Free Agent Frenzy: HCP's got you covered

As the title suggests, we here at the Half Court Press got you covered when it comes to Free Agency frenzy. Sam will handle the basketball end of things, while I'll be covering hockey deals, which I'm sure will be much more interesting and entertaining to read about. We'll find the winner(s) and loser(s) of each deal, starting with a player who has quickly changed from being loved here in Vancouver to being vilified, in the course of about 20 minutes:

Signing: Jay Bouwmeester: (5 years, $33.4 milion to the Calgary Flames)

Winner: Darryl Sutter - Sutter has had a good couple weeks, first by hiring his brother Brent as head coach, bringing the number of Sutters in the organization to 5, and bringing the club's "unfortunate looking" index to a whopping 8 stars (system of measurement unclear, but 8 stars would undoubtedly be quite high). He also got a jump on free agency by signing the most coveted UFA defensemen. Bouwmeester is only 25, so Sutter's deal will take the former Panther through the prime of his career, which is projected to be quite successful. He also prevented two division rivals from signing him, the Canucks and Oilers, both of whom were speculated to make serious offers come July 1.

Loser: Darryl Sutter - Knowing Bouwmeester was aware he would look fantastic in blue and green (who doesn't? it accentuates the eyes) he was forced to pay a premium on the puck-moving defenseman, and sign him for a cap hit of $6.6 million per season. Between Iggy, Langkow, Jokinen, Phaneuf, Bouwmeester, Regehr, Sarich and Kipper, that's about $44 million commited to 8 players, leaving 12 million and change to go around for 15 players. No doubt the Flames have some moves up their sleeves (like moving Sarich ASAP), but considering the problems the team had last year (needing to play several late season games with 3 forward lines), Sutter's painted himself into a corner. What happens in the case of an injury to one of their high priced players? Usually, teams can save cap room by using skilled entry-level players, but outside of Backlund the Flames' prospect pool is weak or traded away. And down the road? Apart from Jokinen, whose deal is up next year, these players are all locked up long term at these prices, meaning the Flames will be in a similar situation for the next THREE YEARS. Sure, the talent looks very solid, but Sutter will have to do a great deal of tricksy maneuvering to make it work.

Trade: NYR trades centre Scott Gomez, winger Tom Pyatt and defenceman Mike Busto to Montreal for winger Chris Higgins and defencemen Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko (yeah I copied and pasted. Way too many names.)

Winner: Glen Sather, James Dolan. The deal allows Sather to temporarily escape the type of cap hell that eagerly awaits Sutter. It gives him some flexibility to lock up young talent, and momentarily help people forget about the $6.5 million a year mistake that is Wade Redden. James Dolan, the owner of the Madison Square Garden Corporation, saves a little coin and can use Gomez' $8 million a year to support the flourishing Knicks basketball team.

Loser: Vincent Lecavalier: Rumored for months to be headed to his hometown city that loves hockey (and apparently, wanted him there), Montreal's acquisition of another front line center means he's forced to stay in Tampa, where apathetic fans, an ownership struggles and a fantasy-league player management style will leave the Lighting, even with all their young talent, out of contention for many years to come.

That's all for tonight. Check in tomorrow for some updates.