One of my nerdy hockey (and sports) obsessions is to study the breakthroughs an athlete will experience in a contract year. Just look at Fernando Pisani’s fluke playoff run or last year’s Boston Bruins. My question is, which players could turn a great playoff run into a husky pay day? First, let’s take a look at the Western Conference. (Note: this isn’t a comprehensive list of free agents. Instead, it’s players who might make an impact on the ice and at the bank)
San Jose
This team is loaded with huge salary cap decisions for the summer (which is part of the reason I, gulp, chose them to win the Cup in the pre-season. Sometimes, greed is good.) Huge names like Evgeni Nabokov and Patrick Marleau are joined by other very good players like Joe Pavelski and Devon Setoguchi. It might not be excessive to say that this playoff run is the biggest in Sharks’ franchise history.
Colorado
Peter Mueller could be in line for a nice raise if he can come back from his concussion problems. Chris Stewart and Kyle Quincey are two other nice players who could make themselves some nice cash with a Cinderella playoff run.
Chicago
I’ve already stated that the team is on the verge of a cap crisis, so it comes as no surprise that they have some role players who are almost sure to go. The player with the most to gain is Antti Niemi, though, as he is the team’s starter and remains a restricted free agent. You’re telling me a team wouldn’t pry him loose if he won a Cup with Chicago?
Nashville
Patric Hornqvist is probably the leading Predator with dollar signs in his eyes while Dan Hamhuis was a trade deadline rumor magnet since his contract is set to expire.
The remaining four Western Conference teams’ free agents to watch are after the jump
Phoenix Coyotes’ Lee Stempniak (22) gets past Colorado Avalanche’s Craig Anderson (41) and Adam Foote (52) to score a goal as the Avalanche’s Paul Stastny, bottom, arrives late to defend in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Glendale, Ariz., Saturday, March 27, 2010. The Coyotes defeated the Avalanche 6-2 and clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2002. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) AP
Los Angeles
Alex Frolov can be a productive goal scorer when he wants to be and my guess is that he’s auditioning for a new team in the playoffs.
Phoenix
Ah, I knew I’d find a classic outlier. His name is Lee Stempniak. My question is: how much is this suddenly on-fire sniper worth? Would you bet on him repeating his stunning performances? (Also, Wojtek Wolski’s playoff production could make a huge difference for himself, too.)
Detroit
The biggest name is Nicklas Lidstrom, but it’s not like he has anything to prove. (Aside from the fact that he’s not some alien hockey-playing life form. Just saying.) Todd Bertuzzi could use a solid year to swindle some poor sap general manager to give him his 1,058th chance at redemption, too.
