The advent of the salary cap after the 2004-05 NHL lockout was expected to be good for the owners. In its first four years, it proved to be better for the players as continual cap increases allowed for more dollars to be handed out. Ahead of the 2009-10 campaign however, the salary cap ceiling rose only slightly, resulting in a higher than usual amount of players without contracts once the season started.
Players Released From Tryouts
With just a $100,000 bump in the salary cap, several NHL veterans were invited to a team’s training camp on a tryout. For some – think Petr Sykora, Francis Bouillon, Maxim Afinogenov, to name a few – it worked in their favor. Others weren’t so lucky.
Former Canadiens defenseman and occasional forward Mathieu Dandenault had been invited to the San Jose Sharks’ camp on September 9. At the time, he had told RDS that he had been negotiating with the reigning President’s Trophy winners over the summer. Just over two weeks later, though, Dandenault was released from his tryout agreement and was still waiting for a new team when the regular season began.
A few weeks in, the Hartford Wolf Pack, AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, signed Dandenault to a Professional Tryout agreement.
Meanwhile, further down the California coast Kyle Calder was looking to impress the Anaheim Ducks’ brass enough to earn a contract. Unfortunately, Calder’s fate would mimic that of Dandenault; on September 26th, he was cut from the Ducks’ roster.
He would remain unsigned for just a month a longer, signing with the Ducks on Oct. 28.
Free Agents Who Have Not Received Contract Offers
While Dandenault and Calder were at least offered tryout contracts, several of their peers sat by the phones this summer and at the start of the NHL season were still waiting for a team to be interested in their services.
Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron had been one of those until the rumors of him signing with the Canadiens finally came to be reality on October 6. But, he's not the only blue-liner still on the market.
Greg De Vries is one such name that has hardly been a part of any rumor buzz. A defensive defenseman by nature, De Vries, who spent the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons with the Nashville Predators, has been able to chip in points on occasion. However, with minimal money available and the rearguard in his mid-30s, it’s likely not surprising he remains a free agent.
Blue-liners aren’t the only free agent hockey players without contracts; just under a week into the new NHL season, veteran forwards Miroslav Satan and Michael Peca were also unemployed.
Satan, fresh off a Stanley Cup championship with the Pittsburgh Penguins, had been in negotiations with the New York Islanders in July. It would have marked a return to the Island for Satan, who amassed 166 points over three seasons with the club from 2005-06 through 2007-08. Ultimately, it would appear a deal was not to be as his free agent status had not changed through the season’s early days.
After a pair of campaigns asserting veteran leadership to a young Blue Jackets squad, Michael Peca has not yet found new teammates on which to impart his wisdom. Just ahead of the opening of training camp, the former Sabre told The Buffalo News that he had spoken to a few teams in the Eastern Conference. Nearly a month later, nothing had developed.
Though the remaining free agents have struggled to find hockey teams willing to pay them, the season is still young. As many NHL teams are well aware, injuries are sure to happen and when they do, those unsigned free agents could find themselves back in the mix once again.
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