It has now been two weeks since the start of the NHL’s free-agent period, and the league’s 30 teams have all had a chance to grab the players who appealed to them the most.
That’s the period of free agency that gets the most attention, when big, multiyear contracts are handed out to the best players on the market. It’s when teams find important pieces, but it’s also when teams can make costly mistakes.
This second phase of free agency can be just as important for a patient general manager. As the number of jobs and the amount of money available shrinks, the cost to sign the remaining players tends to drop. A cost-conscious GM can often add one or two useful veterans at a fraction of their value.
Take Lee Stempniak as an example. A year ago, he was passed over during free agency and eventually had to accept a professional tryout with the New Jersey Devils before finally signing a one-year, $850,000 deal with the Devils in October. He put up 50 points, and the Devils got second- and fourth-round draft picks for his rights at the trade deadline.
Stempniak signed early this summer on the strength of that ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Jonathan Willis
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July 14th, 2016 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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