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NHL free agency, part 10
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This is the tenth and final part of a ten part, team by team analysis of the NHL's current crop of unrestricted free agents. I will give my opinion on each player and wether their team should keep them or not. These lists are up to date at the time of writing. Only players who saw significant playing time last season are included.
Toronto
Brad May - Let go. As the Leafs start to retool, look for May to be among the aging veterans who will find themselves on the open market.
Jay Harrison - Keep. Look for the Leafs to hang on to the young veteran Harrison. After some more development in the Swiss Elite league, Harrison should get a chance to make the roster this season.
Jamie Heward - Let go. Injuries limited Heward to just 13 games last season. Look for the Leafs to move on. Heward may face retirement if he can't convince teams he can continue to perform at the NHL level.
Erik Reitz - Keep. Injuries played a big part in the Leafs struggles last season. Hopefully Reitz can bounce back from his injuries to become a key member of the Leafs defense this season.
Martim Gerber - Keep. Should the Leafs be unsuccessful in signing Jonas Gustavsson, it would be to the Leafs benefit to have a solid veteran to back up Vesa Toskala. Gerber would be an option, but the Leafs may want to check the free agent market as well.
Curtis Joseph - Let go. The Leafs have already announced that they will not be re-signing Joseph. Look for him to retire.
Olaf Kolzig - Let go. Another Leafs goalie who will more than likely call it a career. Kolzig was only acquired to get the draft pick from Tampa Bay.
Vancouver
Taylor Pyatt - Keep. The Canucks face many free agent decisions this off season which could push them very close to the cap. The Canucks have larger decisions to make, but if they wait too long, Pyatt could move on.
Daniel Sedin - Keep. The problem with the Sedin's is their obsession with playing together. This will cause major headaches for the Canucks. Do they re-sign both and end up spending close to 1/5th of their salary cap space or do they let them walk and lose out on the 53 goals and 111 assists they combined to get last season? Only time will tell.
Henrik Sedin - Keep. As I stated before, the Sedin's pose a problem. They need to bite the bullet though and keep the twins. That's just too much production to let go for nothing.
Mats Sundin - Let go. Although Sundin's arrival in Vancouver was a large part of the Canucks success, his age may be too big of a question mark for the Canucks to take on this season.
Rob Davison - Keep. A sound defenseman, Davidson could be a good value signing for the Canucks.
Mattias Ohlund - Let go. If the Canucks are going to try and keep their offense, the salary room will have to come from somewhere, and it may come at the expense of Ohlund. Ohlund could get a significant raise this year which could price the Canucks out of re-signing him.
Ossi Vaananen - Keep. With the Canucks possibly losing Ohlund, signing Vaananen could be a priority. A good defenseman at a bargain price, Vaananen should be locked up early.
Jason Labarbera - Keep. With the two decisions to be made at goaltender, the only loser will be the Canucks. Labarbera is the slightly better choice, but someone will get a good goaltender in Curtis Sanford while the Canucks get nothing.
Curtis Sanford - Let go. Sanford proved that he can compete on the NHL level last season. Look for the teams who lose out on the Jonas Gustavsson sweepstakes to go after Sanford.
Washington
Donald Brashear - Let go. Once Brashear's fighting and grittiness left, his value to most teams left as well. He may latch on somewhere, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.
Sergei Fedorov - Let go. With Fedorov signing a contract with Magnitogorsk, it looks like his NHL career is over.
Viktor Kozlov - Keep. While he is getting older, Kozlov still has the talent to add much to the Capitals roster.
Brent Johnson - Let go. With Jose Theodore the #1, the Capitals should look to the future and try to give one of their prospects a chance to show they are the future in net in D.C.
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