What you see isn't what you get with free agents

Sporting News, The, June 26, 2000 by Larry Wigge

Some things never change. Like when longtime NHL general manager Glen Sather talks about future Hall of Fame center Mark Messier, a player who helped Sather win five Stanley Cups in Edmonton and whom you can write in to Sather's new lineup for the Rangers next season.

"I never like to see anyone raise the ante in this poker game we are all playing," Sather says. "But I can't criticize what Mark Messier has done for this game. He's a special case, always will be. No matter what team he plays for, he'll make a lot of his teammates step up and be better players."

To assure you and Messier's current Canucks team that Sather isn't tampering, that quote came three years ago, the last time Messier was a free agent. That was before he went on to sign a three-year, $18 million deal with Vancouver.

Sather didn't need to regurgitate a similar quote a couple of weeks ago when he left Edmonton for New York. All I needed to see was a wink when he was asked if Messier soon would return to the Big Apple, where he won his sixth Stanley Cup in 1994.

The Rangers haven't been the same since Messier left their locker room in 1997. He can provide the leadership this bunch needs-and he still has the ability to be the team's No. 1 center, allowing the line of Petr Nedved, Radek Dvorak and Jan Hlavac to give the team the depth it didn't have in missing the playoffs the last three seasons.

But Messier isn't the only big name on this year's free-agent list.

Attention shoppers, we have a little bit of everything available--for the right price. Here's my list of who's likely to go where.

Looking for a goaltender? Pittsburgh would love to have Eon Tugnutt back, but the Penguins could get into a bidding war with Tampa Bay. Florida's Mike Vernon is another free agent who would love to have another chance with a Stanley Cup contender. Like Ottawa, maybe. And Tom Barrasso will sell himself to the highest bidder, if he can find one after making waves in Pittsburgh and Ottawa.

How about a difference-making defenseman? Well, you're out of luck. Ray Bourque has been signed by Colorado, and Sergei Zubov, Teppo Numminen, Phil Housley and Calle Johansson re-signed with their teams. Phoenix's Lyle Odelein could provide some grit and be a top-four guy for a team like Philadelphia. Other big-ticket defensemen available include the Rangers' Kevin Hatcher and Mathieu Schneider, Dallas' Sylvain Cote and Dave Manson, Los Angeles' Garry Galley and Calgary's Darryl Shannon. Paul Coffey's out there, but most assume he already has agreed to play in Toronto. And has anyone gone wild about Devils' problem child Vladimir Malakhov lately? Honestly, I think the best bargains on the market are Carolina's Sean Hill and Pittsburgh's Peter Popovic.

Need help up front? Aside from Messier, you have four-time Stanley Cup champion Claude Lemieux, if you are looking for a power forward who can agitate with the best of them. That sounds like a St. Louis need. Shifty Detroit center Igor Larionov would be welcome on any contender; I know Chicago would love to have him help turn around its program. As for other power forwards, Shayne Corson hasn't yet signed with Toronto, but we hear he's close. Then there's Rick Tocchet, if he doesn't want to finish his career in Philadelphia. Or Dallas Drake, who we hear is bound for Chicago. Gary Roberts would be a welcome battler up front as well, but don't look for Carolina to let him get away. If you have a lot of patience--and I mean a lot of patience--you could try Joe Murphy or Stephane Richer or Dave Andreychuk.

Restricted free agents. This is where compensation is involved, and very few of these players move. Actually, many of them wind up holding out well into the season, as Phoenix's Nikolai Khabibulin and Robert Reichel and Carolina's Keith Primeau did last year. Look for Colorado's Sandis Ozolinsh to be a holdout again, as will be Buffalo's Michael Peca. Ozolinsh likely will force a trade with his holdout, but Peca is too valuable to the Sabres for them to cut him loose.

But a few of these restricted free agents might just wear out their welcome and be traded, starting with Philadelphia center Eric Lindros, Atlanta right winger Donald Audette and Detroit right winger Slava Kozlov. Phoenix will trade Reichel. Nashville will deal defenseman Drake Berehowsky.

The Islanders have had their eyes on Panthers right winger Oleg Kvasha for a long time and nearly made a deal for him last season. Knowing defenseman Kenny Jonsson, who has had post-concussion problems, wants much more than $2 million, the Islanders might consider trading their captain and best defender. Phoenix center Travis Green or Vancouver left wing Brad May also could be had. And after the way defenseman Bob Boughner played in Pittsburgh, he too could make a good deal somewhere else.

This restricted list also has names that would not become available unless someone wants to sign them to a free-agent offer sheet and risk having the deal go to an arbitrator, which hardly ever happens in the NHL.