Despite all the teams with reams of first round picks (Edmonton, St Louis), it was a pretty dull draft weekend this year for fans hoping for the excitement felt at the big impact trade deadline this year. Only modest pick packages exchanged hands to bring steady goaltending to Florida from Nashville in the form of Tomas Vokoun, and creating a one-two starter battle in Toronto as Vesa Toskala joins hockey's most venerable franchise, along with forward Mark Bell, from San Jose. The only other trades involved teams looking to move up in the draft, or to gain a better foothold in the 2008 draft, which looks to be more heavily loaded than this venture.
All of this leads us into an exciting free agency. While I will continue to watch for deal-making prior to the July 1st deadline, and hope to see many big plays immediately prior to or following Hockey Country's birthday, it is not what I expect to see. There are many teams with plenty of cap space to land big-impact forwards, solid defensemen, or a top-notch netminder, look for a slower pace in July. Teams will be patient, weighing the best options for their team. Some will look to set a new salary bar in signing a marquee free agent. Some teams will play it more sneakily, attempting to outbid other teams for their RFAs, a very tempting move to juice up a roster with players from a cap-tight team. Other teams will keep trying to craft the perfect trades that didn't happen over the draft weekend, with many teams looking to offload players to free up cap space.
Regardless if your team comes out a winner or a gutted wreck heading into the new season, the shocks and tumbles of this year's free agency will provide the perfect punctuation to the off-season.
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