Capped: Money Well Spent
Chris Pudsey
2015-05-07
Free Agency can bring good value to the general managers that look for it, including names like Stralman and Vrbata.
Every year, July 1st is the opening day of Christmas shopping for NHL GM's. This is the day free agency opens, and so does the wallets of team owners everywhere. Some buys are bargains and some turn out to be busts. Some even turn out to be a good purchase for both the players and the teams.
In last weeks Capped, we took a look at last year's free agent busts. This week, we are going to review the free agent deals that actually worked out for the teams involved. In no particular order:
Devan Dubnyk – MIN – One year, $800K
|
player |
GP |
Win |
L |
OTL |
SO |
GA |
SHA |
GAA |
SV% |
|
DUBNYK, DEVAN |
58 |
36 |
14 |
4 |
6 |
115 |
1625 |
2.07 |
0.9292 |
I will bet you three Connor McDavids when Arizona Coyotes GM, Don Maloney, signed Dubnyk to a one year deal last year, he had no idea he was signing a Vezina Trophy finalist. I am fairly sure no one saw that one coming at the time.
After stealing the starting job in Arizona from the incumbent, Mike Smith, Dubnyk was shipped off to Minnesota for a third round pick in the upcoming 2015 NHL draft. Minnesota was struggling to keep their playoff heads above water and Dubnyk came in and calmed the ship. He was easily the team's MVP this year even though he only appeared in 39 of the Wild's games, and you can bet he won't be a bargain this off-season when he becomes an UFA again.
Not that this should be a surprise but the numbers above are all career highs for Dubnyk. Looking at all goalies with at least 30 starts, his 36 wins were sixth-best in the league (even though he started fewer games than the five in front of him), his GAA was second only to Carey Price and his SV% was second in the league to once again, you guessed it, Carey Price.
That's one heck of a return in the $800K investment.
Radim Vrbata – VAN – Two years, $10M
|
player |
GP |
G |
A |
P |
PntPG |
+/- |
PIM |
Shots |
HITS |
PPG |
PPP |
SHG |
BLKS |
PPTOI |
%PP |
%SH |
TOI/G |
%TOI |
|
VRBATA, RADIM |
79 |
31 |
32 |
63 |
0.80 |
6 |
20 |
267 |
44 |
12 |
23 |
0 |
25 |
02:55 |
60.0 |
1.5 |
16:37 |
27.4 |
Vrbata was probably Vancouver best off-season move last summer. He led their team in goals and had career high 63 points this year. He was also voted the Canucks MVP. He was key in returning the Canucks stagnant power play back to relevance, and helping Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin bounce back after a few years of decline.
This past season, the NHL only had 15 skaters score 30 or more goals. Of those 30, only four of those skaters, Vladimir Tarasenko, Max Pacioretty, Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler made less money than Vrbata and two of them were on ELC's (Tarasenko and Monahan). That's excellent value for the Canucks and a very smart signing.
One has to wonder why there are rumours about Vrbata being dealt this off-season. Stay tuned to that one.
Anton Stralman – TB – Five years, $22.5M
|
player |
GP |
G |
A |
P |
PntPG |
+/- |
PIM |
Shots |
HITS |
PPG |
PPP |
SHG |
BLKS |
PPTOI
📢 advertisement:
|
%PP |
%SH |
TOI/G |
%TOI |
|
STRALMAN, ANTON |
82 |
9 |
30 |
39 |
0.48 |
22 |
26 |
138 |
104 |
2 |
14 |
0 |
77 |
02:29 |
43.7 |
48.8 |
21:57 |
36.2 |
I won't lie, when the Bolts signed Stralman to the five-year deal at an annual rate of $4.5M, I raised my eyebrows and thought, "Really? How much??" To say Stralman has been worth that much and more is an understatement.
Related Posts
UPCOMING GAMES
| Dec 23 - 13:12 |
 N.J
| vs |
 NYR | |
| Dec 23 - 14:12 |
 TOR
| vs |
 WPG | |
| Dec 23 - 19:12 |
 DET
| vs |
 STL | |
| Dec 23 - 19:12 |
 CBJ
| vs |
 MTL | |
| Dec 23 - 19:12 |
 BOS
| vs |
 WSH | |
| Dec 23 - 19:12 |
 FLA
| vs |
 T.B | |
| Dec 23 - 19:12 |
 PIT
| vs |
 PHI | |
| Dec 23 - 19:12 |
 NYI
| vs |
 BUF | |
| Dec 23 - 20:12 |
 NSH
| vs |
 CAR | |
| Dec 23 - 20:12 |
 MIN
| vs |
 CHI | |
| Dec 23 - 21:12 |
 UTA
| vs |
 DAL | |
| Dec 23 - 21:12 |
 VAN
| vs |
 S.J | |
| Dec 23 - 22:12 |
 VGK
| vs |
 ANA
| |
Starting Goalies
Top Skater Views
OTT
CGYTop Goalie Profile Views
COL
L.A
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
BUF Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 20.3 | JJ PETERKA PEYTON KREBS DYLAN COZENS | |
| 20.2 | SAM LAFFERTY JIRI KULICH ZACH BENSON | |
| 19.1 | JASON ZUCKER ALEX TUCH TAGE THOMPSON | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Fantasy Hockey Life: FHL/DPR WJC20 Crossover Draft Part 1
The World Juniors Championship is mere days away. Today Fantast Hockey Life and Dobber Prospects Report features a special crossover draft. Peter Harling, DPR producer James Iacovone, Victor and Jesse draft the first five of nine rounds of WJC players. Check out the second half of the draft with post-draft analysis on the Dobber Prospects […]
Keeping Karlsson: Matchup Maximizer Week 12
Elan looks at the schedule for the upcoming week of NHL action and recommends some players with good schedules that you should consider streaming in to win your head to head matchups.
Keeping Karlsson: Short Shifts – EBUP (Emergency Backup Podcaster)
Elan comes in to save the day and records with Shams to bring you all the fantasy news you need to know as we near the Christmas break. They cover the fantasy impact of the Kaapo Kakko trade and the nearing return of Alex Ovechkin and Rasmus Dahlin from injury. After that, they cover many […]
Keeping Karlsson: Back To Blackwood
Elan and Brian host a special matinee edition looking at an avalanche of impact in Colorado’s crease and depth chart, distinguishing performers from posers, and asking “how high?” for an upper echelon of performers in Tampa Bay and Boston.
Fantasy Hockey Life: X Gamers
X gamers returns – where we talk about some prospects starting to make an impact. We talk Simon Edvinsson, Calum Ritchie, Jackson Blake, Emil Andrae, and Marco Kasper. Polls from Mason Black, the NHL Rank King. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email [email protected] and […]