Good unsigned players
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by Chrisboersma
Every year it seems GM’s deliberately pass over certain players. Some players have chosen to sign in Europe instead and I will ignore them. I’m not about to debate their value or discuss who should sign them. I’m simply posting for the reason of wonder: why the heck aren’t teams interested in signing these guys:
1. Brent Sopel
Brent Sopel is at the peak of his career (30 years old) and cannot find a job. With 434 games played and 181 points (0.42). To put those statistics into perspective, Souray has 186 points in 506 games (0.37). I suspect Sopel is looking for more money than he’s worth. That being said, I’m surprised Sopel hasn’t conceded and accepted an offer.
2. Jeff O’Neil
31 year old Jeff O’Neil has 821 games under his belt (only 34 playoff games though) and has 237 goals and 259 assists totaling 496 points. Not bad for a guy who’s only played about 60% of his career. In 2000-2001 he scored 41 goals, lately he’s only got about 20 per season. He may be expecting too much in this year’s contract, but it’s certainly a surprise to see a young effective forward being left out of the game.
3. Danny Markov
31 year old Markov has done quite well for himself as a defensive defenseman. Many are shying away though due to the fact he got paired with Lidstrom last year. Markov has 538 games experience with an average of 10 games per playoff appearance. +47 in his career for many different teams. However Markov has had success with many different teams in his career and Detroit was simply another one. Word on the street is that Markov has given up trying to find a contract in the NHL and is being courted by Vityaz Chekhov, a Russian Superleague team.
4. Mike Johnson
32 year old Mike Johnson has been left high and dry, as he is likely looking for more money than he’s worth. A consistent half point per game contributor he’s worth signing at the right price.
5. Anson Carter
I’m not surprised he hasn’t been signed as he is likely looking for significantly more than he’s worth. However, if one looks at his record (421 points in 674 games) he may be well worth the risk.
It seems that the trend here may be that all these players are expecting a lot more than they’re worth. Once they concede to their true value it probably wont be hard for them to get a contract.
