As important as the draft may be to a team's future, the free agent market is critical if teams are to make a move in the standings. But there are likely more bad signing than good ones. I don't think I need to explain that to any Leaf fan. So who should Brian Burke sign considering the top players are looking at sometimes 7 year contracts or longer.
So here is a hypothetical situation. Let's say Brian Burke trades both Kaberle and Kubina. That means he has a payroll of about $33 million including Darcy Tucker's buyout. So if he decides to cap his payroll at $53 million that gives him $20 million to spend on 4 forwards, 2 defensemen and 1 goalie (no Jonas Gustavsson signed). This is all hypothetical and assumes no younger players make the squad (Tyler Bozak, Jiri Tlusty, Dale Mitchell, Viktor Stalberg). Here are his choices with current salaries and what he would likely cost to sign this summer.
Sedin Twins - $7.5 million ($11 million)
Marion Gaborik - $7.5 million ($7.5 million)
Mats Sundin - $7 million ($5 million)
Jay Bouwmeester - $5 million ($ 7 million)
Matthias Ohlund - $3.5 million ($5 million)
Mike Cammalleri - $3.6 million ($5.5 million)
Nik Antropov - $2.1 million (2.6 million)
Martin Havlat - $6 million ($ 6.5 million)
Maxim Afinogenov - $3.5 million ($2.5 million)
Jason Williams - $2.2 million ($3 million)
Todd Bertuzzi - $1.9 million ($1.5 million)
Chris Neil - $1.2 million ($1.8 million)
Dominic Moore - $0.9 million ($1.5 million)
Hal Gill - $2.2 million ($2 million)
Paul Mara - $2 million ($2 million)
Francois Beauchemin - $1.6 million ($2.4 million)
Dennis Seidenberg - $1.2 million ($2 million)
Martin Gerber - $3.7 million ($1.5 million)
Manny Fernandez - $4.75 million ($2 million)
Scott Clemmensen - $0.5 million ($1.2 million)
Manny Legace - $2.5 million ($1.2 million)
Now remember you only have $20 million to spend.
12 years ago
