NHL Free Agency Day One Recap: Silly Money Flies

Since the sheets of ice were torn up and the arenas became venues for Taylor Swift's broken heart instead of three hours of hockey, the general managers of NHL teams have been chomping at the bit to fill their ranks in the hopes of making deep playoff runs next season. Free agency is an integral aspect to building a contender, especially if done right. Conversely, if done wrong, it could bind a team to an anchor of a contract for years, slowly dragging them down through the standings before resting coming to a rest at the bottom of the standings.

Silly money gets spent on the first day of free agency. Nobody wants to be last, or miss out on the prettiest toy-except for the smart general managers. They settle for the toy that does its job and can be had on sale two months later. There's an obsession with having new things: new is better, new helps you win, old didn't do anything but help you lose. Sometimes, old is better.

A lot of really puzzling decisions were made the first day but none more than Brooks Orpik signing with the Washington Capitals for five years, $27.5 million. It's quickly going to become one of the worst contracts in hockey and estimated to expire before the next (probable) lockout, which means there's no compliance buyouts coming their way.

"We are very excited to welcome Brooks to Washington," general manager Brian MacLellan said in a release put out by the organization. "We feel Brooks' leadership and experience will greatly enhance our defense for years to come. Brooks plays tough minutes against the opposition's best players."

That last part is true, Orpik has always been a play that plays tough minutes. He just doesn't play them well anymore. A perfect illustration of the negative impact Orpik has on his team is in this chart below:

Essentially, what this chart shows, is how Orpik impacts the possession numbers of his teammates over the past seven years. Guys in the fourth quadrant, on the lower right, were above 50 percent when it comes to shot attempts for, with Orpik on the ice and below it without him. Only one player falls into the category, Ruslan Fedotenko.

The Calgary Flames may have topped Washington's signing, giving Deryk Engelland a three-year deal worth $8.7 million in a league with a restrictive salary cap. Comparatively, the 32-year-old made $550,000 last year. He is coming off his best year offensively, with 12 total points but also an extremely low possession number. He's nothing more than a fourth line player but Calgary, who wants a reputation as a tough, blue-collar team it seems, love those types of players.

There were plenty of other terrible signings: Tanner Glass getting anything other than a two-way contract, Shawn Thornton signing with the Florida Panthers, really everything that Florida did, especially the contract that Dave Bolland received from Dale Tallon, the general manager in Florida.

Bolland is unfairly maligned, because someone-Toronto Maple Leafs management, some media, select fans, etc.- decided that he was a hugely important player. He's not. They acquired him prior to the start of last season, as a center that would help greatly bolster the depth of the team down the middle. He didn't cost them too much to acquire and is actually a useful player. He did, however, spend most of the season injured and became the scapegoat for the Leafs failure to make the postseason for the second straight season.

In reality, they were coming off a lockout shortened season where they made the postseason with unsustainable shooting and goaltending, most intelligent Maple Leafs fans understand that, management, it seems did not.

Bolland got paid like a mediocre first line center today, something he most certainly is not and won't be in Florida.

It's not all bad, some teams had really strong opening days.

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, their success is mostly addition by subtraction, losing players that went out and received massive overpayments for their services, all while signing arguably the best contract of the day- Christian Ehrhoff at one-year and $4 million. Pittsburgh, a team that recently underwent an administrative overhaul, hovers around the top of league on a yearly basis made intelligent, patient decisions.

The big winner of the day made their splash before the mad dash to scoop up and overpay players, the Dallas Stars. Dallas smartly traded for Jason Spezza, who tied up the Ottawa Senators in all kinds of difficult places after requesting a trade and giving them a limited number of teams he would accept a trade to. Dallas only gave up Alex Chiasson, prospects Nicholas Paul and Alex Guptill and a 2015 second-round draft pick.

They also went out and signed Ales Hemsky, who enjoyed considerable success with Spezza. scoring 17 goals in 20 games after coming to Ottawa from Edmonton.

Dallas, a team that was incredibly skilled and fun to watch this year, added two incredibly skilled players that will make them even more fun to watch this year.

Another underrated signing, was Anton Stralman's departure from the Stanley Cup Finalists in New York, to sunny Tampa Bay, Florida, where he'll like pair alongside countryman Victor Hedman. Stralman performed like a top-pairing defenseman last season for the Rangers and was an integral part of a team that won a lot of games due to their tremendous depth on the blue line.

"I am very excited we were able to add Anton to the team today," Hedman said, via the official Tampa Bay Lightning Twitter. "He is a great guy, a strong acquisition for out blueline and i think we saw how good he can be in the playoffs this year. I really look forward to having the chance to play alongside him,

Player valuations are changing. NHL executives need to find a way to balance rosters, paying star players exactly what they are worth in terms of cap hit percentage and the much lesser players that are eating up space and infinitesimal amount, compared to what they make now.

Remember general managers of the NHL, you can no longer stock players in the minor leagues and eliminate their cap hit and you can't use compliance buyouts on any of these players. So, spend wisely or your could end up setting your organization back a few years.

Patrick Kearns writes about hockey and loves him some indie rock. Follow him on Twitter for thoughts on both.