NHL Free-Agent Frenzy Lives Up to Its Name

The NBA and NFL lockouts might have caused sports fans to think that owners were finally putting their collective feet down when it comes to exorbitant player salaries, but the NHL and its annual "Free-Agent Frenzy" has chimed in to remind us that the trend of overpaying for mediocre talent is alive and well. Beginning Friday at noon, free agents were allowed to sign new deals, and there was no shortage of teams willing to pay up for a variety of reasons. Philadelphia, who entered the day only $8 million under the NHL's hard salary cap ($64.3 million), aggressively stole former Penguins forwards Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot away from Pittsburgh for about $5 million, and were rumored to be conducting negotiations into the night with Brad Richards, the prized player of this year's free-agent class. On the other end of the salary cap spectrum, the Florida Panthers, whose payroll sat around $20 million prior to last Friday's draft, went on a spending spree that saw...