OLOF - MOSiR

sakura698 · Dołączył: 10 Wrz 2019 Posty: 90

The Florida Panthers had money to spend in free agency, and loaded up, bringing in four forwards, one defenceman and a goaltender on the first day of free agency. Chad Thomas Jersey . Numbers Game looks at the Panthers big first day of free agency. The Panthers Get: LW Jussi Jokinen, C Dave Bolland, C, Derek MacKenzie, RW Shawn Thornton, D Willie Mitchell, G Al Montoya. The Florida Panthers headed into the offseason giving general manager Dale Tallon more financial freedom than theyve had in recent seasons, and he wasted no time spending that money, with mixed results. Jokinen, 31, had a strong season playing on Evgeni Malkins wing in Pittsburgh, scoring 57 points in 81 games, the second-best point total of his career. That situation is not a luxury that Jokinen can count on in Florida where, despite their young talent, they have no one in Malkins class, but Jokinen has shown that he can be a productive contributor with solid possession numbers when playing with skilled players. Slot him alongside young Finn Aleksander Barkov and that has the makings of a solid two-way line and maybe Jokinen isnt likely to be scoring 50-plus points in Florida, where no one scored even 40 points last season, but Jokinen can be a useful player for at least three of the four years for which he signed, at a total cost of $16-million. Then, things got silly. Coming into free agency, there was a natural connection to make between Dave Bolland and Panthers GM Dale Tallon, given their time together in Chicago, but Bolland is a third-line centre so its really hard to justify the kind of money and term that was given. Bolland signed a five-year, $27.5-million contract, and its just flat-out outrageous. Bolland played well with the Maple Leafs last season, at least he did when he was healthy, but hes missed 142 games over the past five seasons and is coming off a season in which he missed 59 games due to a sliced ankle tendon. At his best, Bolland has been productive, scoring more than 35 points three times, and handled a lot of tough assignments in terms of zone starts and quality of competition, but assuming that hes up to that level now, after his latest injury, seems a tad optimistic and paying money and term that is more typical of a top-six forward is just really difficult to digest. For a checking centre, he also hasnt been very good at limiting shots against while killing penalties. Sure, the Panthers are nowhere near the cap now, and maybe they never will be, but its hard to take a team from being also-rans to contenders simply by paying a checking centre a boatload of money. By contrast, Paul Stastny and Thomas Vanek were the only two free agent forwards to come at a higher cap hit and neither one signed for five years. They didnt get as much term as Dave Bolland. MacKenzie, a 33-year-old checking centre, has been a reliable fourth-liner for the Blue Jackets. He had a career-high 237 hits last season and in four seasons with the Blue Jackets, hes won 54.9% of his draws. Signed for three years and $3.9-million, MacKenzie gives the Panthers good depth down the middle and it looks like Bolland and MacKenzie are going to bump prospects like Brandon Pirri and Vince Trocheck down the depth chart, presumably right out of the Top 12 unless they can fit on the wing. Shawn Thornton is a tough guy whose game has been declining in recent seasons. Hes fought 90 times over the past six seasons, but thats about what the 36-year-old (who turns 37 later this month) can do at this point. Whether thats worth more than a million dollars per season or multiple years probably has different answers for teams that arent trying to reach the salary floor. After missing the entire 2012-2013 season, Willie Mitchell had a nice comeback season, playing more than 20 minutes a night, a crucial part of the Kings second Stanley Cup win in the past three seasons. Hes 37, so not the fleetest afoot, but Mitchell has size, strength and adds a shot of reliability to the Panthers defence. In Mitchell and Brian Campbell (at least for now), the Panthers have a couple veterans that could show the way for first overall draft pick Aaron Ekblad and Mitchell, while a decent addition gets a nice payday -- two years, $8.5-million -- to eat some minutes on the Panthers blueline. Backup goaltender Al Montoya is a 29-year-old who posted a .920 save percentage in 28 games with the Jets last season. Trouble is, in the prevous two seasons, his save percentage was .894, so its not really reasonable to expect more than Montoyas career average which is .910. Adding Montoya would figure to mark the end of Dan Ellis time in Florida, though it may be difficult to find a taker for a 34-year-old coming off the worst season of his career. The Florida Panthers spent big money in the summer of 2011, overpaying a bunch of veterans in order to reach the salary floor, and this year has a similar feel to it. The issue for the Panthers is that they are a franchise that has reached the postseason once in the past 13 years; they dont need to overpay free agents as much as they need to build a stable base of talent. With all the money the Panthers spent on July 1, theres not much reason to believe any of those players are going to be long-term answers. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Chad Thomas Youth Jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Austin Seibert Youth Jersey . He was 90. The team announced Monday that Adams had died, saying he "passed away peacefully from natural causes." The son of a prominent oil executive, Adams built his own energy fortune and founded the Houston Oilers. http://www.brownsauthenticproshop.com/Youth-Myles-Garrett-Jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla.LONDON - Emmanuel Adebayor gave Tottenhams Champions League pursuit a timely tonic on Sunday, clinching a barely-deserved 1-0 victory over Everton to dislodge the losers from fifth place in the Premier League. By overcoming one of this seasons top-five teams for the first time despite being largely outplayed, Tottenham moved just three points behind fourth-place Liverpool. Spurs scored from their only shot on target, with Adebayor controlling a free kick, taken swiftly and smartly by Kyle Walker, and going past Seamus Coleman and dispatching the ball into the net in the 65th minute. "The ball was great, the control was not bad and I had one choice — to finish with my left foot," Adebayor said. Having collected just one point from its previous two matches, Tottenhams season now appears to be back on track again as it moved nine points behind leader Chelsea. For Everton, so impressive in its first season under Roberto Martinez, this was only the Merseyside teams third league loss in four months. And the hard-working, well-drilled Toffees should have come away from White Hart Lane with at least a point. "We have to hope football wont be that harsh on us again," Martinez said, with 13 games remaining. Leon Osman had a trio of chances in the opening 10 minutes alone, with the best of them — a volley — turned wide by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Overrunning the hosts in midfield, Everton was preventing Tottenham making an impact, and leaving them exposed on counterattacks. Tim Howward was barely troubled in the Everton goal, with a free kick from Christian Eriksen that dipped over him onto the roof of the net providing a rare moment of danger. Nick Chubb Jersey. But when Everton was presented with scoring opportunities, too often they were wasted. Winger Kevin Mirallas rampaged through the Tottenham defence and reached the edge of the area but then struck over rather than picking out one of his better-positioned teammates. As halftime approached, Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood was becoming increasingly anxious, going from bellowing instructions to cursing misses. There was little change at the start of the second half, with Sherwood kicking bottles and accidentally sending spray across the technical area. "Im not pleased about how we are starting games," Sherwood said. "Its something we have to address and find out why." What was missing from either team, since those early Osman chances, was a player to find a breakthrough amid their midfield sparring. "I want them to play with risk," Sherwood said. "It was a bit stodgy in there." Then, out of nowhere, came Adebayors sixth goal in nine league games since being brought in from the cold by Sherwood after being sidelined by Andre Villas-Boas. "Its all about how hes being managed," Sherwood said somewhat mischievously. And it was enough to clinch the three points for Tottenham, which had previously failed to beat top-four rivals Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool this season. ' ' '