Big UFA Signings That Actually Worked Out?

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,261
16,510
Mulberry Street
Chara is the best one I can think of. He was not only signed as a free-agent, he quickly became one of the best defensemen in the NHL. What a terrible oversight by the Ottawa Senators management group for letting him go.

he was already a top defensemen when the B's signed him.
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,261
16,510
Mulberry Street
Scott Niedermayer - Ducks

To be fair he was either staying in NJ or signing in ANA to play with Rob. So they really didn't have any competition as long as they didn't lowball him.

Suter has worked out - consistently one of the better defensemen in the league and plays a ton of minutes. Parise I would argue hasn't seeing as he's scored over 60 points once.
 

dechire

TBL Stanley Cup Champs 2020 2021
Jul 8, 2014
16,649
3,943
inconnu
As already explained, this is also including UFAs to be. Abdelkader didn't make it to UFA either because Detroit decided to sign him for eternity before he made it to UFA. Still an awful contract.
Well if that's the criteria you're using then players like Pavelski, Giordano and Bergeron qualify.
 

nbwingsfan

Registered User
Dec 13, 2009
20,714
14,366
Well if that's the criteria you're using then players like Pavelski, Giordano and Bergeron qualify.

For sure.

It's looking like the whole "dont sign players in the late 20s/early 30s to long contracts" saying around here isnt always right.
 

dechire

TBL Stanley Cup Champs 2020 2021
Jul 8, 2014
16,649
3,943
inconnu
For sure.

It's looking like the whole "dont sign players in the late 20s/early 30s to long contracts" saying around here isnt always right.
I was looking at CapFriendly with the list of players filtered to only show the ones signed at 28 or older and there's a mix. There's the obviously bad ones like Seabrook, the great ones like Bergeron and some that remain to be seen. Some other players that signed 5+ years are Burns, Marchand, Yandle, Byfuglien, Oshie, Backlund, Atkinson and Carlson. Some of these are going to look like good contracts by the end and some will look terrible but as a group they're all good players with the potential to stay that way.
 

MSLs absurd thighs

Formerly Tough Au Lit
Feb 4, 2013
9,424
4,280
Kovalev in 2005 and Hamrlik in 2007 worked out great for Montreal.

Cammalleri did too in 2009 before the injuries kicked in.
 

aemoreira1981

Registered User
Jan 27, 2012
7,168
304
New York City
Has anyone mentioned Ray Whitney after he signed with the Hurricanes following a disastrous season with Detroit? Then he was also good for 2 seasons with Arizona (age 38 and 39); only with Dallas did Father Time finally catch up with him. For Arizona, I'd say Ray Whitney qualifies...he made his only end-of-season All-Star Team (second team) at age 39. He scored 334 points in 372 games with Carolina, then 134 points in 157 games with Arizona.

I would also say that, pre-lockout, Brian Rafalski qualifies (in his career, he averaged 0.625 points per game as a defenseman, and he was called the best player not in the NHL when he was signed). He wasn't too bad for Detroit either in his 4 seasons there (in his 11 NHL seasons, he never finished a season minus and was +78 in his 4 seasons with Detroit - known for playmaking and defense). Rafalski was truly someone whose best skill was hockey IQ. These days, Rafalski is coaching in USA junior hockey; I'm surprised an NHL team hasn't called him about coaching defense.
 
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brock0791

Registered User
Jul 2, 2015
849
333
Jets took a lot of flack for giving Byfuglien 5x7.6m on the wrong side of 30 with his body type but he has 21 points in 24 games so far at age 33
 

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