2010 Free Agency: Analysis On The Days Moves Thus Far
Quick hits and reactions from the day's bigger news so far:
-Philadelphia Flyers restock their defense: By re-signing Braydon Coburn and trading for Andrej Meszaros, the Flyers now have one of the most impressive -- and expensive -- defense groups in the NHL. Meszaros was a bit lost in Tampa Bay when he was asked to be more than he could; in Ottawa, he excelled when he was behind guys like Zdeno Chara. With Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen ahead of him on the depth chart, this could revive Meszaros' career. It also gives Philadelphia two good sets of power play blueliners.
-San Jose Sharks find their goalie: Last year, Antero Niittymaki platooned with Mike Smith in Tampa Bay and was the more consistent goaltender despite constantly being deluged thanks to a poor defensive system. Now he gets to play with a conference finalist; more importantly, the Sharks get a relatively cheap goaltender to platoon with young Thomas Greiss. Look for the duo to split the games 50/30, with the majority going to whoever grabs the proverbial ball and runs with it. It's a low-cost solution that gives Doug Wilson some flexibility to add on to their blueline and it probably won't take their goaltending down too much from Evgeni Nabokov.
