Panthers Stick Toe In Free Agent Water

The Florida Panthers announced Friday afternoon the signing of forward Chris Higgins who last year spent time with the New York Rangers, and finished the season with the Calgary Flames. Higgins is a former first round draft choice of the Montreal Canadiens in 2002 and spent three seasons with the Canadiens until he was traded in June of 2009 in the Scott Gomez deal.

Higgins has three seasons of 20 goals or more with 27 being the high in 2007-2008. He was hampered by some injuries and fell out of favor with the Habs and was sent of to New York. Things didn’t work out much better there for him as he spent alot of time on the third line and scored only five times in 55 games before he was traded to the Calgary Flames as part of the Olli Jokinen deal. Who coincidentally is back in Calgary.

There’s been alot said about Higgins. He wasn’t motivated, he doesn’t always show up, he’s lazy. These are things that I have read and have no assurance that they are true. Others have said he’s worked hard, he’s a good guy, but just needs the right situation. He has battled some nagging injuries and that has affected him.

He’s known for his speed and does have a scoring touch, but needs to find it and this deal could be the medicine to get it back. One year at 1.6 million dollars. So there’s really only two ways to feel about this.

One would be that it’s a poor signing. Why bother with a guy that’s been struggling. What makes the organization think that we have the talent to resurrect his career and help him find his touch? We couldn’t have done better? We’ve seen this type of signing before, get a guy who’s had some bad luck and hope he finds it here by giving him a chance?

The other side is that, look, it’s one year. If it doesn’t pan out, we don’t have to keep him and let him go, or we can move him at the deadline for a draft pick. The one year deal motivates him to perform and get himself a better, longer term deal, and possibly keeps him in Florida. At 27 years old he should be peaking now, and maybe the Panthers can take advantage of that.

Here’s my take, and it’s probably why I sit on a chair doing this like you who are reading it. Of course it’s not the glamorous pick that we wanted. It’s not the huge splash that we feel the Panthers need to make. If you look at the available free agents, and the money that the others are signing for, it’s crazy what’s going on. This deal isn’t that bad, and it actually makes sense. It’s only one year, a perfect way to motivate a guy and if it doesn’t work, so long. He’s talented, he’s fast, which is what Dale Tallon is trying to add to this team. He can play both special teams, and cross your fingers, if he scores 20 goals, it will be a steal. These are all ifs, but it’s a chance that I think has more upside than down. Big thing to remember, we won’t be stuck if it doesn’t work.

Now, there are still holes to fill. We desperately need a number one center. Going after Matt Lombardi who ended up with Nashville, might have helped, but not for the money he was asking and for what he ultimately got. 3 years for $10.5 million. So we are going to have to trade for that number one guy. Philly still needs goaltending. They have a glut of forwards and defenceman. Dale said yesterday that we need another steady D-man. Ok, how about Vokoun and Olesz for Matt Carle and Jeff Carter? The Flyer’s have to shed salary and this may solve it. We may need to take another player back also, or eat some of Vokoun’s salary to make it work. Carter would certainly solve the number one center issue, and is young enough to stick with us for awhile. Just a thought.

Reality is, we still need help, but this Higgins deal was a smart signing. Yes it’s boring. Nothing to jump and down about, but smart. I think Tallon’s doing this very carefully. It’s only been two days. Let’s see how the next week or so goes, and then we can start pissing and moaning. Or at least pass judgement.