Why Moscow going after Free Agents is a bad and good idea

[jRuutu 2,467]

 

When you look at the standings and the roster of Moscow Menace, it is not a surprise that Moscow is one of the teams rumored to go after free agents during the upcoming off-season.  In total four players are going to retire when the ongoing season ends, five players are going to be unrestricted free agents, and only two players in the current roster are under contract for season 91. Even when some of the prospects join from VHLE and VHLM, the team has plenty of space in the roster and more importantly - under the cap.

 

The fans in Moscow are notoriously demanding, missing the playoffs multiple years in a row, even during a rebuild, is not something many of the fans are willing to sit through. But is it a good idea to sign superstar players in the hopes of just making it into the playoffs? Not if the players want to sign long contracts. Moscow has in total of five first-round picks in the next two VHL drafts, that alone is plenty of picks to collect some serious talent into any roster, but Moscow also has six second-round picks in the next two VHL drafts. The nice cap space now is quickly gone if the organization signs a couple of top-level free agents.  In a few years' time, all the prospects will require contracts, and when the expectation from a first-round pick is that they, at the very least, make it into the VHL one day, Moscow is going to have a solid roster in the near future.

 

When you think about the fans of the team, it is natural that the idea of adding players like The Frenchman,  Yaroslav Bogatyrev, and Art Vandelay into the team makes perfect sense. Such additions would almost certainly push Moscow into the playoffs. All three players have spoken to the media about their intentions to test Free Agency next off-season. It is true that Moscow desperately needs to defender or two to round up the roster,  but defenders are a lot easier to find when you take the good old roster page out and those three are in there leading the group.

 

If the mentioned free agents, or any other upcoming free agent, are willing to sign for a short-term contract - the additions make the perfect sense for all parties involved.   Not every team is necessarily that active during the off-season, they might be in a nice place or they just don't have the cap space to make anything too interesting happen, so they do not go after the free agents that hard. When the regular season starts, maybe the games are not going as well as they hoped, who enters the picture then? It is the top-level players in short-term deals. The closer to the trade deadline we get, the more likely it is that teams who have started poorly want to change things up.

 

If the roster of the struggling team looks solid otherwise, the players who joined a team like Moscow during the off-season might be tempted to join the team for a deeper playoff push than they might enjoy in Moscow. In such a scenario Moscow would be more than happy to sign top-level players from free agency now as they would get some kind of asset in return. For the players, the excitement of doing this slightly differently would be an additional bonus as it is less common to sign for a rebuilding team on a short-term deal, and betting on yourself you can find an interesting opportunity closer to the trade deadline.

[Spartan 4,408]

Phone lines will be open

[Daniel Janser 2,184]

Called it

[JCarson 730]

The offseason and the various methods of building teams always makes for a good article.  In this perspective a discussion regarding Moscow and free agent signings provides a unique twist.  Should people sign there or should people just avoid them altogether.  Take your chances and find the glory of late playoff hockey or run screaming away from being doomed to not make the playoffs at all.  We will have to see how things unfold. What players and teams choose.  One thing is for certain, there will be movement in the league.

 

I give this article a 8/10