From the Press Box: Offseason Trickle

Today, from the press box: The offseason moves have slowed to a trickle now that we're into August, but the slower pace affords us an opportunity to examine some moves from the past week in greater detail to understand what some teams are trying to accomplish.

Eric Fehr signs with the Penguins
Fehr is a big forward (6-foot-4, 210 pounds) who can be effective whether he plays at center or on the wing. He also provides roster flexibility in that he can move up to a top-six role or play more of a grinder/checking line role. He will add a great physical presence to a skilled Penguins roster that has been lacking that element in recent years. It is worth noting that his style of play comes to the forefront in playoff settings, another aspect that undoubtedly made him attractive to a Pittsburgh team that has struggled in the last few postseasons. The cost for his services came in at a cap-friendly hit of $2 million per year for each of the next three seasons. The 29-year old is coming off a 19-goal, 33-point campaign and should be able to approach those totals in the company of the high-end talent in Pittsburgh.

Sean Couturier re-signs with the Flyers
This big (6-3, 197-pound) center was the eighth overall pick in 2011 and was expected to grow into a top-scoring center who would be central to the Flyers' offense. While he has shown brief flashes of that type of talent, he has never scored more than 15 goals or 40 points in any of his four seasons in the NHL. His salary will jump from a $1.75 million cap hit to a whopping $4.3 million for each of the next six years. That's quite a bet on this 22-year old, but it may be the key to assessing this deal. He is still very young and the Philadelphia brain trust must feel that he has shown enough to merit this significant term and increase in salary. If he grows into the player they expect, this will be a great deal. However, if he continues to produce in his current range, this contract will be a bit of a problem. I think the Flyers gave too much term here and should have held firm on a shorter deal, hoping that he would show more of an upside before committing to a six-year pact.

Devils buy out Dainius Zubrus
As I wrote last week, the Devils are one of a few teams that have some flexibility at this stage of the offseason because they have significant space under the cap. When they executed this buyout, the Devils effectively decided that they would be better off leaving a roster spot open instead of filling it with a 37-year old player who was coming off a 10-point season. As it stands, New Jersey has five open roster spots with $14 million in cap space. What they have attempted in recent seasons is to try to attract some of the remaining UFAs to cap-friendly deals after many other teams have already fulfilled their roster commitments. This is bargain-hunting season and there are a few names still available. I expect the Devils to grab at least a couple of available UFAs, bringing them in at cap-friendly and short-term deals. New Jersey's current ownership does not budget to spend all of their cap space, so looking for late off-season deals is a part of their standard practice. They will bite the bullet on Zubrus' buyout and it's one-year impact to augment their current added flexibility.

Jakub Voracek signs eight-year, $66 million contract extension
The trajectory of Voracek's career has matched up with his former first-round draft status from eight years ago. Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets, who made that choice, were not patient enough to see how he has developed in the past three years. The Flyers have reaped the reward for acquiring him and a draft pick (that turned into Couturier) in a deal for Jeff Carter and a 2011 draft pick (unheralded Nick Cousins). Voracek immediately blossomed in Philadelphia and has formed a dynamic chemistry with team captain Claude Giroux. He has evolved into a point-per game player, something of a rarity in the lower scoring NHL of the past three seasons, and he is a key component of one of the league's top forward lines and power-play units. So, this contract is in line with the compensation for such a player. He turns 26 in a couple weeks, so there is a reasonable expectation that he will be in his prime throughout the duration of this contract, and he is going to have a similar high-end role for the foreseeable future.

Alex Galchenyuk signs two-year, $5.6 million bridge contract
Galchenyuk was the third overall selection in the 2012 amateur draft who the Canadiens have slowly developed on the NHL roster since his rookie campaign three years ago. He has improved his point production in each of those seasons, to the point where he reached the 20-goal plateau and 46 total points in 80 games last year. Much more is expected of him, but he has not yet shown what his ceiling might be. He only cracked the top-six forwards on the roster last year and the feeling is that he has plenty of upside. With his representatives and the team recognizing this, they both bought themselves time to make a long-term evaluation after agreeing to this bridge deal, which will allow him to focus on the games and not his short-term contract status. At the same time, this healthy increase over his rookie-level deal shows lots of good will from the club. Expect him to be a key cog and long-term contributor, continuing his growth as a high-end player this season.

Jonathan Bernier signs two-year, $8.3 million contract
There was some nervousness between Bernier's camp and team executives, as the parties approached the arbitration process last week with a $2.2 million gap in their respective positions. While waiting for the arbitrator to decide, the clubs reached something of a middle ground with this pact. The feeling from Leafs management is some uncertainty about Bernier's ability to handle a front-line goalie's load and to produce solid results. He appeared in 58 games last season and had a 2.87 goals-against average and .912 save percentage, both middle-of-the-pack numbers among his NHL peers. With the Leafs in a full rebuilding mode, no one should expect him to compete with league leaders in any goalie category, but what they want to see is growth in leadership and dependability, resulting in Bernier showing a competence and durability to be the unquestioned No. 1 ahead of James Reimer. Bernier wants to show that ability, too. If he does, he will get that big, long-term deal soon enough and it could come at a time when the team is ready to be very competitive once again.

Brandon Sutter signs five-year, $21.875 million contract with the Canucks
Sutter is now with his third NHL club after being drafted in the first round of the 2007 amateur draft by the Hurricanes. He recorded one 20-goal campaign for Carolina before joining the Penguins three years ago. He did the same in Pittsburgh, falling in behind Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby on that depth chart and landing in more of a checking line role during the last three seasons.

After being traded to Vancouver earlier this summer, the Canucks are prepared to give him a long look as their No. 2 center behind Henrik Sedin. This is an unprecedented chance for Sutter to show that he has inherited his family's long lineage of solid pedigree. His career-long success as a defensive-minded forward is a strong base from which he will be expected to build. His success as a two-time 20-goal scorer in the absence of any similar opportunity in his past suggests he should be a good value and important cog for the duration of this deal and in his new role. He has every chance to emerge as a new team leader.