Forecast Is Chilly for Free Agents

After years of signing free agents to high-buck contracts -- then complaining about it -- NHL owners may be keeping their checkbooks closed this time around.

At least that’s the consensus around the league as the free-agency signing period starts today.

“It’s always up to the individual club to do what they are going to do with what they have available, but it’s a little different time right now,” General Manager Bryan Murray of the Mighty Ducks said. “There are some attractive players around but budgets are being scrutinized more carefully than they were before.”

With the NHL looking at potential labor strife, once the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires in September 2004, teams have good reason to avoid long-term deals.

Especially if the NHL gets its way and imposes a $35-million salary cap.

“What I’ve noticed is that there’s a significant number of teams trying to reduce their payrolls,” King General Manger Dave Taylor said. “There are a lot of trade possibilities out there, but most of the players being shopped around are carrying big contracts.”

That makes it tough for free agents looking for long-term, big-money deals from franchises that normally spend freely.

Dallas, for instance, took free-agent shopping to a new level last year. The Stars used every gimmick in the book to lure a group of high-priced free agents, then reached only the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated by the Ducks.

This year, the Stars are taking a different approach. They’ve already decided to not give longtime captain Derian Hatcher -- a Norris Trophy finalist last season -- a five-year contract extension and are allowing him to test the market.

And this after offering the veteran defenseman a five-year extension before free agency began last year.

“My sense is that there’s going to be more of a reduction in the amount of dollars available,” Murray said. “I don’t know that for sure, but it seems that people are really more conscious about the total dollars available in their budget. As a result, teams will have to be more careful.

“I think we’ve been a little careless at times, generally speaking. That’s going to change a little bit.... We’re all trying to win but we know that at this point of time, some of the decisions that we’ve made in the past didn’t make a whole lot of sense for the individual clubs.”

The best free agents for teams on tight budgets are in the unrestricted Group V, which sports a record seven players under 31 who meet the criteria of being 10-year veterans earning less than the $1.79-million league average salary last season. Forwards Vaclav Varada, Todd Marchant, Jeff Shantz and defensemen Greg de Vries, Cale Hulse, Jamie Pushor and Ian Moran are in that group.

Heading the Group III unrestricted class -- players 31 and over -- are some big-name players, forwards Sergei Fedorov and Joe Nieuwendyk, and defensemen Brian Leetch and Bryan Marchment. Expect them to get good deals but just not right away.

“There will be a lot of phones calls made [today],” Taylor said. “But historically, the players that are signed early are overpaid.”

Time will tell if teams stick with their game plans and curb stop their spending.