From John Ferguson Jr. to Cliff Fletcher (part II) to Brian Burke to Dave Nonis, the annual free agent frenzy has been nothing short of a recurring nightmare for Maple Leaf general managers (recent) past and present. Each and every July 1st signing has brought with it excitement and all too large expectations only to fizzle into one pricey disappointment after another. Now helming another rebuild in Calgary, Burke often described the day in disastrous terms for the NHLs management community, decrying the slew of exorbitant contracts with "unrealistic values and unrealistic term…that bite you right in the butt at some point". Value, all too important under the confines of a cap system and best found in homegrown products, is never harder to find than on July 1st – a day that sees the contracts get larger and sillier with each passing year. It began in earnest for the Leafs shortly after the outset of the cap era in the summer of 2006. John Ferguson Jr., fighting for a job that would soon run its course, plugged two holes on the Toronto defence that July with a pair of expensive free agent additions. Formerly a member of Tampas Cup winning squad in 2004, Pavel Kubina was inked for four years and $20 million and Hal Gill, once a towering defender in Boston but far less effective under the free-flowing rules of the league post-lockout, raked in more than $6 million for three years. Both were overpaid from the outset – especially in the case of Kubina, one of many to struggle under the weight of an onerous contract – and both were eventually traded. 2007 Jason Blake came next. Scoring more frequently as an Islander in 2006 than at any other point in a 13-year career, Blake – age 33 – signed with the Leafs for five years and $20 million in the last significant move of the Ferguson Jr. era. Blake, predictably, could not live up to the expectations of such a large contract, never coming close to 40 goals again; he was dealt to Anaheim alongside Vesa Toskala for J.S. Giguere in 2010. 2008 Mostly forgotten now, but of considerable damage to the organization during a brief 10-month tenure, Fletcher continued the free agent plight in 2008. Maybe even more stunning now than it was then, Fletcher handed former Avalanche defender Jeff Finger, he of 94 games of NHL experience, four years and $14 million. Finger played 62 forgettable games in a Leaf uniform, was eventually buried in the minors, never to be heard from again. Joining Finger in the free agent trot that day was Niklas Hagman, a Finnish winger who scored 27 goals the year prior in Dallas. Hagman also cashed in under Fletcher, lured for four years at a bloated $12 million. Though he scored 42 goals in two seasons with the Leafs, Hagman was consistently inconsistent, soon to be dealt to Calgary in the famed Dion Phaneuf trade. 2009 Still months from pulling the trigger on the noisiest (and most controversial) move of his busy Toronto tenure – the hotly debated Phil Kessel trade – Burke sought a big and ultimately failed splash in his first summer as the Leafs front man. It was all about truculence then and truculence he got. There were the four years and $4 million pitched to former Rangers heavyweight, Colton Orr; five long years and $22.5 million to Mike Komisarek; three years at just over $11 million for Francois Beauchemin. Orr lingered as a mostly unused tough guy for Ron Wilson before being briefly banished to the minors (he eventually returned to the NHL). Komisarek, a step or two slow for the speedier new game, tumbled quickly under the burden of a deal he could never live up to and was bought out by the organization last summer. Beauchemin eventually found his game, but not in Toronto. He returned to the Ducks in the Jake Gardiner-Joffrey Lupul swap, finishing fourth in the 2013 Norris Trophy voting. 2010 Still trying to fill various holes through free agency, Burke added the veteran grinder Colby Armstrong from Pittsburgh the following summer (three years, $9 million). Armstrong never found much health as a Leaf though and preceded fellow free agent signee, Komisarek, on the buyout line. 2011 Tim Connolly recorded just 42 points in his final go-around in Buffalo, but still landed $9 million for two years in the summer of 2011. Connolly never hit the desired mark of No. 1 centre for the Leafs (he had 36 points in 70 games), was demoted to the Marlies after a year and is now out of the NHL. 2013 And then last summer there was David Clarkson, the first signee of Nonis as Leafs GM. In perhaps the worst deal of the aforementioned bunch, Clarkson landed in his hometown for seven years and more than $36 million on July 1st, 2013. Year 1 was an all-out nightmare and while theres every chance of a bounce-back of some kind in Year 2, his talents are unlikely to ever match the value of an incredibly burdensome contract. Clarkson was just the latest in a line of July 1st blunders. The fundamental flaw in continually swinging big in free agency is the lacking value the process ensures – players are almost always overvalued on Day 1 of the contract. As demonstrated yet again by the L.A. Kings earlier this summer, team building (and sustained success) is best accomplished through successful draft and development, not pricey spending on a mistake-laden day. And so while impending UFAs like Paul Statsny may appear to solve long-standing needs, Nonis (and Brendan Shanahan) would be wise to approach with caution. The answer, especially in Toronto, is almost never found on July 1st. Player Contract End Result Pavel Kubina 4 years, $20M Traded Hal Gill 3 years, $6.25M Traded Jason Blake 5 years, $20M Traded Jeff Finger 4 years, $14M Demoted Niklas Hagman 4 years, $12M Traded Colton Orr 4 years, $4M Demoted * Mike Komisarek 5 years, $22.5M Bought Out Francois Beauchemin 3 years, $11.4M Traded Colby Armstrong 3 years, $9M Bought Out Tim Connolly 2 years, $9M Demoted David Clarkson 7 years, $36.75M N/A Chris Martin Jersey . Authorities in Medina, Minn., released the details one day after Cunningham was jailed for another alleged incident with the woman he had been living with for the previous eight months. Cunningham had already been charged with felony domestic assault for allegedly choking the woman last week. Satchel Paige Jersey .J. - Pete Carroll is in support of the NFL looking further into whether medicinal marijuana could beneficial for players. https://www.cheapbraves.com/963o-chipper...sey-braves.html. TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted on Monday that Hemsky will be going to market as an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Rafael Ortega Jersey . According to the Red Wings Twitter feed, Zetterberg plans to practice with the team on Thursday and is aiming for a second round comeback. Chipper Jones Jersey . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery.MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens may catch a break tonight against the Washington Capitals as Alex Ovechkins game status remains uncertain for their Bell Centre match-up. Washington has played its last two games without the NHLs goal-scoring leader. The winger has 35 goals on the season and is battling a lower-body injury. TSNs John Lu reports that Ovechkin did extensive one-timers at end of his session at Saturdays morning skate. Lu reports that if Ovechkin feels good in the afternoon and during pre-game skate he should play. You can listen to the action on TSN Radio 690 beginning at 7pm et. Both clubs will be looking to snap losing streaks on Saturday night as each wraps up games on back-to-back nights. The Capitals are in the midst of a seven-game skid, dropping the last five in regulation. That has Washington now four points back of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Montreal is on a less-damaging three-game slide and also has lost six of its past nine. That has left the Canadiens tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division and six points behind the co-leading Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. Montreal is set to play two straight and six of its next seven at home after getting outscored 14-5 in losing the final three contests of a four-game road trip. The Canadiens capped the swing last night with a 4-1 setback in Detroit. Brendan Gallagher picked up the lone goal for the Canadiens, but Carey Price made just 22 saves in the setback. "Everyone is still confident in each other, its just a matter of getting to little details of the game and once you do that, the wins will start to come," Gallagher said Montreal is on iits longest losing streak since dropping a season-high four in a row from Nov.dddddddddddd 1-7 and saw Alexei Emelin depart in the latter stages of the third period on Friday night after getting hit by a shot. Things dont get any easier for the Habs in the opener of this residency as they have lost six in a row and nine of their last 12 at home to the Capitals. The Capitals were shut out 2-0 by Ottawa in their first game without Ovechkin on Tuesday, then dropped a 2-1 decision to the hosting New Jersey Devils to begin a five-game trip on Friday night. Jason Chimera provided the lone offense for the Capitals, but it didnt come until there was 9:50 left in the game. Washington has been held to one goal or fewer six times over its losing streak and is just 1-for-24 on the power play in the last eight games. Michael Neuvirth played well in defeat, making 28 saves, but the Caps failed to take advantage of the chances they had. "We had three short-handed breakaways and we didnt score," Caps coach Adam Oates lamented. "(Devils goaltender Cory Schneider) held them in and made the saves when he needed to. We made saves, too. You need execution, and the mistakes are not blatant, but its still the NHL and you get burned." Washington, on its longest losing streak since an 0-6-2 drought from Dec. 2-18, 2010, also lost center Mikhail Grabovski to a lower-body injury during the second period and he did not return. He will be a game-time decision against Montreal. The clubs split two meetings earlier this season in Washington, with the Caps winning their game in a shootout, and the Canadiens have lost nine of their last 11 overall in this series. ' ' '