in the slick centreman. Montreal would love Briere because he’s a French-Canadian superstar, while Philadelphia could be attractive because Briere is apparently good friends with goaltender Martin Biron, who was traded to the Flyers just before the trade deadline. Meanwhile, Buffalo is probably hoping it can keep Briere and Drury but that’s seems like a huge financial challenge. As for Drury, it’s hard to tell whether he wants to stick around given there has been so much more attention on Briere’s future.
Gomez could also be well-pursued. I heard a hockey analyst suggest he could be offered a seven to 10-year deal given he’s only 27-years-old, and only just starting to enter this prime. Smyth could be interesting for a team looking for intangibles such as leadership and grit but he’s a 31-year-old with a lot of mileage. Then, you’ve got Peter Forsberg, who is sublimely talented but increasingly injury prone in recent years. Selanne will probably sign again with Anaheim, especially if they win the Stanley Cup while Kariya will likely stay with Nashville. In terms of dark horses, don’t be surprised if defensemen such as Sami Salo and Aaron Miller attract a lot of interest.
For more, check out BfloBlog, which provides a lot of details about Buffalo’s free-agent challenges, while MVN has a good run-down on the free agents that will be hitting the market.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Salary Cap
0 opinions for Who’s the Hottest Free-Agent?
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: