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Let's cut right to the chase; here are the top 10 best offseason free agent signings in terms of value.
Legend:
Cap: Salary Cap Hit
Player Team Cap GVT GVS
Craig Anderson Colorado 1.8 11.1 8.8
Henrik Sedin Vancouver 6.1 16.7 6.9
Andy Greene New Jersey 0.7 7.0 6.6
Matt Moulson NY Islanders 0.6 6.7 5.6
Jussi Jokinen Carolina 1.7 7.7 5.6
Eric Fehr Washington 0.8 6.0 5.5
Jeff Schultz Washington 0.7 5.4 5.0
Brent Johnson Pittsburgh 0.5 4.8 4.8
Tomas Plekanec Montreal 2.8 8.6 4.6
Kurtis Foster Tampa Bay 0.6 4.8 4.6
Definitions of GVT and GVS can be found here
It comes as no surprise that Colorado GM Greg Sherman's brilliant coup of signing a top-flight goaltender like Craig Anderson for a mere $1.8 million was the greatest offseason signing. Combined with other shrewd value signings like Peter Budaj and David Jones, you might start making a case for GM of the Year, but I'm going to make an even better case for someone far less obvious in a moment.
At Puck Prospectus, we may have been expecting Anderson to head this list, but not the others. Before the season began, we expected the top values to be the following players, but as you can see, only two of them, Travis Zajac and Mark Recchi, are providing good bang for the buck.
Player Team Cap GVT GVS
Jeff Woywitka Dallas 0.7 -0.4 -0.7
Rob Blake San Jose 3.5 2.9 -2.4
Ruslan Fedotenko Pittsburgh 1.8 0.6 -1.7
Travis Zajac New Jersey 3.9 7.8 1.9
Mark Recchi Boston 1.0 2.7 1.8
Travis Zajac has contributed 7.8 GVT, which is great, but New Jersey paid almost in full for every goal. If you're not interested in value, here are the top offseason free agent signings, regardless of salary. I've left off those who appear on the first list, and anyone without a GVT of at least 6.0.
Player Team Cap GVT GVS
Marian Gaborik NY Rangers 7.5 12.9 0.6
Daniel Sedin Vancouver 6.1 10.0 0.2
Travis Zajac New Jersey 3.9 7.8 1.9
Mike Cammalleri Montreal 6.0 7.6 -2.1
Kris Versteeg Chicago 3.1 7.5 3.0
Marian Hossa Chicago 5.2 7.0 -0.9
Nik Antropov Atlanta 4.1 6.8 0.5
Mikael Samuelsson Vancouver 2.5 6.1 2.6
Alexei Kovalev Ottawa 5.0 6.1 -1.8
Who were the worst signings of the year? It should come as no surprise that giving Mike Komisarek a $4.5 million dollar contract despite career bests of 19 points and +9 is like throwing money into a fireplace. And for Toronto GM Brian Burke to then put him on the U.S. Olympic team is like diving in after it.
Player Team Cap GVT GVS
Mike Komisarek Toronto 4.5 -1.2 -8.2
Scott Niedermayer Anaheim 6.8 3.1 -7.9
David Booth Florida 4.3 -0.5 -7.1
Brian Elliott Ottawa 0.9 -5.8 -6.4
Jay Bouwmeester Calgary 6.7 4.6 -6.3
Nikolai Khabibulin Edmonton 3.8 -0.1 -5.8
Devan Dubnyk Edmonton 0.7 -5.3 -5.7
Johnny Oduya New Jersey 3.5 0.4 -4.9
David Bolland Chicago 3.4 0.3 -4.7
Martin Biron NY Islanders 1.4 -3.1 -4.7
We expected to see Scott Niedermayer and Jay Bouwmeester on this list, but are pleased that our other predicted disasters haven't been nearly as bad as we initially feared.
Player Team Cap GVT GVS
Steve Sullivan Nashville 3.8 3.8 -1.9
Scott Niedermayer Anaheim 6.8 3.1 -7.9
Travis Moen Montreal 1.5 0.8 -1.0
Chris Neil Ottawa 2.0 1.7 -0.9
Jay Bouwmeester Calgary 6.7 4.6 -6.3
Despite losing a lot of value on Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary GM Darryl Sutter's other signings such as Nigel Dawes, Dustin Boyd, and Adam Pardy resulted in a net gain for the Flames. Unfortunately for Anaheim, at a team level, Niedermayer's signings pushes GM Bob Murray down in the basement with only the three Eastern Canadian teams for company.
Team Cap GVT GVS
Phoenix 9.1 27.8 19.0
Colorado 5.1 18.2 13.6
Vancouver 20.9 41.2 13.4
Washington 10.0 21.1 9.8
New Jersey 9.8 19.7 7.0
Pittsburgh 7.1 13.3 6.5
Nashville 6.9 13.0 4.5
Boston 8.4 12.5 3.5
St. Louis 6.0 8.4 3.3
Buffalo 8.1 10.6 2.6
Calgary 10.8 15.5 2.3
Los Angeles 6.4 8.9 1.5
Chicago 22.0 30.4 0.7
San Jose 11.3 14.1 0.5
Detroit 4.4 3.8 -0.3
NY Islanders 6.5 5.4 -0.5
Minnesota 11.5 11.9 -2.5
Edmonton 12.1 11.4 -2.5
Tampa Bay 10.7 9.7 -2.6
Dallas 5.6 3.6 -2.6
Carolina 13.2 13.2 -3.4
Philadelphia 2.7 -2.6 -4.7
Atlanta 11.8 9.8 -5.6
Columbus 6.3 -0.8 -7.6
NY Rangers 19.0 18.5 -7.7
Florida 11.2 7.4 -7.9
Ottawa 7.9 2.0 -9.2
Anaheim 16.7 14.3 -9.6
Montreal 25.3 24.1 -10.7
Toronto 12.3 1.4 -16.7
While Sherman has a lot of which to be proud of, Phoenix GM Don Maloney has weathered a terrible storm and made some of the shrewdest signings of the summer, quietly collecting Keith Yandle, Scottie Upshall, Adrian Aucoin, Vernon Fiddler, Jason Labarbera, Daniel Winnik, and Taylor Pyatt at discount prices. A lot of pundits had Phoenix pegged for 28th overall just like we did, but thanks to Maloney and his staff outsmarting everyone, Phoenix is currently tied for sixth in the league.
Other than Chicago and Montreal, Vancouver was among the biggest spenders. While it doesn't take a genius to give the Sedins whatever they want, give Canucks GM Mike Gillis credit for signing the talented Swedes to long-term contracts for only $6.1 million apiece, and then complementing them with value signings like Mikael Samuelsson, Jannik Hansen, and Tanner Glass.
On the flip side, you have to scratch your head whenever you review Montreal GM Bob Gainey's offseason decisions, only two of which worked out, Tomas Plekanec and the since-traded Guillaume Latendresse. Gainey's 10 other signings have all failed to produce at the level warranted by their compensation, and you have to wonder if that's made the difference for them so far.
Wrap Up
There's still plenty of hockey to be played this season, and many of these players could turn their seasons around. Colorado GM Greg Sherman may get a lot of deserved attention for snapping up Craig Anderson for $1.8 million, but at the moment, the league's wisest is Coyotes GM Don Maloney, who quietly managed to convince seven solid players to sign in Phoenix at value prices despite all of this summer's turmoil.
Robert Vollman is an author of Hockey Prospectus.
You can contact Robert by clicking here or click here to see Robert's other articles.
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