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About Brett Friedlander

Brett Friedlander became a hockey fan in the heart of the deep south in the early 1970s. He became hooked the first time his father, a charter Atlanta Flames season-ticket holder, took him to a game at The Omni. His first job covering hockey was with the Annapolis Capital, where he covered the Washington Capitals and learned to do an uncanny imitation of coach Bryan Murray from 1984-93.

He's also covered the Carolina Hurricanes and Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League for the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. He has also been a regular contributor to Rinkside magazine and Faceoff.com. The highlight of his writing career came on June 19,2006, when the Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup. His first book, "Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams' Doc Graham" was released by John F. Blair, Publisher, in April 2009.

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FAs not expected to fly Southeast this summer Print
Southeast
Written by Brett Friedlander   
Thursday, July 01, 2010 02:08
Southeast Division notebook:

With limited budgets and new management facing three of the division’s five teams, don’t expect to see many big free-agent splashes in the Southeast this summer. That doesn’t mean the Thrashers, Hurricanes, Panthers, Lightning and Capitals won’t be active:

ATLANTA

The Thrashers have plenty of holes to fill, especially the big one created when they traded former captain Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey in February. But with a limited budget and a division-leading 13 unrestricted free agents of their own – to go along with several key restricted free agents – Atlanta is probably going to have to spend most of its estimated $32 million on its own players, rather than mining the open market.

Atop the list are right wings Bryan Little and Maxim Afinogenov, who figures to be due a significant raise from the bargain basement deal he signed during training camp last year. Left wing Niclas Bergfors, who came to Atlanta as part of the Kovalchuk trade, and defenseman Pavel Kubina are also on the in-house wish list.

But the biggest decisions must be made in goal, where all three of the netminders who played for the Thrashers last season have expiring contracts. The most likely to be retained is 21-year-old Ondrej Pavelec, probably at more than $2 million per year. But if Atlanta wants to be a serious playoff contender, it will likely have to look somewhere else to find a reliable starter.

New general manager Rick Dudley said he has made offers to all of his free agents, unrestricted or otherwise. Few of those offers, however, figure to be of the long-term variety, which is why left wing Colby Armstrong has already flown the coop, signing with Toronto.

If Atlanta does go looking for free agents from other teams, expect them to be in the mid-range contracts along the lines of defensemen Joe Corvo and Marc-Andre Bergeron, or forward Petr Sykora.

CAROLINA

The Hurricanes jettisoned most of their top free agents-to-be at the trade deadline last season, leaving 38-year-old forward Ray Whitney as the biggest name left with which to deal.

Although GM Jim Rutherford publicly stated he was “keeping the door open” for Whitney, a 21-goal, 58-point scorer, his asking price of $3 million per year – which he received in a two-year deal with Phoenix – was simply too much for a team looking to get younger and cut payroll.

Losing Whitney was big but not impossible to recover from. Carolina will almost certainly choose to rebuild through the draft and its own well-stocked farm system before reaching into the wallet to spend big on the free-agent market.

That doesn’t mean the Hurricanes won’t be active. They’ve already made one signing, bringing back 6-foot-5, 205-pound defenseman Anton Babchuk for his third tour of duty with the 'Canes on a one-year contract. There is also a possibility of bringing in at least one more defenseman, and perhaps a backup goalie, via the free-agent route – but only if Rutherford can find some leftovers in the bargain bin once everyone else has picked through the more high-priced players available.

FLORIDA

Like the Hurricanes, the Panthers don’t figure to be major players in the free agent market. But with an estimated $12 million available under the league salary cap – much of that coming from the departures of Nathan Horton and Keith Ballard – chances are that savvy new general manager Dale Tallon will look make a few additions before all is said and done.

Florida’s most pressing need is scoring after a season in which it netted just 202 goals, the third-lowest total in the league. The defense in front of goalie Tomas Voukon could also stand to be bolstered a bit, but don’t expect Tallon to go out looking to make a play for top free agents Ilya Kovalchuk or defenseman Paul Martin.

Instead, look for more affordable alternatives such as Raffi Torres or Marc-Andre Bergeron.

“I don't know how aggressive we're going to be, but we're going to try to get better and find players who make sense for us at this time,” Tallon said. “I don't think we're going after the top guys, but good guys that can help us and not affect our future.”


TAMPA BAY

The Lightning has been active early in the free agent signing period, both with addition and subtraction.

First, new general manager Steve Yzerman re-signed steady right wing Martin St. Louis to a four-year $22.5 million extension. Then he dealt defenseman Andrej Maszaros to Philadelphia for a second-round draft choice in 2011. Tampa Bay then allowed disappointing winger Alex Tanguay to sign a one-year deal with the Calgary Flames.

Backup goalie Antero Niittymaki also left, agreeing to a two-year contract with the San Jose Sharks, He was quickly replaced, however, when the Lightning brought in Dan Ellis from Nashville for about $1 million a year less.

Where does that leave Tampa Bay now?

Yzerman has said he plans to be “selective and careful,” because of the financial commitments the Lightning already have on the books and a below-salary cap set by new owner Jeff Vinik.

Among the highest priorities for Yzerman coming into free agency was a goalie capable of pushing Mike Smith for the starting job. Now that he’s accomplished that goal with the signing of Ellis, his sights are set on acquiring a puck-moving defenseman who can help improve a woeful power play.

The name most often mentioned to fill that that bill is Paul Martin, a hard-hitting veteran who was limited to 22 games with New Jersey because of injury last season.

WASHINGTON

The Capitals don’t need much after compiling the league’s best regular-season record last season, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few holes to fill following a series of playoff disappointments.

The most immediate need is a second-line center to replace Brendan Morrison. Though general manager George McPhee said his plan is to fill the void with a youngster already in the organization, he’ll have plenty of options (and about $4.5 million of cap space) available if he’s either bluffing or changes his mind and decides to go the free-agent route.

The most qualified candidate on the open market are Anaheim’s Saku Koivu, Ottawa’s Matt Cullen and Phoenix’s Matthew Lombardi – who at age 28 figures to have the most long-term potential and the least up-front cost.

There is also a chance that Washington could make a move on the blue line – a Michael Komisarek, perhaps – especially if it lets unrestricted free agent Shaone Morrisonn walk away as expected.

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Last Updated on Friday, July 02, 2010 02:51