And so NHL free agency is upon us. Its a great stew whose ingredients no longer include a superstar from Tampa Bay but do consist of a handful of potentially impactful veterans, as well as a whole cutting board full of role players and others trying to reestablish themselves in different locales.Heres a free-agency primer.Making sense of RFAs, UFAs and offer sheetsFree agents come in all shapes and sizes, vis a vis the collective bargaining agreement. There are restricted free agents (RFAs) whose contracts are up but who remain the property of their current club and are therefore prohibited from negotiating with other teams. Restricted free agents can be the subject of an offer sheet from another club, but teams have the right to match that offer sheet.There was some noise last week -- mostly white noise, it turns out -- about teams preparing an offer sheet on Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba or Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones before Jones signed a contract extension on Wednesday. Clubs invariably match offer sheets, so they are rarely presented, and both Winnipeg and Columbus made it clear they would do likewise if someone tried to sheet their young defensemen. If, on the off chance, an offer sheet is successful, the team losing the player is entitled to compensation in the form of draft picks. Using last years numbers provided by the NHL, that could be -- depending on the value of the offer sheet -- up to four first-round picks for a contract in excess of $9.1 million annually.Unrestricted free agents (UFAs) are, of course, players who have no restrictions on them based on their age, their NHL experience and the fact their current contracts are at an end. Teams who extend their own players before noon ET on July 1, when the market opens, have the option of offering term up to eight years. After the start of free agency, teams may only offer up to seven-year terms, which was a factor in Steven Stamkos signing an eight-year extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.The NHL will put out a list of all free agents on Friday, and it may include more than 200 names of unrestricted free agents -- as was the case last year. But that number includes dozens of players who are not playing in the NHL but who havent officially retired or who are playing in Europe or elsewhere. The actual number of players actively looking for NHL jobs is more like 80 to 90, and that includes many who will end up signing two-way deals with NHL clubs or ultimately signing American Hockey League contracts.Any team, in theory, can sign any of the unrestricted free agents who go to market. But the two things that teams need if theyre going to be successful in attracting top-end free agents are real money and salary-cap space. In general, you can figure out which teams have more cap space by inverting the standings. Poor teams more often than not have lots of cap space because theyve shed veteran talent and have more players who are on entry-level deals. Thats why teams like Toronto, Tampa Bay, the Chicago Blackhawks, the?Los Angeles Kings?and the?New York Rangers? have less spending flexibility.Some teams have had to or will have to shed salary in order to be active in adding free agents or trading for players who have term left on their contracts. Thats why Chicago dealt Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen in the days leading up to free agency and why you hear names like Rick Nash emanating from the Rangers camp. New York needs to free up space to make moves going forward. The fact that the salary cap will go up only marginally next season, to $73 million from $71.4 million this past season, puts even more pressure on those teams that regularly spend to the cap.Which teams will make a splash?So which teams are under the most pressure to make some noise during the free-agent period?The Rangers are certainly one franchise that needs an overhaul of some sort after being bounced in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Boston Bruins have missed the playoffs two straight years and, to put it charitably, are in a state of transition. To put it less charitably, they seem adrift. They need help along the blue line and up front.Even though the Edmonton Oilers made a stir Wednesday when they acquired?Adam Larsson from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for former No. 1 draft pick Taylor Hall, the Oilers need more help along the blue line. Edmonton is expected to make a serious run at forward Milan Lucic, who played for current Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli in Boston and won a Cup there.The Detroit Red Wings have cap room and had been expected to make a play for Stamkos. They could now turn their attention to some of the other forwards on the market (more on that below), but Red Wings GM Ken Holland also needs to find out what his current core of young players is capable of following the departure of Pavel Datsyuk and the wake of waning productivity from captain Henrik Zetterberg. Detroit will move into a new building in October of 2017, and thats when the team needs to be arcing upward -- so Holland may be more conservative this time around because hes keeping his powder dry for next summer.Forwards thinkingSo, whos left now that Stamkos has decided to remain in Tampa?Lets look at an interesting forward group that, while diminished by Stamkos absence, remains deep and talented. Kyle Okposo will get a long look from teams seeking a top-six winger with grit and skill. Hes used to playing with John Tavares on Long Island and will be a good fit pretty much anywhere.Leadership skills will be part of the allure for players like former Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd and Troy Brouwer, who is?coming off an excellent spring for the Western Conference finalist St. Louis Blues. And what about St. Louis captain David Backes, who is likewise coming off a strong playoff run and will demand a lot of attention as a free agent?If theres concern about signing these types of players its in extending too much term for someone whose productivity may decline over time because he plays such a demanding, physical game. Lucic fits into this hard-nosed category as well. Loui Eriksson, coming off a stellar season in Boston, will be attractive to teams looking for a solid two-way winger. One player were curious about is Mikkel Boedker, who has tremendous speed and good skill but has never really lit it up offensively or hit the 20-goal mark. The 26-year-old Dane could provide good value.On the blue line, fewer options exist now that players like Keith Yandle (who signed a 7-year, $44.45 million deal with the Florida Panthers) and Alex Goligoski (acquired by the Arizona Coyotes) and Dmitry Kulikov (Buffalo) have been moved. And, in the case of Goligoski and Yandle, signed to long-term deals.Jason Demers is being courted by Edmonton. Brian Campbell would like to return to Chicago and there appears to be a fit there. Dan Hamhuis is an interesting under-the-radar type who was in demand at the trade deadline but didnt end up moving from Vancouver -- and is now ready to hit the market. He was a member of Canadas Olympic team in Sochi in 2014 and has lots of upside in spite of some injury issues over the past several seasons. Also look for possible movement on a couple of defensemen with a year left on their respective current deals, St. Louis?Kevin Shattenkirk?and the Anaheim Ducks?Cam Fowler. Mitchell Marner Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Jake Gardiner Jersey . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. http://www.leafsauthority.com/authentic-zach-hyman-maple-leafs-jersey/ . LOUIS -- St. Johnny Bower Jersey . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Eric Fehr Jersey . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. CALGARY -- After running for 172 yards and two touchdowns on Friday, Jon Cornish said he wished he could have done more. Cornish led the Calgary Stampeders to a 44-32 win over the visiting B.C. Lions on Friday in front of 26,625 fans at McMahon Stadium. "For me, I was really moved at the beginning of the game seeing the turnout, seeing how many people really believed in the Stampeders," Cornish said. "They could be working on their homes. They could be fixing other peoples homes, but they came out for the game tonight." A day before the game, Cornish pledged to donate $10 for every yard he gained against the Lions to the Canadian Red Cross for the flood relief efforts in Southern Alberta. In addition to his 172 yards on the ground, he added 20 more through the air. "Im going to round it up to $2,000," Cornish said. "I wish I could do more. For us as Stampeders the No. 1 thing we can do for this city is win and give this city something to rally behind." Calgary (1-0) head coach and general manager John Hufnagel also commended his offensive line for opening up holes for Cornish. "We were able to move the line of scrimmage a bit, open some holes up for Jon, and he ran very hard, showed excellent quickness, excellent cutting ability, secured the football," Hufnagel said. "He did everything you want your running back to do." Quarterback Drew Tate completed 19-of-27 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Joe West and one to Maurice Price. "Drew, I thought, played a very solid game," Hufnagel said. "He made some great throws, his receivers made some great plays for him and thats what you need. He was on top of his game, good reads." Rene Paredes kicked a pair of field goals for the Stamps. B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay threw three touchdown passes to Emmanuel Arceneaux, Courtney Taylor and Shawn Gore. Cord Parks also returned an interception for a touchdown for the Lions (0-1), while Tim ONeill kicked a field goal and a single. "They got after us early," said Lulay, who completed 21-of-36 passes for 283 yards. "They put us in a big hole that was tough to overcome. Its hard to do that when youre on the road playing a good football game. These guys were playing inspired, you could tell." On Calgarys first possession, Tate engineered a nine-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass to Price. Later in the first quarter, the Stamps took advantage of a costly turnover by B.C. when Lulay couldnt handle a hard snap by centre Matt Norman. The ball bounced off of Lulays leg and into the hands of Calgary linebacker Juwan Simpson, who recovered the fumble to give the Stampeders possession on thhe Lions 32-yard line.dddddddddddd Three plays later, Tate tossed a perfect 12-yard pass to West in the end zone to give Calgary a 14-0 lead. "Full credit to them, they took it to us," said B.C. coach Mike Benevides. "They got the momentum. They kept running downhill and put us in too big of a deficit. We cant make mistakes against a good football team like that." Another botched snap by B.C. led to a safety for the Stampeders before the end of the first quarter. With the Lions in punt formation, Tim Cronk snapped the ball over ONeills head. ONeill raced back to recover the ball and then kicked it out of his own end zone. The sloppy play continued early in the second quarter when Calgary defensive back Derrius Brooks picked off an errant pass by Lulay before B.C. safety J.R. Larose responded a short time later by recovering a fumble out of the hands of Calgary receiver Nik Lewis. Lulay then tossed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Arceneaux before ONeill missed the convert. The Stampeders capped off a seven-play, 73-yard drive with a one-yard TD run by Cornish. Late in the second quarter, Larry Taylor had an impressive 34-yard punt return to get Calgary back into Lions territory. B.C.s Rolly Lumbala also took an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play to give the Stampeders a first down on the Lions 14-yard line. Two plays later, Tate threw a 12-yard TD pass to West to give Calgary a 31-6 lead heading into the half-time intermission. Lulay started the second half in fine fashion by leading B.C. on an eight-play, 82-yard drive that culminated in a 17-yard TD pass to Taylor. Parks then intercepted an errant pass by Tate and ran it back 45 yards into the end zone to cut the Stampeders lead to 31-21. On Calgarys next drive, Cornish ran the ball five times for 36 yards including an 11-yard sprint into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. ONeill kicked a 40-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter before Paredes responded with back-to-back field goals from 39 and 27 yards respectively. Lulay tossed a seven-yard TD pass to Gore with one second left in the game before Nick Moore caught a pass from the B.C. quarterback in the end zone for a two-point convert to round out the scoring. Notes: Canadian Red Cross representatives collected donations for the flood relief effort at the game, while Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was on hand during the pre-game ceremonies to recognize the work of volunteers and first-responders during the crisis. ... Calgary linebacker Keon Raymond missed the game with an ankle injury. ... While the Lions won two-of-three games against the Stamps in the regular season, Calgary responded with a 34-29 road win over B.C. in the CFLs West Final on Nov. 18. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '