Scott Gomez (NJ) – 550,000 / 1 year

Gone are the days of Gomez being the league's biggest underachiever s. Since leaving the Canadiens Gomez has become a marginal depth player under much more reasonable contracts. Even then he had not been much of a fantasy asset in recent years.

Now with New Jersey it would be crazy to expect anything more than what we saw in Florida last year aside from an improvement in plus-minus. One thing to keep an eye on is that in Gomez's debut with the Devils he played a whopping 22 minutes. He did not accomplish much but if somehow that ice time continues he has to produce something right? Either way he will probably not amount to much more than a desperate pickup in the deepest of leagues.

Alec Martinez (LA) – 4,000,000 / 6 years

Martinez followed in the footsteps of fellow King Jake Muzzin by signing a long-term contract with a cap hit of $4 million. This is currently the going rate for defensemen of his caliber. While he is obviously no longer worth owning in points-only leagues, in multi-category formats the story is much different.

Martinez is not a standout in any one category but is a great example of a guy that is valuable for being strong in many. His secondary scoring ability combined with solid numbers in plus-minus, shots on goal, hits and blocks make him a valuable contributor. While he is no longer a super cap bargain, he is still worth owning given his overall contributions.

Marco Scandella (MIN) – 4,000,000 / 5 years

Scandella has taken a huge step forward this year especially from a fantasy perspective considering that his numbers have improved across the board. However, much like Martinez, Scandella's multi-category value, which is slowly approaching the league's elite among blueliners, far exceeds his points-only value.

As it stands right now, Scandella does not justify his new cost in points-only. He has not been a major contributor yet at the offensive end in his NHL career and his current pace (eight points in 22 games) is still very mediocre. However, at just 24 years of age, there is still some untapped potential here. Just be wary that there are probably cheaper alternatives out there that can match his production without offering the risk of wasting valuable cap space on potential that may not be reached for several more years.