Top available UFA's this summer (2013)

Here's a list to look forward to in July, and to keep an eye on for trade deadline playoff rentals, (and the odd contract extension)

30 Centres:
Saku Koivu, 38
Matt Cullen, 36
Jeff Halpern, 36
Andy MacDonald, 35
Jochen Hecht, 35

Craig Adams, 35
Michael Handzus, 35
Marty Reasoner, 35
Danius Zubrus, 34
Jarred Smithson, 34

Mike Ribeiro, 33
Scott Gomez, 33
Adam Hall, 32
Nik Antropov, 32
Manny Malholtra, 32

Tim Connolly, 31
Matthew Lombardi, 30
Dave Steckel, 30
Stephen Weiss, 29
Derrick Roy, 29

Kyle Wellwood, 29
Boyd Gordon, 29
Mark Letestu, 28
Nate Thompson, 28
Tim Brent, 28

Roman Cervenka, 27
Ryan Getzlaf, 27
Maxim Lapierre, 27
Tyler Bozak, 26
Peter Regin, 26

50 Wingers:
Teemu Selanne, 42
Daniel Alfredsson, 40
Jaromir Jagr, 40
Mike Knuble, 40
Alex Kovalev, 39

Steve Sullivan, 38
Jamal Mayers, 38
Vinny Prospal, 37
Jamie Langenbrunner, 37
Jody Shelley, 37

Patrick Elias, 36
Milan Hejduk, 36
Eric Boulton, 36
Jarome Iginla, 35
Dan Cleary, 34

Brendan Morrow, 34
Matt Cooke, 34
Ruslan Fedotenko, 34
Pascal Dupuis, 33
Simon Gagne, 32

Alex Ponikarovsky, 32
Anti Miettenen, 32
Darcy Hordichuck, 32
Michael Ryder, 32
Raffi Torres, 31

Matt Hendricks, 31
Chad Larose, 30
Ryane Clowe, 30
John Scott, 30
Dustin Penner, 30

Colby Armstrong, 30
Brad Boyes, 30
Colton Orr, 30
Chris Higgins, 29
Eric Nystrom, 29

David Clarkson, 28
Alex Semin, 28
Valterri Filpulla, 28
Drew Miller, 28
Pierre-Marc Bouchard, 28

Cory Perry, 27
Nathan Horton, 27
Clarke MacArthur, 27
Mason Raymond, 27
Victor Stalberg, 27

B.J. Crombeen, 27
Damien Brunner, 26
Blake Comeau, 26
Wojtek Wolski, 26
Giullaume Latendresse, 25

40 Defencemen
Adrian Aucoin, 39
Sergei Gonchar, 38
Roman Hamrilik, 38
Andy Sutton, 37
Andreas Lilja, 37

Lubo Visnovsky, 36
Marek Zidlicky, 36
Radek Martinek, 36
Mark Streit, 35
Joe Corvo, 35

Tom Poti, 35
Toni Lydman, 35
Wade Redden, 35
Mike Mottau, 34
Rob Scuderi, 34

Michael Roszival, 34
Scott Hannan, 34
Andrew Ferrence, 33
Kent Huskins, 33
John Erskine, 32

Jordan Leopold, 32
Robyn Regehr, 32
Marc-Andre Bergeron, 32
Douglas Murray, 32
Jim Vandermeer, 32

Andrew Alberts, 31
Kurtis Foster, 31
Ron Hainsey, 31
Ryan Whitney, 29
Jeff Woywitka, 29

Steve Eminger, 29
Ian White, 28
Ryan O'Byrne, 28
Adam Pardy, 28
Anton Babchuck, 28

Matt Gilroy, 28
Ladislav Smid, 27
Mike Kostka, 27
Mark Fistric, 26
Cam Barker, 26

20 Goalies
Nikolai Khabibulin, 40
Tim Thomas, 38
Evgeny Nabokov, 37
Jose Theodore, 36
Chris Mason, 36

Brian Boucher, 36
Matthieu Garon, 35
Niklas Backstrom, 35
Jason Labarbera, 33
Joey MacDonald, 33

Dan Ellis, 32
Michael Leighton, 31
Mike Smith, 30
Ray Emery, 30
Viktor Fasth, 30

Peter Budaj, 30
Henrik Karlsson, 29
Jimmy Howard, 28
Al Montoya, 28
Tomas Greiss, 27

Potential Summer Buyouts

So, under the new CBA the cap is coming down next season to around $64 million from about $71 mil. Which means certain teams will be in serious cap trouble after this season. To give everyone a little breathing room each team was granted 2 amnesty buyouts which do not count towards the salary cap. They can be used 1-time only this summer. Montreal and New York will only have the option to buy out 1 player each since they were granted a chance to buyout Redden and Gomez already.

So here are some contracts of players who could be buyout candidates. Remember, not every team will necessarily use both, or even one of their buyouts, but here are some of the more likely buyout candidates who could become UFA's this summer:

Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton - The Oilers have Horcoff under contract for two more years, at a $5.5 million cap hit. That's way too high for a guy who plays 3rd line centre and special teams. He is the Oilers captain, but they have to factor in Hall and Eberle's $6 million contract extensions kicking in next year, plus having to give a raise to Sam Gagner who goes RFA this summer. On the flip side, Whitney is a UFA, and so is Khabibulin so they save cap space there, but will have to replace (or re-sign) both players, and have to pay for that. Then you figure Yakupov and the Nuge will have to get payed in a couple years and it just seems to make sense for the Oilers to buyout their captain.

Mike Komisarek, Toronto - $4.5 million cap hit for next season, or he could be bought out for a measly $2.3 million and free up the cap space. The only other candidate in Toronto might be 32 year old John-Michael Liles who carries a $3.9 million cap hit for the next 3 seasons.

Scotty Upshall, Florida - Two years left and $3.5 million per season for a solid 3rd line grinder is way too rich.

Ilya Bryzgalov, Flyers - What a nightmare it would be to buy him out just two years into his monster 9-year deal. But The Flyers are also a team pushing the salary cap limits and will need to shed. Of course with Timonen's $6.3 million cap hit coming off the books, and Pronger on LTIR not counting against the cap, they might be able to squeak by. Having said that, if the Flyers have an underwhelming season it would be very Ed Snider/Paul Holmgren-esque to do something big like buyout Bryzgalov and then make a splash elsewhere. Buying out Bryz would cost $22 million over 14 years.

Ville Leino, Buffalo - After playing really well for the Flyers, Leino cashed in on a 6-year, front loaded deal with the Sabres. Things haven't gone well for Leino in Buffalo at all, and he hasn't lived up to that contract. After this season he's owed $15 million over the next 4 years, and carries a cap hit of $4.5 million. Which is money the Sabres could use. Of course it would cost them about $10 million, spread out over the next 8 years to buy him out, but that money would not go against the cap, and Sabres owner Terry Pegula seems like he won't mind spending.

Mike Cammalleri, Calgary - He has 1 year and $7 million left owed to him. Of course the Flames could get rid of his $6 million cap hit for next year by paying him around $1.2 million in each of the next two years. Might make sense for them, depending on how the season goes and what happens with Iginla (pending UFA).

The Rangers situation - They don't have any big contracts worth buying out (Nash, Gaborik, Lundqvist, Richards, Callahan), and they won't be interested in buying out one of their high end defence men like Staal, Girardi, or Del Zotto, who are all core pieces. Plus they have to re-sign Ryan McDonaugh who will get a healthy raise from the $1.3 million he's earning now. So how to shed the necessary $6 million it would roughly take to get New York under the cap? Back up goalie Marty Biron's $1.3 million could be expendable, but even if he's replaced by a backup earning league min, that only shaves off about half a million. Everyone else on the team earns between $1-2 million pretty much, so it will be interesting to see how Sather gets this team under the cap. Your guess is as good as mine here.

Rostislav Olesz, Chicago - Injured players can't be bought out, but if he's off IR you can bet the Blackhawks will buyout the final year of Olesz's contract. The grinder is owed over $4 million and taking his $3.1 million cap hit off the books will be huge for Chicago to get under the cap with all the high payed stars occupying most of the Hawks' cap space. Johnny Oduya and Steve Montador both carry contracts in around $3 million, each with 2-years remaining, so the Hawks may be in a position where they have to choose to keep one or the other and use both their buyouts to stay under the cap.

Mike Samuelsson, Detroit - I doubt they buy him out of the 2nd year of his deal. But he's owed $3 million next year and the Red Wings might be in a position where they want the additional cap space. Samuelsson, and Jonathan Ericsson are the two expendable players on the team who make a decent enough amount of money, so if the Wings were so inclined, these players would be the most likely options.

David Booth, Vancouver - He's a good player when healthy, but he's always hurt and Vancouver needs to clear up some cap room. Aside from moving Luongo, they might consider ditching Booth's $4.2 million cap hit.

Mike Green, Washington - If they don't feel like they're getting full value from him, the Caps could definitely look at buying out the final two years of Mike Green's contract. His cap hit is $6 million and he's playing like a $3-4 million player at best. It's no slam dunk that he'll be bought out by any means, I actually doubt it, but he's been under performing for a few seasons now, so he could be on a short leash with management.

Montreal Canadians situation - They are basically a cap team right now, with all of their big money players under contract for next year. For them to get under the cap they may have to bight the bullet and buyout their captain, Brian Gionta, who earns $5 million next season. They'll have to shave some salary somewhere it makes more sense to buyout a 34 year old who hasn't scored a lot of goals in a couple years, over some of the younger players who earn decent coin in Montreal. Veteran blue liners Andrei Markov ($5.75 mil cap hit) and Tomas Kaberle ($4.25 mil cap hit) each have 1 year remaining on their deals, and buying out one of them along with Gionta should be enough to keep the habs cap compliant. Markov seems to be healthy and is playing well so far this year, so it may be Kaberle who is the cap casualty in Montreal.

Paul Martin, Pittsburgh - 2 years left at $5 million a season is a little steep for the Pens, and they could use the cap breathing room. Another option in Pittsburgh could be to trade Marc-Andre Fleury.  A little crazy maybe, but they could free up cap space and grab something useful back. Plus they have Vokoun in net there and he's looking good.

Rick Dipietro, Islanders - Of course Rick signed that huge 15-year deal and hasn't been healthy for a whole year since he signed. That's the way it goes on the Island, and this could be their chance to get rid of that contract. It would be costly though. After this season he will be 7 years into his contract with 8 years remaining. He'll be owed $24 million if he's bought out ($1.5 million a year for the next 16 years). Pretty steep price to be paying a guy not to play for you. Of course the Islanders are still paying Yashin $2.2 million a year for the next two years, as they have been for the last 3 years to play in Russia, so Wang might pony up for Rick as well.

Vinny Lecavalier, Lightning - Might seem a bit extreme, and I think he has some trade value but he's an interesting one to look at. Vinny is 33, has 7 years left on his contract and a cap hit of $7.7 million. That cap hit will only look uglier in 3 or 4 years and this is the one opportunity to dump him without cap penalty. Having said that he does offer some value to the team. I doubt he'll be bought out, but its an interesting one to look. It would cost Tampa ownership close to $24 million to buyout Vinny, payed out over the course of the next 14 years. So that would be about a mil and a half a year for the next while. Which might be more palatable than the $10 million in actual dollars he's due to earn in each of the next three seasons of his deal.

So anyway's here are a handful of guys who could be added to the free agent list this summer. Also, unlike other summers I predict that there will not be as many re-signings prior to July 1st, with the cap coming down and so many teams lacking space. I think the opportunity for weaker teams with cap space to pounce is this summer when the lower cap could force good players to leave good teams such as New York or Vancouver.

Top 10 Goalies of the last 20 years

Top 10 NHL Goalies of the past 20 years (1992-present)

1. Martin Brodeur ('93-present)

- 3 Stanley Cups ('95, '00, '03)
- 2 Olympic Gold Medals ('02, '10)
- 4 Vezina Trophies: '03, '04, '07, '08
- Calder Trophy 93/94
- 5 Jennings Trophies: '97, '98, '03, '04, '10
*Scored a couple of goals, including one in the playoffs vs. Montreal
*Ranks 1st in all-time career Wins and Shutouts

Marty's march to the Cup final this past season just shows how great this guy is. Still able to rise up and play at an elite level in his 40's. I don't think there is any denying he is the best of the last 20 years, if not all-time.

2. Dominic Hasek ('92-'08)

- 2 Stanley Cups ('02, '08)
- 1 Olympic Gold Medal ('98)
- 2 Hart Trophies ('97, '98) *Six goalies have ever won the Hart, only Hasek has 2
- 6 Vezina Trophies ('94, '95, '97, '98, '99, '01)
- 3 Jennings Trophies ('94, '01, '08)

Six Vezina's in 8 years is outstanding. Between the years 1997-1999 I believe Hasek displayed the best goaltending of all time, capturing back to back Hart's in the process. I can't put him at number one because Brodeur has a bit more long lasting appeal, and Hasek's 2nd Cup was won by Chris Osgood, with Dom on the bench. Still, Hasek in his prime was an unparalleled machine, and if you could take one goalie in his prime for one game, it should be Hasek. The 1998 Olympics, and 1999 run to the Cup (leading to Brett Hull's famous/infamous goal) were absolute works of art on the part of the Dominator.

3. Patrick Roy ('84-'03) *Only counting his achievements from 1992-present

- 3 Stanley Cups
- 1 Vezina Trophy (1992)
- 2 Conn Smythe's ('93, '01)
- 1 Jennings Trophy ('02)

First of all, I don't like Roy, and I tried to make him lower, but this is where he fits. His 2 Conn Smythe Trophies in the last 20 years can't be denied. He rose up in the playoffs. Now to take a jab at him: I'll never forget the famous "statue of liberty" celebration that cost the Avs game 6 in the 2002 Western conference final, and forced a game 7 against the hated Red Wings. Detroit came out in game 7 firing from everywhere and the great Patrick Roy, looking very old, was lit up for 6 goals by the 5 minute mark of the 2nd period, and Roy did not finish the game and the Avs lost 7-0. Still I guess he's pretty great.

4. Ed Belfour ('89-07) *Again only '92 onward will be looked at

- 1 Stanley Cup (1999)
- 1 Olympic Gold (2002)
- 1 Vezina Trophy (1993)
- 3 Jennings Trophies ('93, '95, '99)
- 1 Roger Crozier Award (2000, for outstanding Save %)
*3rd on NHL's all-time Wins list behind Brodeur and Roy

Eddie the Eagle was a beast. When he won the Cup in '99 he was unreal, and his save percentage was an outstanding 1.99 that year, following a 1.88 save % from the year before. This was clearly a golden age for goaltending when all 4 of the guys on the list so far were all on top of their games. If Eddie had played in another era and not had to compete with the 3 guys above, he would have even more hardware on his shelf.

5. Chris Osgood ('94-'11)

- 3 Stanley Cups ('97, '98, '08)
- 2 Jennings Trophies ('96, '08)

Osgood is flat out the most underrated and under appreciated goalie of the last 20 years. Ozzy doesn't always have the sparkling save % and definitely played on some great teams, which is why his critics are quick to dismiss his achievements. But the fact is, he never finished below 5th in his conference in his entire career. Including when he went to the Islanders, where he took a team that hadn't made the playoffs in years and turned them around, winning 32 games. Then on to St.Louis where he won 30+ games again, and finally back to the Red Wings. Osgood on his game could go toe to toe with any other goalie in the NHL, and he had that "it" factor, to rise up and make the big save with the game on the line. That's why he's one of the winningest goalies of all time (10th with 401 career wins). That's why he is a great champion. *Before I digress, I also want to mention that Osgood was getting a lot of Conn Smythe buzz in 2009 as he went back to the Cup finals in back to back years for the 2nd time in his career, but as the Penguins prevailed the award went to Malkin* Okay... I'm ready to move on

6. Tim Thomas ('03-present)

- 1 Stanley Cup (2011)
- 1 Conn Smythe (2011)
- 2 Vezina Trophies ('09, '11)
- Jennings Trophy (2009)

If not for mismanagement on the part of the Bruins, Thomas might have won 3 Vezina's in a row. However in 2010 the Bruins put the reigning top goalie on the bench in favour of Rask, and only played him sporadically. But anyway's, Timmy is an unorthodox goalie, to say the least, but when he's on his game, and that's most of the time (career save % of .921) he keeps the puck out as good as anyone on this list. His MVP performance in the 2011 playoffs was really something to behold.

7. Jean-Sebastien Giguere ('97-present)

- 1 Stanley Cup (2007)
- 1 Conn Smythe (2003) *1 of 4 players to ever win the MVP on the losing team

Giguere might not have the pedigree of these other guys, but his display in the 2003 playoffs warrants some serious props. He carried a terrible team really far, and then proved it wasn't a flash in the pan by playing great in the following few seasons and then finally winning his Cup in '07. Giggy on his game was a wall.

8. Miika Kiprusoff ('01-present)

- 1 Vezina (2006)
- 1 Jennings (2006)

My first non-Stanley Cup winner on the list. Kipper technically did win in 2004 against the Lightning in game 6 (review the tape the puck crossed the line and hit Khabibulin's pad inside the net!) but that's not important right now. Anyone who plays fantasy hockey knows the value of kipper, all this guy does is post outstanding numbers on a mediocre team, year in, year out. Did you know he's the only goalie in the NHL to have at least 35 wins or more in every season since the 2005 lockout? Its true. And his performance in the 2004 playoffs ranks up there as one of the best I've ever seen.

9. Nikolai Khabibulin ('94-present)

- 1 Stanley Cup (2004)

Number 20 on the NHL's All-Time wins list. The 'Bulin Wall has been one of the best most consistent goalies for the better part of the last two decades. 

10. Henrik Lundqvist ('06-present)

-Vezina Trophy (2012)

So he doesn't have a ton of hardware at this stage, he's definitely been one of the most valuable players in the NHL for the last few seasons and could be on his way to becoming one of the all-time greats.

*Honourable Mentions

- Olaf Kolzig - I know a lot of you will probably say that he should be there since Kipper is. They have the same hardware (Vezina, trip to the Cup final) and both were great. Kolzig, for the record is my #11 and it was a tough cut.

- Dwayne Roloson - a few lengthy playoff runs in his career, including trips to the final 4 with Minnesota and Tampa Bay, stepping in in the Conference Finals in game 1, 1999 when Hasek was hurt and getting the win for Buffalo, and of course his run to the Cup final with the Oilers, which he may have won over Carolina if he hadn't gotten hurt in that series. Rolly was often a guy who would step up in the playoffs and take his teams further than expected.

- Curtis Joseph - How can I leave off the 4th winningest goalie of all time? Well he also happens to have the most all time career losses. Joseph was great, don't get me wrong, and in his prime he was an amazing reactionary goalie, definitely one of the best of his kind. But there are meltdowns in his career as well, including the Olympics in 2002, where he was lit up badly and lost his starting job, and his inability to deliver in an Osgood-esque way in Detroit, where he was expected to win. He just never fully came through, although he was a very good goalie in his day.

- Marty Turco - Almost had to put him, based solely his performance in the playoff series against Vancouver in 2007. Did you know he had THREE shutouts, a 1.30 GAA, and a .952 Save % and he lost the series!? Easily the best performance in a losing effort. He did everything except score goals.

- Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon, and Grant Fuhr - They all played during some of the last 20 years, but were all in the twilight of their careers. Still they all took home Stanley Cups in the last 20 (okay, not quite for Grant Fuhr, he just missed the cut.) But anyway's, if it were the last 25 years, I think I would have to include all three.

- Jose Theodore - Definitely had an amazing year in '02 when he took home the Vezina and the Hart. But his greatness was too short lived. Outside of that season he has been a very good starting goalie, but not great enough.

- Roberto Luongo - Olympic Gold is huge, no question, and he deserved it. But he did let in a shaky goal in the final minute to force OT in the gold medal game. He fights the puck a lot, and he's prone to bad goals. This is a hot topic right now because of all the trade rumours surrounding Lu, and I don't want to get into a whole thing, but I'll leave you with this: If you want to argue that his trip to the Cup final warrants any kind of accolades, then I think we should just open the list right up to all the Michael Leighton's of the world. We should also put Anti Niemi on the list because he won a cup. The thing is, Luongo played on a great team, and his trip to the Cup final (which included losing his starting job temporarily in the 1st round against Chicago, giving up bad goals late to force OT/Lose games vs. Nashville in the 2nd round, and being pulled 3 times in a 7 game Cup Final against Boston) does not stack up with Kipper, Kolzig, and Giguere's (2003) underdog teams, who made it against all odds on the strength of strong goaltending.

Criticism welcomed.