SB Nation - Jeremy Williams

2009 NHL Free Agency / Teams by Cap Space / Unsigned UFA's and RFA's

Robert L — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:19:41 -0000

This is a listing of NHL teams by order of remaining cap space as of July 4. The Islanders top the list with approximately $23M left to spend. The Sharks have just under $2M remaining. The list is helpful in determining which team are closest to filling out their 2009-10 lineup. As one can see, there is much work to be done at both ends of the spectrum. The numbers figures are based on totals given by NHL Numbers.com.

1 - New York Islanders: $23.265 (18)

UFA: Andy Hilbert C 28, Dean McAmmond C 36, Mike Sillinger C 38, Thomas Pock D 27, Yann Danis G 28, Joey MacDonald G 29.

RFA: Nate Thompson C 24, Jeremy Colliton C 24, Jamie Fraser D 23, Jack Hillen D 23.

2 - Phoenix Coyotes: $21.972 (18)

UFA: Brian McGrattan R 27, Dmitri Kalinin D 29, Ken Klee D 38.

RFA: Nigel Dawes L 24, Joakim Lindstrom C 25, Enver Lisin R 23, Scottie Upshall R 25, Daniel Winnik C 24, Keith Yandle D 22.

3 - Atlanta Thrashers: $19.599 (15)

RFA: Eric Perrin C 33.

UFA: Kari Lehtonen G 25, Colby Armstrong R 26, Jim Slater C 26, Boris Valabik D 23.

4 - Nashville Predators: $17.913 (16)

UFA: Radek Bonk C 33, Scott Nichol C 34, Greg de Vries D 36.

RFA: Ryan Jones R 25, Antti Pihlstrom L 24,.

5 - New York Rangers: $16.436 (13)

UFA: Blair Betts C 29, Mark Bell L 28, Patrick Rissmiller C 30, Paul Mara D 29, Derek Morris D 30.

RFA: Christopher Higgins R 26, Ryan Callahan R 24, Brandon Dubinsky C 23, Lauri Korpikoski L 22, Nikolai Zherdev L 24, Corey Potter D 25.

6 - Anaheim Ducks: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Rob Niedermayer F 34, Todd Marchant C 33, Francois Beauchemin D 29, Bret Hedican D 38.

RFA: James Wisniewski D 25.

7 - Tampa Bay Lightning: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Matt Pettinger L 28, Wade Brookbank L 31, Jason Ward R 30, Marek Malik D 34, Josef Melichar D 30, Cory Murphy D 31, Noah Welch D 26.

RFA: Martins Karsums R 23, Radek Smolenak L 22, Matt Lashoff D 22, Matt Smaby D 24, Mike Lundin D 24, Karri Ramo G 22, Mike McKenna G 26.

8 - Columbus Blue Jackets: $13.313 (20)

UFA: Chris Gratton C 33, Manny Malhotra C 29, Michael Peca C 35, Jason Williams C 28, Christian Backman D 29.

RFA: Jiri Novotny C 25, Marc Methot D 24, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen D 25.

9 - Dallas Stars: $13.193 (19)

UFA: Sergei Zubov D 38, Brendan Morrison C 33, Joel Lundqvist C 27, Mark Parrish R 32, Landon Wilson R 34, Tobias Stephan G 25, Darryl Sydor D 37.

RFA: Mark Fistric D 23.

10 - St. Louis Blues: $12.295 (22)

UFA: Trent Whitfield C 32, Dan Hinote R 32, Jay McKee D 31, Manny Legace G 36.

RFA: Brandon Crombeen R 23, Chris Porter C 25, Steve Regier L 24, Roman Polak D 23, Jeff Woywitka D 25, Marek Schwarz G 23.

11 - New Jersey Devils: $12.129

UFA: Brendan Shanahan L 40, Kevin Weekes G 34, Niclas Havelid D NJ.

RFA: Travis Zajac C 24.

12 - Toronto Maple Leafs: $12.022 (20)

UFA: Brad May L 37, Bates Battaglia L 33, Andre Deveaux C 25, Boyd Devereaux C 31, Jeff Hamilton C 31, Kris Newbury C 27, Ben Ondrus R 27, Jay Harrison D 26, Jamie Heward D 38, Martin Gerber G 34, Olaf Kolzig G 39, Curtis Joseph G 42.

RFA: Jeremy Williams R 25, Justin Pogge G 23, Jaime Sifers D 26, Ryan Hollweg C 26.

13 - Chicago Blackhawks: $11.797

UFA: Aaron Johnson D 26.

RFA: Cam Barker D 23, Troy Brouwer R 23, Ben Eager L 25, Colin Fraser C 24, Kris Versteeg R 23.

14 - Colorado Avalanche: $11.654 (15)

UFA: Joe Sakic F 39, Ben Guite R 30, Brian Willsie R 31, Andrew Raycroft G 29.

RFA: Kyle Cumiskey D 22, David Jones R 24, Cody McCormick C 26.

15 - Montreal Canadiens: $10.454 (16)

UFA: Alexei Kovalev F 36, Saku Koivu C 34, Alex Tanguay L 29, Robert Lang C 38, Mathieu Schneider D 40, Tom Kostopoulos R 30, Mathieu Dandenault D 33, Patrice Brisebois D 38, Francis Bouillon D 33, Marc Denis G 31.

RFA: Tomas Plekanec C 26, Matt D'Agostini R 22, Guillaume Latendresse R 22, Kyle Chipchura C 23, Gregory Stewart L 23.

16 - Los Angeles Kings: $10.285 (21)

UFA: Derek Armstrong F 36, Denis Gauthier D 32, Kyle Calder L 30.

RFA: Jack Johnson D 22, Teddy Purcell R 23.

17 - Washington Capitals: $9.720 (15)

UFA: Viktor Kozlov C 34, Alexandre Giroux C 28, Bryan Helmer D 26, Brent Johnson G 32.

RFA: Jeff Schultz D 23, Shaone Morrisonn D 26, Milan Jurcina D 26, Eric Fehr R 23, Boyd Gordon R 25.

18 - Buffalo Sabres: $8.976 (16)

UFA: Matt Ellis L 24, Dominic Moore C 28, Andrew Peters L 29, Teppo Numminen D 40, Maxim Afinogeno F 29,

RFA: Andrej Sekera D 23, Drew Stafford R 23, Clarke MacArthur L 24, Patrick Kaleta R 23.

19 - Florida Panthers: $8.405 (18)

UFA: Ville Peltonen L 36, Richard Zednik L 33, Jassen Cullimore D 36, Nick Boynton D 30.

RFA: Anthony Stewart C 24, Steve Eminger D 25, Tanner Glass L 25.

20 - Carolina Hurricanes: $8.083 (18)

UFA: Ryan Bayda L 28, Dennis Seidenberg D 27.

RFA: Tuomo Ruutu C 26, Anton Babchuk D 25.

21 - Vancouver Canucks: $7.282 (18)

UFA: Mats Sundin C 38, Jason Krog C 33, Rob Davison D 29, Ossi Vaananen D 28, Curtis Sanford G 29, Michel Ouellet R 27.

RFA: Shane O' Brien D 25. Kyle Wellwood C 26, Jannik Hansen R 23.

22 - Minnesota Wild: $6.296 (20)

UFA: Stephane Veilleux L 27, Krys Kolanos C 27, Marc-Andre Bergeron D 28, Kurtis Foster D 27, Martin Skoula D 29.

RFA: Dan Fritsche C 23, Benoit Pouliot L 22, Kyle Brodziak C 25, Josh Harding G 25.

23 - Edmonton Oilers: $6.404 (20)

UFA: Ales Kotalik R 30, Dany Sabourin G 28.

RFA: Liam Reddox L 23, Gilbert Brule C 22, Ryan Potulny C 24, Rob Schremp C 22, Denis Grebeshkov D 25, Ladislav Smid D 23.

24 - Detroit Red Wings: $5.554 (16)

UFA: Darren McCarty R 37, Aaron Downey R 34, Chris Chelios D 47.

RFA: Jiri Hudler C 25, Ville Leino L 25.

25 - Boston Bruins: $5.340 (18)

UFA: Stephane Yelle F 35, P.J. Axelsson L 34, Manny Fernandez G 34.

RFA: Phil Kessel F 21, Matt Hunwick D 24.

26 - Ottawa Senators: $4.649 (22)

UFA: Mike Comrie C 28.

RFA: Brendan Bell D 26, Brian Elliott G 24.

27 - Pittsburgh Penguins: $3.137 (19)

UFA: Mike Zigomanis C 28, James Connor L 26, Miroslav Satan L 34, Petr Sykora R 32, Janne Pesonen L 27, Philippe Boucher D 36.

RFA: Paul Bissonnette R 24, Tim Wallace R 24, Ben Lovejoy D 25, John Curry G 25.

28 - Calgary Flames: $3.053 (19)

UFA: Todd Bertuzzi R 34, Andre Roy R 34, Rhett Warrener D 33.

RFA: Dustin Boyd C 22.

29 - Philadelphia Flyers: $2.125 (20)

UFA: Josh Gratton L 26, Boyd Kane L 31, Andrew Alberts D 28, Lasse Kukkonen D 27, Martin Biron G 31, Antero Niittymaki G 29.

RFA: Jared Ross C 26, Danny Syvret D 24.

30 - San Jose Sharks: $1.774 (16)

UFA: Claude Lemieux R 43, Jeremy Roenick C 39, Tom Cavanagh R 27, Alexei Semenov D 28, Mike Grier R 34, Marcel Goc C 25, Tomas Plihal L 26, Lukas Kaspar L 23.

RFA: Torrey Mitchell C 24, Thomas Greiss G 23, Brad Staubitz R 24.

2009 NHL Free Agency: What The Toronto Maple Leafs Might Do

PPP — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:45:08 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

Mike Cammalleri turns his back on the Flames for the last time. Will he walk all of the way to Toronto?

Browse more photos »

Someday I'll have to shake the hand of the guy that decided that it made sense to schedule the draft three days before the start of free agency. It's not like this day is so important that it's a national holiday in Canada. As a conversation starter because I still have a tonne of draft stuff to come I have a short cheat sheet to help us with a starting point.

Pending UFAs: Martin Gerber, Brad May, Bates Battaglia, Andre Deveaux, Boyd Devereaux, Jeff Hamilton, Kris Newbury, Ben Ondrus, Jay Harrison, Erik Reitz, Jamie Heward, Curtis Joseph, Olaf Kolzig, Jaime Sifers (Thanks Mirtle!)

Calling this a list of notable free agents would have been insulting to players like Eric Christensen. From that list I could see Boyd "SchennBlocker" Devereaux, Brad May, and one of Kris Newbury or Ben Ondrus getting re-signed. The first two would be great veteran influences on the younger players and the latter two could fill up roster space while kids learn on the farm.

Pending RFAs: Mikhail Grabovski, ~~Jaime Sifers~~ ~~(NHL Numbers has him as an RFA and Hockey Buzz as a UFA. I am looking into this)~~, Phil Oreskovic, Tim Stapleton, Jeremy Williams, Ryan Hollweg

Justin Poggegot qualified today so he's not on this list. I am actually pretty surprised that guys like Sifers and Oreskovic have not been qualified. Hollweg is gone and we'll never know what that fifth rounder could have brought. Other than knowing it wasn't going to be a European. Williams seems to not be a Wilson favourite, he's not good enough to play on the top two lines when the team is good again and he's past the stage where he should have established himself. We'll always have the 82 goals/season projections!

Based on my inability to find any news thus far I don't think any of the other guys have been qualified. Grabovski is likely going to arbitration which I think will mark the end of his time in Toronto. I get the sense that Burke will move him if he goes that route.

Salary cap space (courtesy NHL Numbers): $13-million

Now, if you look at NHL Numbers the Leafs have some ridiculous cap relief coming online after next season. They only have $18M committed. On the flip side, they only have five guys signed but one of them is Luke Schenn so I think that means that only need to sign a goalie. Either way, there are a couple of ways that Burke can approach this free agency period.

Scenario One

He can fill out the roster with the myriad of RFAs that are getting axed left and right or the lower end of the free agency pool. Burke would then keep any of the kids that cannot play in their proper role on the team with the Marlies. This would be akin to the Red Wings' policy of developing kids in Grand Rapids but with our NHL team stocked with scrubs and waiver-tied prospects instead of Hall of Famers. This one is tough because the idea would be to have UFAs on one year deals so that the cap space is still available next year.

Scenario Two

This is the one Burke has said that he wants to pursue but he also wanted to trade for more first rounders at the deadline and for Tavares and Schenn at the draft. So far he's 0-for-2 (and I'll have a post about why that's not entirely his fault) so even then there's no guarantee that this will work. This strategy can work long-term if he makes the right decisions. Mike Komisarek at $4m-$5M is a bad move. The Sedins at $5.25M is a great move. We'll see how much he has to overpay to get players to come to Toronto.

Projected budget: $56.8-million less $1. Whether he spends to it will be a function of the UFAs' receptiveness to his deal.

Key needs: Everything is the short answer. The longer one is that the Leafs' most pressing need is their goaltending situation. James Reimer and Justin Pogge will hold down the fort with the Marlies but Vesa Toskala is coming off of three major surgeries. If Burke really thinks that this team can make the playoffs he needs a competent backup.

In terms of defence, the Leafs have two years of Kaberle, one of Kubina and Van Ryn, and then 20 of Luke Schenn. After that, they'll need to look at how to replace Kubina and Kaberle. If they can do it this summer then they can cash in those assets. If all of the king's men and all of the king's horses put Van Ryn together again properly over the weekend even he might get something for the Leafs. Or he could be part of the team going forward. Burke, however, is really loathe to let Kaberle go. I am hoping that by the deadline Burke gets his doors blown off by a deal.

Looking at the forwards, there is obviously a dearth of skill forwards that are NHL-calibre. There are guys that have the potential to fill that role at some point but no one is a sure bet. I hear that there are a couple of interesting ginger twins available...

Potential targets: It might be easier to list who isn't a target. Take one part cap space, add a dollop (actually, more like a cup) of Burkian hubris, a pound of media speculation, mix well, and you get every big-ticket player being linked to the Leafs. Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin are getting their retirement plan from the Leafs. Francois Beauchemin, Travis Meon, and Samuel Pahlssonare being re-united with their former GM. Jonas Gustavsson is coming over to be the next Henrink Lundqvist while Mike Cammalleri is going to live up to the expectations that come with a 40% raise. I look forward to watching him score 60 goals a year for five years.

As I noted above, there are two scenarios and it sure looks like Burke is going through door number two. I think that the Sedins are going to be his main target. I've heard The Monster is ready to be unveiled July 1 and I would imagine that Burke looks at Beauchemin. The rumours of Komisarek and Chris Neil sicken me so I will pretend that I've never heard of them.

What our rivals want:

Colorado Avalanche: A real starting goalie and defence that can keep the puck out of the net. Also, a new medical staff to keep their players in one piece.
LA Kings: A sniper to play with their young forwards and a defensive defenceman.
Atlanta Thrashers: Defence and goaltending. The only year they made the playoffs was the one year that they weren't in the bottom 4 or 5 of the league in goals against.
NY Islanders: I'll tell you what they don't need: a franchise scorer (sigh). Other than that, they could use a goalie on a 15 year contract that actually plays hockey, and defencemen.
Phoenix Coyotes: A new owner. Zing! Actually, as Godd Till noted in a private e-mail, they need to get a new coach in order to escape from the mad clutches of the Friends of Gretzky. Did you know that the best man from his wedding, Eddie Mio, is the Director of Player Development and his brother Keith is the Head Scout. Failing that they could use some veteran leadership since the average age of that team is about 12.

SBN has once again put together a massive hub to coordinate the writing from 30ish blogs. You can find it by clicking on this button.

a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/freeagency">

Maple Leafs 3 v. Devils 2 (SO): Jason Blake's 360 Fist Pump Special

PPP — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:26:59 -0000

A strong defensive effort from the Maple Leafs was rewarded with a win in the shootout on Jason Blake's amazing spinerama.

Photo courtesy of Maple Leafs Official Site

The Leafs put on a shot-blocking clinic as the players made almost as many saves as Vesa Toskala. Jeff Finger led the way with eight blocked shots while Pavel Kubina and Mikhail Grabovski added four a piece. The latter is great to see as Grabbo's scoring pace has slowed down over the last few games.

Hagman's injury has cause a shake-up in the lines but out of the rubble has emerged the new Beamer Line of Blake-Moore-Williams. Tonight they put the Leafs up 2-1 as Williams potted his third score in consecutive games on a hard wrister that got between Clemmensen's catching arm and his body. They then scored on back-to-back shots in the shootout to give the Leafs a rare (but not a statistically significant amount) victory in Bettman's gimmick.

In seven of their last nine games the Leafs have kept the opposition to two goals or fewer. Their record in those six games (because they obviously lost the two where they gave up more): 5-1-1. Not surprisingly, the good record has come about just as the Leafs have married their Wilson-imposed discipline (least penalized team in the league) to the revamped penalty with a touch of timely goaltending (to say the least). It looks like maybe Wilson' defensive systems are catching on with the team.

Antropov answered my call for a better performance. He was a force of nature on most shifts and used his reach to pot the Leafs' first goal. Matty Stajan and Nikolai Kulemin filled out an impressive top line. Kulemin especially continued his strong work off the puck and used his strength on the forecheck very well. The Vesa made a ridiculous save with tenths of a second left in overtime as the Devils got a breakway from their own blueline after the Leafs butchered a four on two. All in all, it was exactly the kind of game that Ron Wilson promised us when he arrived.

Of course, the mittenstringers are getting excited. They can almost smell the articles that they are going to write exhorting the Leafs to go for the playoffs. Working Class Howard jumped the gun tonight by asking if (to paraphrase) "being .500 29 games into the season is a surprise and whether that might make Burke take a short-term outlook". Ron Wilson barely suppressed a laugh as he pointed out that .500 is the level of mediocrity and he doesn't think that that is anything to get excited about.

Blake's shootout winner. There were not nearly enough fist pumps after this goal.

Game in Six Minutes

Maple Leafs Win 2-1 in Buffalo (?!?)

PPP — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:00:10 -0000

Much more often than not the Leafs' trips down the QEW to the Alphabet Arena and it's crummier predecessor have resulted in outcomes that have ranged from embarrassing to painful. However, every once in a while (and it's been very rare) things turn out well for the travelling contingent.

The game certainly didn't start out well for the Leafs. Between neutral zone turnovers and poorly timed pinches by the defencemen the Leafs managed to provide the Sabres with a steady stream of odd-man rushes. Luckily for the Leafs, the Sabres only capitalized on the worst of them when Toni Lydman flipped a puck past Vesa Toskala.

Once they settled down and started pressing the Sabres' defencemen by getting the puck in deep and starting the forecheck they struggled to hit their speedy forwards.

Final - 12.12.2008	1	2	3	Total
Toronto Maple Leafs	0	1	1	2
Buffalo Sabres	1	0	0	1

Complete Coverage >

Vesa Toskala

#35 / Goalie / Toronto Maple Leafs

Height: 5-10

Weight: 195

Born: May 20, 1977

After a start that had us cringing VeTo got back to the form that this team will need to make the playoffs. Oh yeah, once it got in my head I am not letting that idea go. He made a number of 10-bell saves including one where the spotlight guy jumped the gun. Of course, an atrocious miss by Drew Stafford helped out a bit. The biggest help though was that the Leafs moved from playing shinny to defending like NHLers.

Jeremy Williams

#18 / Right Winger / Toronto Maple Leafs

Height: 5-11

Weight: 188

Born: Jan 26, 1984

Is that the face of an NHL regular? The Sportsnet crew was much more convinced than yours truly. Williams sniped the equaliser which showcased that he certainly does have a big league wrist shot. Last year he scored in his first 2 games too and then went 16 without a goal. A big reason for that is a lack of footspeed. Over these past two games it certainly looks like he has addressed that concern at least partly.

Ian White

#7 / Defenceman / Toronto Maple Leafs

Height: 5-10

Weight: 185

Born: Jun 04, 1984

You can see the beginnings of the moustache in that picture. With every passing game I start to really believe that, much like Samson, White's power emanates from the awesome duster he has grown. Last night he played what has become his typical solid defensive game (is this Bizarro Toronto?) and added the winning goal on a hell of a trick shot that jumped over Ryan Miller.

As you can imagine, most of the standouts in a 2-1 game tend to be on the defensive end. Mike Van Ryn returned and turned in the same kind of game that he had been playing before he was felled by a cheapshot. He's probably about two months from ending his tenure in Toronto so we might as well enjoy his play. Jamie Sifers, who it was reported during the game trained with Martin St. Louis during the summer, continued to impress and seems to be settling in well. Rather than just being invisible (a good thing) he started jumping into the play and laying some big hits (a better thing). And last, but not least, Jason Blake had another impressive display. He had a lot of jump and, as was mentioned on the show, was doing the little things well. I wonder if maybe Burke whispered in his ear that he wasn't going anywhere and that's settled him down? Or maybe he said that he can't get him out of here if he's playing like shit.

One final note, apparently the Sabres have made all three Leafs games "platinum" level tickets. This means that tickets have a 35% premium tacked on which resulted in a failure to sell out the Alphabet Arena. This is just one more instance where the Leafs are used to prop up franchises. If it's not the increased ticket sales then it's revenue sharing and if not that then they are being used to market third jerseys. Fans may hate the Leafs but they do a lot to keep the other franchises running. A thanks once in a while wouldn't kill you!

Reading the Tea Leafs: Jeremy Williams

PPP — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:00:04 -0000

Following on the success of two other dormant series Chemmy and I have decided that in order to fill the gap in NHL news that we'll take a look at each of the current Leafs, possible Leafs on the Marlies, and prospects. We'll recap their performance last year, what we can expect from them, and how they can win our hearts (hint: signing the contract was a good first step...unless your name is Bryan McCabe Ian White). We have no idea how long of a series this will end up being or how consistent it will be but with two of us expect it to only be half as half-assed and twice as timely.

Jeremy Williams showing that he should be playing more games.

Contract according to NHL Numbers
$500K salary, $487K cap hit, RFA July 1, 2009

Age (as of October 1, 2008)
24 - January 26, 1984

NHL Seasons
Zero

Run of the Mill Biographical Information

Marital Status
Single? Either way, even sens fans think he's hot. I just want him to go back to scoring once a game.

Former Leaf he'd have to play like in order to be christened a deity
Nikolai Borschevsky. A slight player that needs to protect his spleen but has a nose for the net.

Biggest Question Marks
Does he make the big club?

2007-2008 Summary
Received a late season call up after posting 18 goals in 49 games in the AHL and kept his career starting goal a game streak going against the Flyers. Other than that, it was a dog's breakfast of time on the ice and linemates. Err...like a moose he started out big but once the hunters found him he was dead meat. If he would have played with more offensive linemates, maybe some PP time, then he'd have won some more antler fights. Does any of this make sense? Screw Moose.

Projected 2008-2009 role/team
I'd be hard pressed to see Williams be anything other than a call-up from the Marlies. He missed the AHL playoffs last season because of some rule I don't know (although I assume it was waivers) which was a big blow to the team and to Williams' development of his antlers (ie NHL credentials). He'll have to lock them with other bulls during mating season (read: training camp) but odds are that he'll find himself looking to stud on the farm for a while at least.

Poll

Jeremy Williams is...

Destined to be a flash in the pan

16 votes

A year away from the show

12 votes

Stinky like Wyshynski

9 votes

37 votes | Poll has closed