Philadelphia Flyers’ Mika Pyorala (27) watches Washington Capitals’ Jose Theodore (60) lay on the puck while Washington Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom (19) of Sweden, skates around, during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009, in Washington. The Capitals won 4-2. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP
A couple weeks ago, I broke down the pending free agents (unrestricted and restricted alike) for each conference. (East here, West here) Let’s take a gander at how some of the most noteworthy free-agents-to-be fared so far. Obviously, for players on half the teams, they won’t get another chance to show off their skills. Now let’s move on to the East. This might not be a comprehensive list, so apologies if your favorite pending free agent is left out.
Washington
Nicklas Backstrom - Loss or not, Backstrom was very effective at times with 9 points - trailing only Alex Ovechkin.
Jose Theodore - Didn’t make it very far in the playoffs. His regular season helped his career, but this didn’t.
Montreal
Have you heard of that Jaroslav Halak guy? He might make himself a bit of cash this summer.
Carey Price didn’t do much to improve his value, but Tomas Plekanec had some nice moments as a pending free agent forward.
New Jersey
Ilya Kovalchuk’s career 1-8 playoff record must give some teams at least a little doubt. Unlike Kovalchuk, the steady Paul Martin will likely return to the Devils ... but I could be guessing wrong there.
Philadelphia
Not much to talk about with the Flyers, free agent wise.
Buffalo
Raffi Torres struggled to the point of being a healthy scratch, so that didn’t go well for him.
Boston
Mark Recchi has had a fantastic playoff run for a guy from prehistoric times.
Pittsburgh
Sergei Gonchar - 6 points and big ice time make Gonchar about as appealing a free agent defenseman as there is this year.
Alexei Ponikarovsky and Bill Guerin are serviceable but unspectacular.
Ottawa
Anton Volchenkov might see a pretty nice payday. Will it be with Ottawa?