Buffalo Sabres 2015/16 Season Preview

Sabres 2nd Overall Pick Jack Eichel (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

          The 2014/15 Buffalo Sabres season was one most  would like to forget as the Sabres finished the season 23-51-8 which placed them at the bottom of the NHL standings. However, in a era of rebuilding, the Sabres have revamped their team and are now considered a team that could be contending for a playoff spot. The team may not be 100% perfect, however they have brought in some key pieces that will factor into the formula of this team. The team now has a true top line center in Ryan O'Reilly as they acquired him this offseason from the Colorado Avalanche at the Draft. Also, the big story for the Sabres this off season was Drafting one of the top prospects in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Jack Eichel. Eichel easily could've went 1st overall if it was any other Draft year but of course this year was the year of McEichel. With the Eire Otters Connor McDavid going 1st overall to the Edmonton Oilers, it left the Sabres with the next obvious choice of selecting Jack Eichel out of Boston University. Aside from Eichel and O'Reilly, other key additions to franchise included goaltender Robin Lehner, winger Jamie McGinn, and center David Legwand.

Here are all the roster moves that the Sabres made this offseason:

2015 NHL Entry Draft:

1st Round:
2nd Overall: Jack Eichel, Center, Boston University - NCAA

2nd Round:
51st Overall: Brendan Ghule, Defensemen, Prince Albert - WHL

3rd Round:
No Pick

4th Round:
92nd Overall: William Borgen, Defensemen, Moorhead - Minnesota High School Hockey

5th Round:
122nd Overall: Devante Stephens, Defensemen, Kelowna - WHL

6th Round
152nd Overall: Giorgio Estephan, Center, Lethbridge - WHL

7th Round
182nd Overall: Ivan Chukarov, Defensemen, Minnesota Wilderness - NAHL

Trades:

Buffalo Sabres acquired G Robin Lehner and C David Legwand from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2015 1st Round Pick (21st Overall Pick)

Buffalo Sabres acquired C Ryan O'Reilly and LW Jamie McGinn from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for D Nikita Zadorov, C Mikhail Grigoranko, LW JT Compher (Prospect), and a 2015 2nd Round Pick (31st Overall)

Signings (Previous Team in parenthesis)
Evan Rodrigues - 2 year deal (Boston University)
Nathan Lieuwen - 1 year extension (Buffalo Sabres)
Jason Akeson - 1 year deal (Philadelphia Flyers)
Matt Donovan - 1 year deal (New York Islanders)


Ryan O'Reilly (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Cal O'Reilly - 2 year deal (Vancouver Canucks)
Jack Eichel- 3 year Entry Level Deal (Boston University)
Matt Ellis - 1 year AHL Deal (Buffalo Sabres)
Bobby Sanguinetti - 1 year Deal (Vancouver Canucks)
Ryan O'Reilly - 7 year extension (Colorado Avalanche)
Carlo Colaiacovo - 1 year deal (Philadelphia Flyers)
Phil Varone - 1 year extension (Buffalo Sabres)
Mark Pysyk - 2 year extension (Buffalo Sabres)
Jerome Gauthier-Leduc - 1 year extension (Buffalo Sabres)
Tim Schaller - 1 year extension (Buffalo Sabres)
Johan Larsson - 1 year extension (Buffalo Sabres)
Jerry D'Amigo - 1 year extension (Buffalo Sabres)
Brendan Ghule - 3 year Entry Level Deal (Prince Albert Raiders)

Buyout:
Cody Hodgson

Key Loses:
Andre Benoit
Mikhail Grigoranko
Nikita Zadorov
Andrej Meszaros
Andres Lindback
Cody Hodgson
Patrick Kaleta
Matt Hackett

Evander Kane (Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald)

What to expect in 2015/16:

Now that the "Tank for McEichel" is over, the Sabres can finally get back to business and be a contender within the league. The Sabres not only have some new players on the ice, they will also have new head coach behind the bench as they picked Dan Bylsma. Many fans may remember him as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In his first season with the Pens, he led them to a Stanley Cup Championship. Now the same isn't expected of Bylsma in his first year in Buffalo, however there is the obvious expectation of a better season. Fans also haven't had the chance to see forward Evander Kane suit up in the Blue and Gold yet as he is returning from injury and is expected to be ready for training camp. Expect the Sabres to have two strong top lines this season and still have some depth to work with (Line Up Predictions Below). The Sabres may or may not make the playoffs this season however what I do know is that it will be an interesting year. If they don't make the playoffs, they will probably be just missing them. Expect their record to be above .500 and in the 45 win range.

If Jack Eichel isn't the top scorer this season, there is no reason to panic yet. It's expected that Jack is going to need a season to adapt to the league, as will McDavid. It could be a very interesting battle between those too and don't be surprised if they continue to be the next Crosby Ovechkin Rivalry. I do however believe there is a strong chance that Jack Eichel will be a top contender for the Calder Trophy. Another thing is, Robin Lehner may not look like the right guy as a starter right now, but give him a chance. Tim Murray scouted him before he was drafted and determined him to have plenty of potential then. if you think about it, he really hasn't had a true shot as a starter before now so it will be interesting to see how he handles the task.



Predictions:

Record:
48-28-6

Division Ranking:
3rd-4th

Conference Ranking:
7th-9th



New Sabres Head Coach Dan Bylsma (Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports)

Leading Scorer:
Ryan O'Reilly

Predicted Lineup (Based off Current Roster):

Forwards:

Kane - R. O'Reilly - Moulson
Ennis - Eichel - Reinhart
Foligno - Girgensons - Gionta
McGinn - Legwand -  Deslauriers

Spares: Johan Larsson, Cody McCormick

Defensemen:

Bogosian - Ristolainen
Gorges - Pysyk
Colaiacovo - Weber

Spare: Donovan

Goaltenders:
Lehner
Johnson

Captains:
Brian Gionta (C)
Matt Moulson (A)
Josh Gorges (A)

Final Note:
As a final note, the 2015/16 season is the season the Sabres Fans have been waiting for since the last time the team made the playoffs. The excitement built around this season is huge and has given fans hope that their team can succeed once again. Playoffs or not, I'm sure that this season will be a season to remember as big things are coming for the Buffalo Sabres.

Struggling Season for Buffalo Sabres

Getty Images

Before the 2013/14 Season even started, now former, General Manager Darcy Regier said in an interview that there would be a lot of suffering for the fans this season.  However Sabres fans never expected the extent to that statement. The Sabres, who currently sit in last place in the NHL, have suffered almost everything imaginable this season. They have set a franchise record for most players dressed in a season as they dressed a total of 44 total different players. The team is mostly built up of prospects who have never played a NHL game before this season, including some who hadn't even played an AHL game. The team has almost zero production and has had 8 different goalies this season including Halak and Vinz. The Sabres have also traded both of their captains this season and are on their 2nd coach for this season. Though Ted Nolan has been a major impact on the team, they have not been producing at the proper heights of a NHL team.


The Sabres enter tonight's game against the Red Wings with only 51 points on the season and a total of only 21 wins. This season has been more than just a rebuild for the Sabres as most of the key players that started the year in Buffalo have parted including Star Goalie Ryan Miller. Night after Night the team has averaged over 30 shots against which is a huge truck load for any goalie. With injuries to both Enroth and Neuvirth the team currently has two AHL goalies playing for the team. The team is in many pieces and will need to take many steps in order to reach the peek of this rebuild. The team is last in almost all aspects of the league and has no where to turn to. The team is almost guaranteed to get the first overall pick in the Draft Lottery next week and they are quite distant from the other teams in the draft. Also, because of the many call ups throughout the season for the Sabres, the Rochester Americans have also suffered as a result.


Sabres fans have no where to look forward to and ratings continue to drop. Most homes games on TV show tons of empty seats as fans continue to be disappointed by their performance. Fans are attempting to resell their tickets for as low as 1/4 the normal price and some go as far as giving them away. The Sabres need many things to improve the team and it won't be just a one year process. Fans already are preparing for another bad season next year and the off season hasn't even started yet.

Here are 5 things the Sabres need to do in order to make this rebuild successful:

1: Buyout Ville Lenio's contract

Getty Images

Lenio has been a huge bust for the team ever since he has arrived in Buffalo. In his 3 seasons in Buffalo, he has only managed to score 46 points which is a complete waste for the amount of money they spent on his contract. Also, he has been injured multiple times over the time period in Buffalo. He has yet to score a goal this season and his shootout winner the other night doesn't make up for this lack of preformance. His time in Buffalo I believe has come to an end.

2: Pick up some Key Free Agents
Though the Sabres are pushing for a more younger telented team, the Sabres need to add some vetren talent during the offseason. Some top free agents include Rochester Native Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik, Jarome Iginla, Ales Hemsky, and Paul Stastny. There's even a possibility that the Sabres will bring back former captin Steve Ott, that's if he even wants to come back. Either way, the Sabres will have to let lose with some money in free agency this season.

3: Have A Solid Draft
With the Sabres more then likely getting the 1st Overall pick this offseason, they will have the choice to pick anyone they want. In order to make this draft a success, they'll need to pick wisely. Though some picks have not worked out in the past, that thought should be left behind as we now have a new GM who appears more willing to make big moves.

4: Figure out who will be the starting goalie next season
When the Sabres traded Miller to St. Louis, they knew they had a big gap to fill. Jhonas Enroth has stepped up since his departure but so have the other goalies here. Buffalo has a lot of young talent in the net and can work around it. With both Enroth and Neuvirth heading into free agency following next season, the Sabres may already need to look for a a more permanent solution to who will start.

5: Don't become the next modern day Oilers
Like the Sabres in 2006, the Oilers had a strong run in the playoffs as they were the runner up for the Stanley Cup. However the Oilers have spirled out of control since and have been in the top 10 picks since with the exception of 2008 and yet again will be in the top 5 picks this year. over those 3 years, the picks included 3 consectutive 1st overall picks for the team and now they have so much young talent they don't know what to do with it. So the basic statement is that it is important for the Sabres to rebuild as quickly as possible so the same thing doesn't occur.

So as this season comes to a close, the Sabres are now in a complete slump in hopes for better years in the future. The Sabres have lots of work to do in order to become a more competative team and eventually make their return to the playoffs.

Dominik Hasek: Return To NHL? *************UPDATE*************

              The NHL off season hasn't even started yet and already there is a huge shocking rumor. It's been reported that legendary former NHL goaltender Dominik Hasek is planning a NHL comeback. Hasek spent the 2010/11 season in the KHL with the Spartak Moskva where he lead the league with 7 shutouts. So the Dominatior's stats were still dominate so to speak. Hasek then retired after that season and has spent the last season training. Hasek was reported to say that he's been training for this moment and is really interested to making yet again, another comeback into the hockey world. Hasek has been cycling and skiing as well as playing soccer and volleyball. "We are working on (a new deal) but I don't know the answer yet," Hasek told Denik Sport. "Of course, my agent Rich Winter knows about what I want. But I don't want to comment on that any further. Nothing changed in my plans. But right now, I don't have anything in front of me. So I'm waiting. I think in June the decision will be made," Hasek said. "I know where I would like to play, but I don't want to talk about it. I think it's better to keep it between the two sides involved. It wouldn't be appropriate to publish anything right now."

              The teams Hasek is rumored to be negotiating with are the Tampa Bay Lightning and two of his former teams, The Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. It is also rumored that he would like to be a starter but if he has to be a backup, he'll just be happy to be back in the NHL. Another team that may be interested in Hasek is the Toronto Maple Leafs Here are some of the reasons why Hasek may be interested in them and why some teams are interested in him.

Tampa Bay Lightning

               The Lightning may be a great place for the Dominatior to make his return as they have a strong scoring team and have plenty of potential to win a Stanley Cup. However, They just need a strong goaltender. That was the Lightning's major downfall this season. Also, in Tampa, Hasek will more then likely be the Starter. The Lightning would love to add his Veteran skill to there line-up to replace soon to be retired Dwayne Roloson. With Hasek in goal and Stamkos, Lecavalier, and St. Louis up front, they feel they can be a dominating force and push to the cup. 

Toronto Maple Leafs

                 The Leafs may consider acquiring Hasek because of his skill. After missing the playoffs for the 7th straight season. The Leafs have done multiple goalie changes since then and have yet been able to solve the problem. The Leafs are a veteran lead team so Hasek would be a perfect fit for them. The Leafs goaltending consist of James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson.

Detroit Red Wings

                  Hasek may look to making a 3rd return to Hockey Town. The Red Wings is the team he won his 2 Stanley Cups with. However, here he would most likely be the back up to Jimmy Howard. But, Hasek would also be on a stacked team with tons of skill and which knows how to win a Stanley Cup because most of them were there before. The Red Wings may lose a key veteran to retirement, Nicklas Lidstrom. So without Lidstrom, would Hasek still be interested?

Buffalo Sabres

                     Finally, would the Dominator return to the team that pretty much lunched his career? The Sabres, like the Red Wings, would also use Hasek as a Back up. However, Hasek has been spotted at multiple Sabres games this season. Also, last season he did a special ceremonial puck drop in a game against the Thrashers. Hasek appears to be very close to new owner Terry Pegula. Could Pegula be the major reason Hasek makes his return to Buffalo? Pegula has appeared as friendly and as a mentor to many people. Pegula also brought back and reunited almost a hundred Sabres Alumni for the 2010/11 Season Regular Season Closer. Pegula Grew up as a season ticket holder. He saw Hasek play during his prime and know what he is capable of. Hasek's unique style of play could lead to being a solid back-up to Miller. What would that mean for current back-up Jhonas Enroth? That is unsure. Would the Sabres go with 3 goalies? Would the send Enroth back to Rochester? Only time would tell if the Sabres did decide to sign the future hall of famer.

                         

                           It's kinda been clued that Hasek has tons of interest in the Sabres and has been in the Buffalo area the last few days. For example, on Saturday May 26, Terry Pegula's daughter Kelly tweeted "Going to the Falls #americanside," When just the day before, she stated they were in Florida. Why would the Pegulas all of a sudden make a trip back to Buffalo? 

                              Also, Hasek's charity group Hasek's Heroes tweeted on May 29, "Nice to see Dominik Hasek in Buffalo he recently met with Heroes Board of Director and visited the program and rinks," shows that Hasek is currently in the Buffalo area and showing lots of interest, Was Hasek just in town to meet with his charity or was he also here to talk about a new deal with the Buffalo Sabres?

                                   Only time will tell for this epic Hasek tale. This isn't the first Hasek comeback and who knows if it is the last. The decision will be released sometime in June as the hockey world sits on the edge of their seats waiting to find out where the Dominatior lands next.

 *************UPDATE*************

               It was just annouced today that the Dominatior has been having face-to-face conversations with Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier, Coach Lindy Ruff, and owner Terry Pegula over the course of the last month. It has been reported however, the Sabres have declinded to sign Hasek. Regier says he is not ready to give up on current back-up Jhonas Enroth. "One thing I am sure of: He has no doubt in his mind that he can play," Regier said. "I think  it probably gives him a little bit of lift seeing somebody like (Martin) Brodeur play at 40 in the Stanley Cup Final. I know better than to question Dom's desire and his ability. Unfortunately, it's not something that was going to fit here." After these statments from Darcy Regier, it appears the Buffalo Sabres are offically out of the Hasek race. Hasek came to the Sabres in order to try to make a new deal. Buffalo was Hasek's first choice to sign.

                 After coming up short with the Sabres, Hasek now has 29 other teams to pick from if he wants to play for a North American team. Top teams in the hunt for Hasek consist of Tampa Bay, Toronto, and 2 new teams who were more then likely not intrested. The Winnipeg Jets and New York Islanders. The Jets recentally lost back-up Chris Mason to Nashville in free agency and failed to sign recentally aquired Jonas Gustavsson, who decided to sign with Detriot instead. Hasek could easily take the starting job in Winnipeg ahead of current starter Ondrej Pavelec. However, they had signed goaltender Al Montoya, who left the Islanders. Montoya has been known to struggle in the past, so Hasek could easily start there. The Islanders after losing Montoya will continue with their goalie struggles so Hasek would probaily start there too. The Red Wings are more then likely out of the race after the signing of Jonas Gustavsson.

                  Now the hockey world sits back and watchs as the Hasek drama continues to go on. all they know for sure is that Hasek will not be wearing the Blue n' Gold next season.

Free Agents Update: After Day 2

                  I fell alittle behind the last two days but here's a list of all the signings so far:

DATE	PLAYER	2012-13 TEAM	2011-12 TEAM
JULY 2 JULY 2	G Carey Price C Olli Jokinen	Montreal Winnipeg	Montreal Calgary
JULY 2	F Martin St. Pierre	Chicago	Columbus
JULY 2	D Matt Smaby	Anaheim	Anaheim
JULY 2	F Chris Conner	Phoenix	Detroit
JULY 2	F Alexandre Bolduc	Phoenix	Phoenix
JULY 2	F Jiri Hudler	Calgary	Detroit
JULY 2	F Steve Pinnizotto	Vancouver	Vancouver
JULY 2	F Andrew Ebbett	Vancouver	Vancouver
JULY 2	F Eric Boulton	NY Islanders	New Jersey
JULY 2	C Toby Petersen	Dallas	Dallas
JULY 2	F Bracken Kearns	San Jose	Florida
JULY 2	G Alex Stalock	San Jose	San Jose
JULY 2	F Jeff Woywitka	St. Louis	NY Rangers
JULY 2	G Johan Hedberg	New Jersey	New Jersey
JULY 2	G Martin Brodeur	New Jersey	New Jersey
JULY 2	F Joey Crabb	Washington	Toronto
JULY 2	D Garrett Stafford	Washington	Montreal
JULY 2	D Kevin Marshall	Washington	Washington
JULY 1	D Francis Bouillon	Montreal	Nashville
JULY 1	D Bryan Allen	Anaheim	Carolina
JULY 1	F Trevor Smith	Pittsburgh	Lightning
JULY 1	F John Scott	Buffalo	NY Rangers
JULY 1	RW Brad Staubitz	Anaheim	Montreal
JULY 1	D Sami Salo	Tampa Bay	Vancouver
JULY 1	F Brian McGrattan	Nashville	Nashville
JULY 1	F Paul Gaustad	Nashville	Nashville
JULY 1	G Chris Mason	Nashville	Winnipeg
JULY 1	D Jason Garrison	Vancouver	Florida
JULY 1	D Sheldon Souray	Anaheim	Dallas
JULY 1	F Warren Peters	Pittsburgh	Minnesota
JULY 1	G Cedric Desjardins	Montreal	Colorado
JULY 1	F Michael Blunden	Montreal	Montreal
JULY 1	D Aaron Rome	Dallas	Vancouver
JULY 1	W Jordin Tootoo	Detroit	Nashville
JULY 1	F Brandon Prust	Montreal	NY Rangers
JULY 1	C Jay McClement	Toronto	Colorado
JULY 1	D Mike Kostka	Toronto	Tampa Bay
JULY 1	F Mikael Samuelsson	Detroit	Florida
JULY 1	D Scott Ford	St. Louis	Nashville
JULY 1	D Taylor Chorney	St. Louis	St. Louis
JULY 1	G Mike McKenna	St. Louis	Ottawa
JULY 1	D Greg Zanon	Colorado	Minnesota
JULY 1	F Matt Frattin	Toronto	Toronto
JULY 1	F Ryan Hamilton	Toronto	Toronto
JULY 1	G Jussi Rynnas	Toronto	Toronto
JULY 1	D Dylan Reese	Pittsburgh	NY Islanders
JULY 1	D Adrian Aucoin	Columbus	Phoenix
JULY 1	F P.A. Parenteau	Colorado	NY Islanders
JULY 1	F Alexei Ponikarovky	Winnipeg	New Jersey
JULY 1	F George Parros	Florida	Anaheim
JULY 1	F Micheal Haley	NY Rangers	NY Islanders
JULY 1	F Darcy Hordichuk	Edmonton	Edmonton
JULY 1	D Sheldon Brookbank	Chicago	Anaheim
JULY 1	F Dustin Penner	Los Angeles	Los Angeles
JULY 1	D Matt Carkner	NY Islanders	Ottawa
JULY 1	G Chad Johnson	Phoenix	NY Rangers
JULY 1	F Arron Asham	NY Rangers	Pittsburgh
JULY 1	F Guillaume Latendresse	Ottawa	Minnesota
JULY 1	F David Moss	Phoenix	Calgary
JULY 1	D Filip Kuba	Florida	Ottawa
JULY 1	F Tanner Glass	Pittsburgh	Winnipeg
JULY 1	F Riley Holzapfel	Pittsburgh	Winnipeg
JULY 1	G Jeff Zatkoff	Pittsburgh	Los Angeles
JULY 1	F Chris Kelly	Boston	Boston
JULY 1	G Tuukka Rask	Boston	Boston
JULY 1	G Curtis McElhinney	Columbus	Phoenix
JULY 1	F Adam Burish	San Jose	Dallas
JULY 1	F Brad Boyes	NY Islanders	Buffalo
JULY 1	F Steve MacIntyre	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh
JULY 1	F Ray Whitney	Dallas	Phoenix
JULY 1	F Torrey Mitchell	Minnesota	San Jose
JULY 1	F Colby Armstrong	Montreal	Toronto
JULY 1	F Brett Sutter	Carolina	Carolina
JULY 1	F Zenon Konopka	Minnesota	Ottawa
JULY 1	G Jonas Gustavsson	Detroit	Toronto
JULY 1	G Michael Leighton	Philadelphia	Philadelphia
JULY 1	D Mike Lundin	Ottawa	Minnesota
JULY 1	D Joe Corvo	Carolina	Boston
JULY 1	G Justin Peters	Carolina	Carolina
JULY 1	F John Mitchell	Colorado	NY Rangers
JULY 1	D Stu Bickell	NY Rangers	NY Rangers
JULY 1	F Benoit Pouliot	Tampa Bay	Boston
JULY 1	G Yann Danis	Edmonton	Edmonton

                    Also, there have been a few trades:

DATE	PLAYER/COMPENSATION	TEAM	STORY	TEAM	PLAYER/COMPENSATION
JULY 2	Derek Roy, F				Steve Ott, F Adam Pardy, D
JULY 1	Marc Methot, D				Nick Foligno, F
JUN 27	Rights to Dennis Wideman, D				Jordan Henry, D 2013 5th-round pick
JUN 23	James van Reimsdyk, F				Luke Schenn, D
JUN 23	2012 7th-round pick				2013 7th-round pick
JUN 23	2013 7th-round pick				2012 7th-round pick
JUN 23	2012 5th-round pick				2013 5th-round pick
JUN 23	2013 3rd-round pick				2012 3rd-round pick
JUN 23	2012 7th-round pick 2013 4th-round pick				2012 4th-round pick
JUN 23	Rights to Jonas Gustavsson, G				2013 cond. 7th-round pick
JUN 23	Michel Ouellet, F 2012 5th-round pick				Rights to Benoit Pouliot, F
JUN 22	2012 3rd-round pick Harrison Ruopp, D Marc Cheverie, G				Zbynek Michalek, D
JUN 22	2012 1st-round pick				2012 1st-round pick 2012 2nd-round pick
JUN 22	2012 1st-round pick Brandon Sutter, F Brian Dumoulin, D				Jordan Staal, F
JUN 22	Mike Ribeiro, F				Cody Eakin, F 2012 2nd-round pick
JUN 22	Lubomir Visnovsky, D				2013 2nd-round pick
JUN 22	Sergei Bobrovsky, G				2012 2nd-round pick 2012 4th-round pick 2013 4th-round pick
JUN 15	Anders Lindback, G Kyle Wilson, F 2012 7th-round pick				Sebastian Caron, G Two 2012 2nd-round picks 2013 3rd-round pick

                            After the first two days of free agency, here's a list of the remaining free agents for each team:

ANAHEIM DUCKS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Nick Bonino, Luca Caputi, Mathieu Carle, Marco Cousineau, Kyle Cumiskey

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Mark Bell, Jason Blake, Troy Bodie, Dan Ellis, Niklas Hagman, Jean-Francois Jacques, Rod Pelley, Teemu Selanne
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Ryan O'Marra, Sean Zimmerman

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Sebastian Erixon (Contract bought out by the team), Riley Holzapfel, Dale Mitchell, Rick Schofield, Iiro Tarkki


BOSTON BRUINS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Jamie Arniel, Matt Bartkowski, Andrew Bodnarchuk, Stefan Chaput, Adam Courchaine, Lane MacDermid

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Josh Hennessy, Nathan McIver, Zach McKelvie, Mike Mottau, Michel Ouellet, Brian Rolston, Marty Turco, Greg Zanon

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
None

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
TBD


BUFFALO SABRES

Group 2 (Restricted)
Alex Biega, T.J. Brennan, Tyler Ennis, Patrick Kaleta, Dennis Persson, Drew Schiestel, Paul Szczechchura

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Jochen Hecht, Ales Kotalik, David Leggio, Drew MacIntyre, Shaone Morrisonn, Michael Ryan, Colin Stuart, Derek Whitmore

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Travis Turnbull

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
TBD


CALGARY FLAMES

Group 2 (Restricted)
Akim Aliu, Mikael Backlund, Paul Byron, Leland Irving

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Guillaume Desbiens, Scott Hannan, Raitis Ivanans, Tom Kostopolous, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Brian Connelly, Stefan Meyer

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Ryley Grantham, Logan MacMillan


CAROLINA HURRICANES

Group 2 (Restricted)
Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk, Evgeni Dadonov, Mike Murphy,Jerome Samson, Chris Terry, Jeremy Welsh

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Chris Durno, Mathieu Roy, Jaroslav Spacek

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Justin Soryal
Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll, Kyle Lawson, Matthew Pistilli


CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Simon Danis-Pepin, Chris DiDomenico

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Andrew Brunette, Cristobal Huet, Sami Lepisto, Brett McLean, Brendan Morrison, Sean O'Donnell

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
None

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Jonathan Carlsson, Igor Makarov, Alexander Salak (Released)


COLORADO AVALANCHE

Group 2 (Restricted)
Trevor Cann, Zach Cohen, Jonas Holos, Erik Johnson, Jamie McGinn, Jake Newton, Mark Olver, Ryan O'Reilly

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
David Liffiton, Joakim Lindstrom, Greg Mauldin, Danny Richmond, Patrick Rissmiller

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Evan Brophey, Justin Mercier, Ryan Stoa

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Peter Mueller, Kevin Porter


COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Maksim Mayorov

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Darryl Boyce, Alexandre Giroux, Kristian Huselius, Aaron Johnson, Brett Lebda, Radek Martinek, Curtis McElhinney, Curtis Sanford
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Dane Byers, Mark Dekanich, Nick Holden

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Taylor Ellington, Brent Regner


DALLAS STARS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Richard Bachman, Jamie Benn, Jordie Benn, Mark Fistric, Ryan Garbutt, Luke Gazdic, Philip Larsen, Colton Sceviour, Tom Wandell

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Jake Dowell, Radek Dvorak, Maxime Fortunus, Brad Lukowich, Andrew Raycroft, Raymond Sawada, Dan Spang

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
None

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Angelo Esposito, Jake Hauswirth, Michael Neal, Mikhail Stefanovich


DETROIT RED WINGS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Justin Abdelkader, Kyle Quincey

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Fabian Brunnstrom, Ty Conklin, Garnet Exelby, Tomas Holmstrom, Doug Janik, Jamie Johnson, Chris Minard, Andrew Murray

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
None

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Travis Ehrhardt, Logan Pyett


EDMONTON OILERS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Devan Dubnyk, Sam Gagner, Linus Omark, Theo Peckham, Jeff Petry, Alex Plante, Chris Vande Velde

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Josh Green, Darcy Hordichuk, Ryan Keller, Bryan Rodney, Ryan Smyth

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Taylor Chorney

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Cam Barker, Milan Kytnar, Johan Motin, Hunter Tremblay


FLORIDA PANTHERS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Michael Caruso, Roman Derlyuk, Keaton Ellerby, Brian Foster, Dmitry Kulikov, Michal Repik, Eric Selleck, Kris Versteeg, James Wright

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Krys Barch, Scott Clemmensen, Mark Cullen, John Madden, Greg Rallo, Marco Sturm, Sean Sullivan, Bill Thomas, Mike Weaver, Wojtek Wolski

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Jonathan Matsumoto

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Justin Bernhardt, Matt Bradley (contract bought out by the team), Tyler Plante (Contract terminated by the team), Ondrej Roman, Mike Santorelli (contract bought out by the team), Keith Seabrook


LOS ANGELES KINGS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Justin Azevedo, Andrew Campbell, Thomas Hickey, Dwight King, Stefan Legein, David Meckler, Jacob Muzzin

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Trent Hunter, Cam Paddock, Scott Parse
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Patrick Mullen

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Ray Kaunisto


MINNESOTA WILD

Group 2 (Restricted)
Cody Almond, Dennis Endras, Justin Falk, Chay Genoway, David McIntyre, Carson McMillan, Jarod Palmer, Nick Palmieri

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Erik Christensen, Jon DiSalvatore, Kurtis Foster, Jed Ortmeyer, Jeff Taffe

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Jeff Penner

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Kris Fredheim, Nick Johnson

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Rafael Diaz, Lars Eller, Andreas Engqvist, Blake Geoffrion, Aaron Palushaj, P.K. Subban, Alexei Yemelin

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Joe Callahan, Chris Campoli, Mathieu Darche, Alex Henry, Nathan Lawson, Brian Willsie

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Frederic St. Denis

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Hunter Bishop, Andrew Conboy, Olivier Fortier, Dany Masse, Mark Mitera, Robert Slaney


NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Niclas Bergfors, Jonathon Blum, Atte Engren, Ryan Flynn, Sergei Kostitsyn, Teemu Laakso, Jack Maclellan, Alexander Radulov, Jeremy Smith, Ryan Thang, Shea Weber, Colin Wilson

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Sebastien Caron, Andrei Kostitsyn, Brian McGrattan, Tyler Sloan, Ryan Suter
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Brodie Dupont

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Jack Hillen, Zack Stortini


NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Matt Corrente, Mark Fayne, Vladimir Zharkov

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Jay Leach, Brad Mills, Zach Parise, Bryce Salvador, Tim Sestito, Petr Sykora

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Matt Taormina

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Kory Nagy, Timo Pielmeier


NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Sean Backman, Justin DiBenedetto, Mark Katic, Mikko Koskinen, Tomas Marcinko, Matt Martin, Rhett Rakhshani, Ty Wishart

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Jeremy Colliton, Mark Eaton, Trevor Frischmon, Trevor Gillies, John Grahame, Milan Jurcina, Al Montoya, Jay Pandolfo, Steve Staios

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
None

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Yury Alexandrov, Anton Klementyev (contract terminated by the team), Tyler McNeely, Yannick Riendeau, Tony Romano


NEW YORK RANGERS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Lee Baldwin, Francois Bouchard, Chris Chappell, Michael Del Zotto, Sam Klassen, Anton Stralman, Cameron Talbot, Andreas Thuresson, Pavel Valentenko, Casey Wellman, Mats Zuccarello

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Brendan Bell, Andre Deveaux, Steve Eminger, Ruslan Fedotenko, Kris Newbury, John Scott, Jeff Woywitka

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Stu Bickel, Chad Johnson, Michael Vernace

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Sean Avery (contract terminated by the team)

OTTAWA SENATORS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Stephane Da Costa, Kaspars Daugavins, Nikita Filatov, Eric Gryba, Jim O'Brien

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Alex Auld, Tim Conboy, Matt Gilroy, Francis Lessard, Corey Locke, Mark Parrish, Jesse Winchester

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Rob Klinkhammer

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Craig Schira


PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Marc-Andre Bourdon, Ben Holmstrom, Tom Sestito, Jakub Voracek, Harry Zolnierczyk

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Jason Bacashihua, Johan Backlund, Blair Betts, Matt Carle, Matt Ford, Jaromir Jagr, Dan Jancevski, Pavel Kubina
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
None

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Joonas Lehtivuori, Andrew Rowe, Mike Testwuide


PHOENIX COYOTES

Group 2 (Restricted)
Kyle Chipchura, Brett MacLean, Chris Summers, Viktor Tikhonov

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Dean Arsene, Mathieu Beaudoin, Shane Doan, Daymond Langkow, Patrick O'Sullivan, Nathan Oystrick, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Taylor Pyatt, Michal Rozsival, Kurt Sauer
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Tyler Eckford, Justin Pogge, Brock Trotter, Matt Watkins

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Gilbert Brule, Colin Long, Nick Ross


PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Robert Bortuzzo, Marc Cheverie, Alex Grant, Carl Sneep, Brian Strait, Eric Tangradi, Keven Veilleux

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Ryan Craig, Brent Johnson, Colin McDonald, Scott Munroe, Richard Park, Steve Sullivan, Jason Williams

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Brad Thiessen

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Mattias Modig, Cal O'Reilly, Alexandre Picard, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Boris Valabik


ST. LOUIS BLUES

Group 2 (Restricted)
Jay Barriball, Jori Lehtera, T.J. Oshie, Anthony Peluso, David Perron, Brett Sonne

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Jason Arnott, Jonathan Cheechoo, Carlo Colaiacovo, Brennan Evans, Kyle Hagel, Kent Huskins, Jamie Langenbrunner, Chris Porter, Brett Sterling, Danny Syvret

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
None

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
None


SAN JOSE SHARKS

Group 2 (Restricted)
T.J. Galiardi, Tim Kennedy, Brandon Mashinter, Frazer McLaren, Matt Pelech, Nick Petrecki, James Sheppard
Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Ben Guite, Dominic Moore, Mike Moore, Antero Niittymaki, Jim Vandermeer, Colin White, Brad Winchester, Daniel Winnik

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
John McCarthy

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Benn Ferriero, Tony Lucia, Cam MacIntyre, James Marcou, Tyson Sexsmith


TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Group 2 (Restricted)
Jaroslav Janus, Anders Lindback, Evan Oberg

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Brett Clark, Mike Commodore, Bruno Gervais, Richard Petiot, Dwayne Roloson, Brandon Segal, Ryan Shannon, Trevor Smith, Tim Wallace

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Scott Jackson, Jonathon Kalinski, Alexandre Picard

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Sebastien Piche

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Cody Franson, Mark Fraser, Richard Greenop, Simon Gysbers, Korbinian Holzer, Nikolai Kulemin, Juraj Mikus, Marcel Mueller, Ben Scrivens

Group 3 (Unrestritced)
Philippe Dupuis, Jeff Finger, Mike Zigomanis

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Matt Lashoff, Jay Rosehill

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
None

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Eddie Lack, Mason Raymond, Cory Schneider, Dale Weise

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Nolan Baumgartner, Byron Bitz, Matt Climie, Andrew Ebbett, Sami Pahlsson, Steve Pinizzotto, Steven Reinprecht
Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Mark Mancari

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Mike Duco, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Victor Oreskovich, Ryan Parent


WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Jay Beagle, John Carlson, Mike Green, Zach Hamill, Mathieu Perreault

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Keith Aucoin, Sean Collins, Kyle Greentree, Jeff Halpern, D.J. King, Mike Knuble, Jacob Micflikier, Zach Miskovic, Alexander Semin

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Christian Hanson, Jordan Henry, Joel Rechlicz

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
None


WINNIPEG JETS

Group 2 (Restricted)
Brett Festerling, Michael Forney, Evander Kane, Arturs Kulda, Maxime Macenauer, Spencer Machacek, Ben Maxwell, John Negrin, Frederik Pettersson, Paul Postma

Group 3 (Unrestricted)
Mark Flood, Jason Jaffray, Randy Jones, Peter Mannino, Derek Meech, Tim Stapleton, Kyle Wellwood

Group 6 (Unrestricted)
Kenndal McArdle

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
Eric Fehr, Andrei Zubarev


FREE AGENT CLASSIFICATIONS (Courtesy of nhl.com)

Group 2 (Restricted Free Agents) - Subject to compensation and right to match. The following players have been tendered a qualifying offer by their respective clubs and are subject to draft-choice compensation and right to match. The draft choice compensation scale is based on compensation offered by the new club (These are last summer's figures and are meant as a general guideline for compensation. If new figures are released, they will likely be released on July 1, 2011):

$1,034,249 or below - No compensation
Over $1,034,249 to $1,567,043 - Third-round choice
Over $1,567,043 to $3,134,088 - Second-round choice
Over $3,134,088 to $4,701,131 - First-round and Third-round choice
Over $4,701,131 to $6,268,175 - First-Round, Second-round, and Third-round choice
Over $6,268,175 to $7,835,219 - two First-round choices, one second-round choice, and one Third-round choice
Over $7,835,219 - four First-round choices

Group 3 (Unrestricted Free Agents) - The following players have qualified for Group 3 Free Agency (age 27 or older or with at least seven accrued seasons) and are Unrestricted Free Agents.

Group 6 (Unrestricted Free Agents) - The following players qualify for unrestricted free agency, having met the requirements for Group 6 free agency. These players, whose contracts have expired, are age 25 or older, have completed three or more professional seasons, and (i) in the case of a player other than a goaltender, have played less than 80 NHL games (regular season and playoffs), or (ii) in the case of a goaltender, have played less than 28 NHL games (regular season and playoffs).

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) - The following players were not tendered a qualifying offer and are therefore unrestricted free agents not subject to a right to match or draft choice compensation.

                    After the 1st two days of free agency, some of the top player are still avalible. Also, the hunt to aquirre Bobby Ryan via trade is still a strong situation. This sets up for a countinous great offseason.