The Puzzling Case Of Alex Tanguay, Free Agent

Alex Tanguay fired his negligent agent last week (but reported yesterday). It's about time, don't you think?

Agents aside, there has to be some reason teams have not been orderly forming a queue to Alex Tanguay's door. I'm not saying the agent doesn't hold some responsibility here. But let's be honest, if an NHL team wanted Tanguay, really wanted him, they'd have been able to get in touch, circumvent a trouble-maker agent.

So just what are the alternative explanations? I'm can't be sure, but let me speculate:

Tanguay himself is holding up the process

1) Tanguay is being picky
Not an uncommon trait among NHLers. You'll all remember Mats Sundin. Before him there were others. If a player isn't blown away on day 1 with a big offer, what is the rush to sign really? Alex may be waiting for the right situation to fall into place, turning other offers away as he goes. We do know this much:

"Tanguay est fort intéressé à jouer pour le Lightning. On avance qu'il serait prêt à accepter un contrat d'un an juste pour avoir la chance de jouer aux côtés des Vincent Lecavalier, Martin Saint-Louis et Steven Stamkos."

Tanguay's very interested in playing for the Lightning. It's suggested that he'd be prepared to take a one year contract for the chance to play with Lecavalier, St. Louis and Stamkos.

2) Tanguay's being unrealistic
The past few seasons, Tanguay has been a near $6 million man. It may be that he fancies himself the same player as when he signed that contract. While he's probably right about his own skills, what he has to understand is that money has been pouring out into other players' pockets over the time he's been waiting.

You know what, he does realise this. He's no fool. I doubt this is the problem.


A negligent agent botched the process

3) Tanguay's agent missed or didn't return calls
Given Sauve's history and experience, you'd have to think that he didn't. Whether he did or not is something that we'll never know. We do know this: he's been fired. Someone named Tanguay thinks Sauve has something to do with this puzzling situation.

4) Tanguay's agent gave bad advice
Perhaps it was agent not player who misjudged the temperature of the water here with salary and term demands. With the speed at which the Canadiens and other teams filled their needs this July, it wouldn't take much bad judgment to get you to July 4th in a very bad position.


NHL GMs don't prioritise players like Tanguay

5) NHL GMs are waiting for Heatley, Kessel and Zherdev
Tanguay doesn't exist in a vacuum. Heatley and Kessel both represent hotter commodities than Tanguay. It may be that GMs don't want to tie their hands with Tanguay when the could be in the Heatley/Kessel game. The same is true, though to a lesser extent, for players like Zherdev.


6) NHL GMs see him as a complementary player
Early in his career, it would have been fair to suspect that Tanguay was merely a complement to those around him, albeit a very good complement. Really though, I say this because this is what I saw this season from Tanguay. From my limited viewings, I saw him as a very good potentiator for Koivu and/or Kovalev; but he looked like he needed skill to produce.

Perhaps NHL GMs spotted this as well. It could well be that this is holding up the process. For one thing, Tanguay would need a player to be a complement to. No use Nashville or Florida signing him – because why would you spend millions to make a Legwand or a Weiss line slightly more effective. Tanguay is at his best when he potentiates the Sakics, Iginlas and Lecavaliers of the league, where a 25% boost translates into many points and even extra wins.

7) NHL GMs think he's hard work
Again, pure speculation. But one fact that led me to this is the time he had in Calgary. Tanguay did not thrive when he was asked to adopt that system and it may have hurt his value.

When it comes to the Canadiens, I couldn't help but notice that he was a lot chattier when Carbonneau was dispatched. I'm guessing he didn't appreciate Carbonneau's style either.

Two coaches in two years. To an outsider that sometimes looks like the constant in the equation might be the problem, rather than the variable.

8) NHL GMs don't think he's value for money
This goes a little bit with all of the above and will change depending on the salary and term demand. I don't think there's much argument to be made about him not being worth his salary from last season anymore. In a world where you can sign Hossa for a lesser cap hit and lock up Zetterberg for the same amount, Tanguay just doesn't belong there.

But how far has he slid on demands? Let's say to $4 million. Is it possible NHL GMs would balk at that too? I'd suggest that many would.



When it comes to it with Tanguay, I am truly puzzled. His continued availability is baffling to me because despite the fact I call him complementary and even needy, he is still just a very very skillful player.

Back in December, when we played the Flames, I wrote a little treatise on Tanguay. I think it holds today. Yes, he floats, he's dependent on others and is laid back; but hockey is a team game. There is room for an Alex Tanguay on almost any team (I still don't see Nashville, Toronto or Calgary, but the other 27).

His numbers, after all, don't lie. He has 193 career goals to go with 387 career assists in 659 games. Since the lockout, he's assisted on 173 goals over 300 games – a great clip – and shown he can adapt to play with players other than Forsberg and Sakic. His skills are much rarer than a 6'4" frame with no defensive awareness, and are what GMs should be using their money to buy. I can see why 2 consecutive GMs have opted for Cammalleri to replace him, but Brian Gionta and Todd Bertuzzi – these I can't justify...

When it comes to reality and why he's still in limbo, I think it's probably a little from column A, B and C. Tanguay probably needs to be less picky and demanding, his new agent must be better than his old for his case and NHL GMs must meet him in the middle.

If I were entering a pool as to the next player to be signed in this league, my money would be squarely on Tanguay.

The Elusive Power Forward

When was the first time we heard this term? Power forward? What does it mean?

I can vaguely remember my introduction to the concept of power forwarding around the time of Kevin Stevens. Kevin Stevens was a power forward – no other way to describe him. At that time in the NHL, one could throw around several names of forwards who one would put into the power bucket: Rick Tocchet, Cam Neely, Gary Roberts and an up-and-coming Keith Tkachuk were all the prototypes.


It seems that nowadays the lines are more blurred. Beyond Iginla, who is a productive power forward anymore?

There are big forwards. Are they power forwards? Oleg Kvasha wasn't, Nik Antropov isn't. No, power forward goes beyond size. As the name implies, the defining characteristic is power.

In a bit of lazy research for the piece (I never rely on Wikipedia in my day job), I came across this entry on the definition of power forward, at least as far as concerned editors and readers on the internet's encyclopedia are concerned. The definition is certainly worth a peek, but what interested me most was the ensuing list of current power forwards in the league:

* Dustin Penner, Edmonton Oilers
* Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
* Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes
* Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars
* Keith Tkachuk, St. Louis Blues.
* Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets
* Brendan Shanahan, NY Rangers
* Gary Roberts, Tampa Bay Lightning
* Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit Red Wings
* Mike Knuble, Philadelphia Flyers
* Johan Franzen, Detroit Red Wings
* Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
* Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins

Two things strike me as odd about this list:

1) It is very short

2) There are only 2 Europeans


This led me through a whole range of thoughts. The obvious knee-jerk reaction is to criticise the make-up of the list itself (In a departure from my usual MO, I decided not to take this route).

Next, I found myself thinking about the definition that would lead one to posting an exclusive list that at once contains league MVP-types like Iginla and Lecavalier with virtual nobodies Lucic and Penner (I guess i couldn't resist chipping in on that front after all).

Ultimately, that led to a very short, and extremely uninteresting post (IMHO). The final stage of questioning has led me to the line of thinking that the power forward notion itself is outdated and even obsolete. The interesting part, I suppose, here is the factors that have led to this change over the past few years.


The passing of the power forward

There is no doubt that there once were power forwards in the league. There is no doubt that players like those famous names at the top of this post still skate in the NHL, and that there will always be players like that. However, what I think sets apart the "power forwards" that remain in the league is their talent – that is to say, they can do more than add power. Lecavalier is an all-around talent, Iginla can skate and shoot extremely well, Shanahan is a smart player.

In the past, specifically in the 1990s, there were forwards who could neither skate, nor pass particularly well – players who were happy to hack at a puck all night to get some goals. Todd Bertuzzi springs to mind.

These players were propagated by need. The league was in a new generation of defensive focus, together with better goaltenders with equipment almost twice as big as before. For years, plan A to score goals was to put a big man in the goalie's line of sight and send in a low shot. More than this though, the power forward was required to overcome the unbelievable level of hooking and obstruction that was being allowed to pass for hockey.

With the temporary implementation of the rules of hockey from the time of the lock-out up until present day, the need for power forwards has diminished. As smaller players are no longer hooked and held back, they can begin to show their own merits in the league out-competing many a power forward for a job. Incidentally, the "power forwards", never mistaken for the fleet of foot, also lamented the crack-down on hooking, as they were largely no longer capable of making any meaningful contribution at the defensive end of the ice either.

In addition to the change in rules, there has also been a general change in ethic across the NHL. The league is trying its utmost to make games flow better. Gone are breaks at every face off for the big oafs to rest. Going are opportunities to fight and intimidate. With them even more reasons to choose to employ an otherwise inadequately skilled hockey player.


The rise of the star player
Simultaneous with the extinction of the power forward (at least those with a dearth of skill) has been the rise of the all-rounder, the multi-purpose player. This is the rise of the star player. After all those years of GMs repeating the mantra of picking the best player, it seems to have rubbed off on coaches (well some, anyway).

The star players are the forwards that can be deployed in any game situation. They are the names at the top of the team scoring list. And they are the ones at the top of the ice time in all scenarios.

When I watch my Habs in important scoring situations I see Koivu, Kovalev and Higgins or Plekanec on the ice. If it's getting hairy at the end of the third and we need to hang on, strangely, its the same guys. What makes it strange is not that it is counter intuitive or anything, because playing the best players makes loads of sense to me on the level of intuition; but that it is something I am not used to after living through the trap years, the obstruction generation.

The rise of the star player is something that excites me. I think people around the league are generally excited about this too – that is unless your GM is still behind the times and signing the Bertuzzis of the league... Why wouldn't I be excited? Why wouldn't I want to watch Kovalev kill a penalty instead of Kostopoulos?

But how did this change come about?

To be perfectly honest, I am not entirely sure. If I were to venture a guess, I would say it has something to do with the quality of the young talent coming through into the league. Players like Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin just should never be on the bench. I think coaches with established players of similar ilk (your Kovalevs, Alfredssons, Zetterbergs) have been affirmed in thinking what they might have always thought about playing the best guys.

But, this of course has always happened when strong generations came through the league. That's why I think the other factor in play here is the general trend towards youth in the league. It's simple, I guess. Young legs can be asked to do more. What's more the old guys are being asked to compete with young legs and so are becoming fitter themselves (Chelios?)

A combination of talent and fitness doesn't sound like a mind-blowing concept, but the fact is that in this league it was, not even that long ago. The move to youth and as a consequence fitness shows huge promise for the game, in my opinion. And as time goes by and skilled players can no longer be shown up on fitness, then we should hopefully see more stars like Ovechkin and Zetterberg running amok.


What of the coveted power forward for the Habs?

As always I come home to the Habs in these thought journeys. When it comes to this elusive power forward we are always on the verge of signing, trading for, concocting in a lab in the Saguenay, I think the time has passed.

That is not to say I don't think we'll have big players – we will. However, I just don't think they'll be able to make the league, much less the resurgent Glorieux on the basis of size alone.

I think some of the prospects may well have been prototypical power forwards in the past, but ultimately if Latendresse and Pacioretty don't skate in the NHL, the Canadiens won't build a strategy around their stationary masses.

Similarly, I think the time has come to stop worrying about the statures of our top two centres. Basically they should be judged on the sum of what they can bring to a hockey game (if I were being my normal difficult self, I might also add that both Koivu and Plekanec have more power on the puck than most players 6 inches closer to the rafters anyway).

As with anything else, I will gladly take thee size as a bonus if everything else is equal though. Give me a bigger Saku, I won't complain. But, I'd still rather have Saku Koivu than his brother, even if he is smaller, because he is strong and creative on the puck despite what his biometrics would suggest, but he is also faster and has a better handle on how the game flows.


Anyway, the summer rolls on, the power forward continues to elude us, and I, for one, couldn't care less about that...