Free agency is a time when teams try to change their fortunes without having to offer up any of their prospects or top talent through a trade.
However, for as many teams that come out ahead during this time of year there are as many or more that do not fare so well. Teams will be picked clean some years.
Each year the amount of free agency winners and losers changes with each new crop of free agents.
As this year was relatively thin, there were only a handful of teams that came out well, with names like Minnesota topping that list.
On the other end there were six teams that lost a number of players to free agency, and in some cases it was more who they were unable to get that placed them on this list.
Read More: NHL Free Agency: 6 Teams That Have Fared the Worst This Summer | Bleacher Report
Usually at this time of the summer, general managers have the "gone fishing" sign posted.
But this has been a strange offseason because we are headed toward Aug. 1 and many GMs are still trolling for players or dealing with matters that will affect their team's competitiveness.
Here are eight unresolved issues that could change the balance of power:
Pressing issues keep NHL offseason busy ? USATODAY-com
Here is a look at the 25 greatest hockey names ever. No, we're not talking about names like Orr, Gretzky, Esposito, Lemiuex or Howe, but names that are interesting, different or reflect some aspect of the sport of hockey and the way it's played.
I'm sure I've missed some great names in hockey history and this list is really for fun, so please, add your own or any you feel that I left out.
Read More: NHL: The 25 Greatest Hockey Names Ever | Bleacher Report
Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson has decided to return for a 17th NHL season after spending months pondering whether he was up for the grind of another campaign, the team said on Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time).
The 39-year-old Swede, a six-time All-Star who has spent his entire NHL career with the Senators, had said in April he needed time to determine his hockey future following his team's first-round, seven-game playoff loss to the New York Rangers.
"I'm excited to get ready for another season," Alfredsson, who won a gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Turin Games, said in a statement.
"I've been training for about a month and a half, and my body feels a lot further ahead of where it was last year at this point. I expect to come into camp stronger and fitter than I did last year."
Alfredsson, taken by Ottawa in the sixth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, was the NHL's top rookie for the 1995-96 season and is the team's all-time leader in games played (1,131), goals (416), assists (666) and points (1,082).
He had 27 goals and 32 assists last season for a Senators team that earned the final Eastern Conference playoff berth before going on to lose to the top-seeded Rangers.
Read More: NHL: Senators captain Alfredsson to return for 17th season | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere
The NHL free agent market may have come to a screeching halt, but that doesn't mean it's completely bone dry. There are still a handful of guys that could help your team, and considering they've gone a full month without a contract now, it's entirely possible that they'd be willing to give your team the Tomas Vokoun sweetheart deal (except for Shane Doan).
Let's take a look at 7 guys still looking for a place to play in 2012-13.
They may not be sexy pick-ups, but they won't cost anything but money to acquire, and they could very well turn out to be excellent acquisitions. You never know.
Read More: The top 7 remaining NHL free agents on the market | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports
Instead of blathering on for those who'd likely not read it, if you are here, you might just read through this. No dissertation, just an attempt to sell the idea that player ratings, OVR, POT, etc., should never, and I mean NEVER be subject to a static approach. They should, in fact, be fluid. Changing over time. Dynamic, and relevant to their context.
I play OOTP13. That game's player ratings (their star ratings) change over time. Their potential ratings change a lot more. During a preliminary scouting report, a player might be a 3* guy who might make the big leagues. But give him some time in the minors at A ball, and ask for another scouting report. His potential * rating might drop to 2*. The reason is that, just like real life, a re-evaluation of potential talent is based on production, attitude, player age, and team expectations and team system.
Why then, would a professional athlete, in real life, be graded identically from one team to the next? Why would scouts determine a player's current and potential grades based on only one mathematical formula?
One scout might deem skating speed less important to his organization's success than another. A scout might find a defenseman's choice to pinch and become a point shooter a bigger risk than another. Yet another scout might find European talent more closely matches his team's needs, etc.
Read More: NHL 13 dynamic player ratings - goalieump413's Blog - Operation Sports
This year, they could have two teenagers on the roster.
The Sabres traditionally have lacked size up front, especially on their top two lines. General manager Darcy Regier hopes he's eliminated that problem for the future by taking a pair of big centers in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
Buffalo also has a handful of prospects who have had a taste of life in the NHL and are trying to earn full-time jobs this season.
Here's a look at Buffalo's top 10 prospects: New big centers highlight Sabres' top 10 prospects - NHL-com - 30 in 30
For the second consecutive year, former University of Nebraska Omaha players will suit up and take to the ice with current National Hockey League players in an effort to raise money and awareness to aid in the battle against a particularly cruel form of muscular dystrophy which has touched the life of a former Maverick.
The second annual Duchenne Cup benefit hockey game will once again be held at the Moylan Tranquility IcePlex in Omaha on Sunday, August 26. So far, players from eight NHL teams— Colorado, Chicago, Philadelphia, Anaheim, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Montreal and Washington—are scheduled to be represented.
The inspiration for the event is to help former University of Nebraska Omaha hockey player Rob Facca and his wife Nikki, whose son, Louie, was diagnosed with Duchenne disease, a form of muscular dystrophy that strikes one in 3,500 young boys. Former UNO player and current Omaha Hockey Hall of Fame Foundation board member David Brisson originated the idea for the benefit game.
Read more: NHL, Ex-UNO Players Set to Skate for a Great Cause :: USCHO-com Blogs :: WCHA Blog :: U.S. College Hockey Online
Tanner Pearson, a Canadian ice hockey player who was drafted 30th overall, last in the first round of the 2012 NHL draft by Los Angeles Kings, has now being signed in an entry-level deal of three years by the same team that drafted him.
Following 5th pick Morgan Rielly’s singing by Toronto Maple leafs on the same day; Pearson’s signing means that, now 13 of the first 30 selected players of the 2012 NHL draft held from June 22–23, 2012, at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are signed by the teams that selected them.
19-year-old Tanner Pearson, who will turn 20 on the 10th of the August, was very happy and proud to have been signed with Los Angeles Kings. He expressed his feelings via his account on the social networking website, Twitter.
Pearson wrote that he is very proud on signing his first contract of the NHL with Los Angeles Kings and it is a great feeling for him. He thanked everybody who has helped him as he tweeted on twitter-com/tannerpearson14,
“Proud to have signed my first NHL contact with the @LAKings!! It's a great feeling and thanks to everyone who has helped me over the years!!”
Read More: 30th pick of the NHL draft, left winger Tanner Pearson signs with Los Angeles Kings for three years | bettor-com
The Kings have the Stanley Cup. The Wild won the free-agent sweepstakes by landing their $98 million stars, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. And Rick Nash is now in the Big Apple.
A dramatic spring and an eventful summer have given the NHL plenty of buzz.
But ever so slowly, an uncertain autumn looms. Commissioner Gary Bettman's league faces the possibility of being the next sport to endure a labor dispute — what would be its third in less than two decades — and there is growing concern that talks over a new collective bargaining agreement are stagnating. The league and the players' union have been meeting for weeks and still — nothing.
"The last thing (we) need to do is have some kind of a work stoppage, because we've made great strides with the positive spin hockey's had," Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller said. "I think the years coming out of the (2004-05) lockout, we got a lot of the fan base back, a lot of positive energy. Mix that with the Olympics here in North America, a couple of good playoffs, and we have a fan base that's loyal and, honestly, the best sports fans out of any sport.
Read More: Little action on NHL labor front | recordonline-com
The NHL and the NHL Players' Association can agree there's still more than enough time to reach a new labor deal even though the union has yet to submit a counteroffer with less than six weeks left before the current collective bargaining agreement expires.
"I don't think time's running out yet," Fehr said by phone Monday from Barcelona, where he met with about 40 NHL players. "I still think if the parties are dedicated to it, there's sufficient time to reach an agreement."
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly concurred.
"While time is getting shorter, we continue to feel there is sufficient time to reach a deal before Sept. 15," Daly wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Read more: NHL, NHLPA agree still sufficient time for CBA deal - NHL - SI-com
Members of the NHL's negotiating committee met Tuesday with representatives from the National Hockey League Players' Association in the first of four days of sessions this week at the League office to work on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The current CBA expires Sept. 15.
There were two breakout sessions Tuesday. The first was on player health and safety, while the other involved "miscellaneous CBA legal issues," according to NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.
After the four-plus-hour meeting adjourned, Daly and Mathieu Schneider, special assistant to the executive director of the NHLPA, reported noticeable progress was made in both sessions.
"I think both sides have proposals in those areas," Daly said. "For instance, on the miscellaneous side/legal CBA side, we're lining up the proposals and the requests in the various areas. Not as much talking them through yet -- I think we'll get to that [Wednesday]. On the player health and safety issues, I think there is a lot of common ground.
Jeff Skinner has yet to experience the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes. After signing a six-year contract extension with the club Wednesday, he hopes that will all change in the near future.
The 20-year-old Skinner, who has one year left on his entry-level deal, is now locked up through the 2018-19 season. The new deal is for a total $34.35 million with a salary-cap hit of $5.725 million. Skinner will make $4.35 million during the 2013-14 season and $6 million a season over the rest of the contract.
Read More: Skinner signs new deal with Hurricanes - NHL-com - News
The sale of the Coyotes to Jamison and his group of investors means a number of good things for the franchise. For one, they will no longer be owned by Gary Bettman and the NHL, making personnel decisions for the organization that much easier. It’s too bad for the Coyotes that this couldn’t get done in late June, for they might still have Ray Whitney. Second, they now have a great chance to reel Shane Doan back in after he’s been flirting with other teams as an unrestricted free agent.
It hasn’t been a secret as to why Doan has been taking his sweet time in the free agency process. He’s wanted to remain the Coyotes’ captain all along. The uncertainty of the situation forced him to at least test the waters and weigh his options. Now that the Yotes’ situation seems to be stabilizing, the chances of Doan staying with Phoenix are very high.
Read More: NHL Rumors: Sale of Phoenix Coyotes is nearing completion : Five Hole Dive
The 2011-2012 Philadelphia Flyers had a productive season and were among the final eight teams left in the NHL playoffs. If their season is looked at from a Flyers fan's perspective, then one word comes to mind: disappointing.
From the goaltending issues that have plagued Philadelphia for a number of years to the pair of aging defenders, the Flyers clearly have their work cut out for them this offseason.
No matter what the team's biggest needs are, acquiring a playmaker is always at the top of any franchise's list and Bobby Ryan from the Anaheim Ducks looks like he could be the next big player on the move.
Bobby Ryan could be a perfect fit for the Philadelphia Flyers and here are 10 reasons why.
Read More: NHL Trade Speculation: 10 Reasons Bobby Ryan Is Perfect for Philadelphia Flyers | Bleacher Report
The Kontinental Hockey League will already play in North America with two January games between Russian teams scheduled for January at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. If the NHL's labor negotiations result in a lockout, there could be further inroads.
According to a report by Canada's Sportsnet:
"Games between a team of Russian all-stars from the Kontinental Hockey League and "world" all-stars from the NHL are tentatively set for Moscow, Halifax and Quebec City, as well as an undetermined site in Southern Ontario. Donald Fehr, the NHLPA's executive director, spoke with representatives of the Russian league while overseas last week."
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman indicated last week that the league was prepared to lock out players if a new deal isn't place. The current collective-bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 15.
Read More: Report: NHL-KHL games possible if there's a lockout
The N.H.L. can cancel the Jan. 1 Winter Classic at 115,000-seat Michigan Stadium as late as Jan. 1, the day of the game, because of a work stoppage “arising from the lack of a collective bargaining agreement,” the contract between the league and the University of Michigan shows.
The league would forfeit only $100,000 of its $3 million stadium rental fee, according to the contract. The rest of the fee would be refunded by the university.
The contract provisions give the league some leeway for salvaging its showcase event should a lockout delay the start of the 2012-13 season, enabling the N.H.L. to hold the Winter Classic even if a lockout is settled in late December.
A lockout seems increasingly likely after Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday that “the owners are not prepared to operate under this collective bargaining agreement for another season.”
The current agreement between the league and the players’ union expires Sept. 15, and the two sides seem far apart.
The league’s initial offer, made July 13, proposed cutting player salaries by 24 percent and offered what Bettman called tweaks to the current limited revenue-sharing plan between rich and poor clubs.
If there's one reason for both the NHL and NHLPA to hammer out a new CBA at some point in the near future, it's the upcoming Winter Classic, scheduled for Jan. 1, 2013 between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium. The game is a cash cow for all involved with sold out stadiums for the game itself and the two scheduled alumni games, sponsorships galore and merchandise-hungry fans gobbling up everything from jerseys to shirts to funny-looking winter hats.
This year's game would break many records set by the previous five. For starters, selling out "The Big House" with over 110,000 Red Wings, Maple Leaf and other fans would make for a nice league press release the night of Jan. 1. Then once all the cash registers are counted, the revenue generated from not only the Winter Classic game, but also the Hockeytown Winter Festival leading up to Jan 1., which includes four college games, two OHL games and one AHL game, plus the two alumni games, that will likely be another press release touting record revenues generated by the event.
But what would happen if the current state of labor in the NHL remains at a standstill and we're threatened with missing most or (please not again) another full season? How would the NHL's agreement with the University of Michigan be affected by a work stoppage? Turns out the league has plenty of time to decide on finally canceling the event should it come to that.
NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr probably said it best on Wednesday when he remarked, "you hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."
That has been his advice all along to the players as they prepared to enter a third contentious collective bargaining agreement between the NHLPA and NHL in the past 18 years. But Fehr's counsel also is appropriate for hockey fans.
And after the latest negotiating session between the players and owners on Wednesday, it is evident that NHL fans should prepare for the worst.
The owners didn't like the components of the NHLPA's first proposal, which was tabled on Tuesday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said his group analyzed and understood the players' offer, "but there is still a wide gap between us with not much time to go. I think it's fair to say that the sides are still apart, far apart, and have different views of the world and the issues."
The current collective agreement expires in a month on Sept. 15. But the more important date is Oct. 11, when the NHL was slated to raise the curtain on the 2012-13 regular season.
Read More: NHL fans should prepare for the worst | Hockey | CBC Sports
However, for as many teams that come out ahead during this time of year there are as many or more that do not fare so well. Teams will be picked clean some years.
Each year the amount of free agency winners and losers changes with each new crop of free agents.
As this year was relatively thin, there were only a handful of teams that came out well, with names like Minnesota topping that list.
On the other end there were six teams that lost a number of players to free agency, and in some cases it was more who they were unable to get that placed them on this list.
Read More: NHL Free Agency: 6 Teams That Have Fared the Worst This Summer | Bleacher Report