[DeToxRox]

2015-16 Free Agency

We went into FA with over 20 million to spend and we decided to hit July 1st hard so we weren't left at the alter. By the time the smoke cleared, we had made the following signings:

D John Erskine (4 years, 9.2 mil)
D Sheldon Souray (2 years, 5.2 mil)
LW Curtis Glencross (5 years, 16.3 mil)
RW Derek Dorsett (3 years, 7.5 mil)
RW Scottie Upshall (5 years, 20.7 mil)
G Devin Dubnyk (3 years, 7.1 mil)

Of course at that point we still were having massive issues at C, so we hit the phones trying to make some moves. What transpired were two trades that should hopefully transform our top 6 lines:

Trade #1: PHI & ANA

ANA trades: C Ryan Kesler
PHI trades: LW Jordan Greenway, CHI '16 4th, PHI '17 4th & PHI '18 4th

We liked Greenway, but Anaheim liked him more and as a result we were able to bring Kesler into the fold. Of course Kesler has injury concerns, but he is a 30 goal scorer and is only 30 years old. This was a deal worth making.

Trade #2

STL sends: C David Backes
PHI sends: G Steve Mason, C Scott Laughton, PHI '16 4th, PHI '16 5th & PHI 17' 5th.

Once again we give up a lot to hopefully get a lot. Backes runs a big risk because he is a UFA at the years end, but he is good for 75 games a year and again, he is a potential 30 goal scorer. Unfortunately we gave up a lot of mid round picks over the next few years, but with all the picks we had this past year, it made life easier.

As a result of these trades we ended up bringing Ray Emery back to be Dubnyk's backup.