Interested who may still be hangin out there on the market? Well a poster named 'Kingpuckchoo' threw together this comprehensive list of unrestricted free agents still not signed -- it's quite long:
Forwards
Selanne, Teemu » 40 ANA
Calder, Kyle » 31 ANA
Kozlov, Vyacheslav » 38 ATL
MacArthur, Clarke » 25 ATL
Artyukhin, Evgeny » 27 ATL
Afinogenov, Maxim » 30 ATL
Begin, Steve » 32 BOS
Satan, Miroslav » 35 BOS
Torres, Raffi » 28 BUF
Mair, Adam » 31 BUF
Cowan, Jeff » 33 BUF
Ellis, Matt » 28 BUF
Ryan, Michael » 30 CAR
Mayers, Jamal » 35 CGY
Conroy, Craig » 38 CGY
Dawes, Nigel » 25 CGY
McGrattan, Brian » 28 CGY
Murray, Garth » 27 CGY
Madden, John » 37 CHI
Tucker, Darcy » 35 COL
Svatos, Marek » 28 COL
Yelle, Stephane » 36 COL
Hendricks, Matt » 29 COL
Lehtinen, Jere » 37 DAL
Williams, Jason » 29 DET
Maltby, Kirk » 37 DET
Pisani, Fernando » 33 EDM
Comrie, Mike » 29 EDM
Potulny, Ryan » 25 EDM
Weller, Craig » 29 FLA
Tarnasky, Nick » 25 FLA
Modin, Fredrik » 35 LAK
Halpern, Jeff » 34 LAK
Nolan, Owen » 38 MIN
Sykora, Petr » 33 MIN
Hilbert, Andy » 29 MIN
Scatchard, Dave » 34 NAS
Guite, Ben » 32 NAS
Pandolfo, Jay » 35 NJD
McAmmond, Dean » 37 NJD
Weight, Doug » 39 NYI
Sim, Jon » 32 NYI
Bergenheim, Sean » 26 NYI
Park, Richard » 34 NYI
Lisin, Enver » 24 NYR
Cheechoo, Jonathan » 30 OTT
Donovan, Shean » 35 OTT
Asham, Arron » 32 PHI
Ward, Jason » 31 PHI
Kolanos, Krys » 29 PHI
O'Sullivan, Patrick » 25 PHO
Stempniak, Lee » 27 PHO
Lang, Robert » 39 PHO
Nokelainen, Petteri » 24 PHO
Guerin, Bill » 39 PIT
Fedotenko, Ruslan » 31 PIT
Brookbank, Wade » 32 PIT
Ortmeyer, Jed » 31 SAN
Kariya, Paul » 35 STL
Armstrong, Derek » 37 STL
Fedoruk, Todd » 31 TBL
Veilleux, Stephane » 28 TBL
Parrish, Mark » 33 TBL
Primeau, Wayne » 34 TOR
Wellwood, Kyle » 27 VAN
Johnson, Ryan » 34 VAN
Pettinger, Matt » 29 VAN
Walker, Scott » 37 WAS
Belanger, Eric » 32 WAS
Morrison, Brendan » 34 WAS
Defense
Ward, Aaron » 37 ANA
Schubert, Christoph » 28 ATL
Chelios, Chris » 48 ATL
McCarthy, Steve » 29 ATL
DiPenta, Joe » 31 BUF
Johnsson, Kim » 34 CHI
Boynton, Nick » 31 CHI
Salei, Ruslan » 35 COL
Preissing, Tom » 31 COL
Lilja, Andreas » 35 DET
Johnson, Aaron » 27 EDM
Koistinen, Ville » 28 FLA
Fitzpatrick, Rory » 35 FLA
Jones, Randy » 29 LAK
Hnidy, Shane » 34 MIN
Mara, Paul » 30 MTL
Bergeron, M-A 29 MTL
Mottau, Mike » 32 NJD
Meyer, Freddy » 29 NYI
Witt, Brendan » 35 NYI
Eriksson, Anders » 35 NYR
Krajicek, Lukas » 27 PHI
Schneider, Mathieu » 41 PHO
McKee, Jay » 32 PIT
Weaver, Mike » 32 STL
Hale, David » 29 TBL
Exelby, Garnet » 28 TOR
Mitchell, Willie » 33 VAN
Goaltending
Legace, Manny » 37 CAR
Toskala, Vesa » 33 CGY
Niemi, Antti » 26 CHI
Dubielewicz, Wade » 31 MIN
Emery, Ray » 27 PHI
Theodore, Jose » 33 WAS
Nothing of real interset to me here. None of these player address what the Jackets really need which is a top 6 center and top pairing dman. Of course those guys are gobbled up within days of free agency starting so it will have to happen via trade.
Don't be surprised if Howson burns another mil on a 4th line center though. There have been rumblings of interest in Ryan Johnson and now this morning of John Madden.
I just think that million bucks could be better served else where.
No we won't sign a top 6 center or top pairing dman with a million bucks but it could certainly be used as currency in a trade.
For example.
Jan Hejda (2 mil) to Vancouver for Kevin Bieska (3.75 mil).
That million is now used to offset the 1.75 mil cost increase of obtaining Bieska who will certainly play a larger role and make a bigger impact that a 5 min per game 4th line center.
Now if ownership really wants to open the wallets for Howson to bring in another 4th line player AND allow him to bring in a higher priced dman via trade then I"m all for it. However don't expect it as they have already committed to an over 50 million dollar payroll which I think is very reasonable.
Some good news on Filatov - Puckrakers is reporting that he'll be in Columbus tomorrow which is a full 6 weeks before camp is scheduled to kick off.
That is a very good sign this kid is committed towards Columbus and the NHL next season.
It is extremely unlikely he'll get dealt now.
I hope he trains hard and rebuilds some bridges with the other young players in town which by my count is 8 with Boll, Dorsett, Brassard, Voracek, Mason, Moore, Johanssen (how about this kid already putting in the time here?) and now Filatov. There may be others (Russell?) in that mix as well.
UPDATE: Just read the entire puck-rakers article and they have Kana, Neuber and Mayorov being in town as well. Big year for Mayorov and his development -- great to see him here early.
-LTL
