A graphical look at the first week of NHL free agent spending

In the two days after the NHL's free agency period opened on July 1, over $400 million was spent on players. We can mostly thank Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon for that as he overhauled his roster with a few overpayments on his way to reach and surpass the salary cap floor.

But Tallon wasn't alone in his big spending. The Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, and Columbus Blue Jackets were the top four teams shelling out big bucks during the first week of free agency.

Puck Buddy Justin Megahan of Every Facet of the Game created an infographic that gives a team-by-team look at unrestricted and restricted free agent spending for the 236-year, $548.125 million in contracts that were handed out between July 1 and July 8:

Megahan didn't include every free agent signing, instead focusing mostly on one-way contracts with a few exceptions.

"I did not count 2-way contracts with a few exceptions, like Brian Elliott's deal with St. Louis, since unless they sign someone else he's slated to be a back-up."

Now that we've entered Week 2 of free agency, there'll still be some big spending left to do when Steven Stamkos, Shea Weber, Zach Parise, and Drew Doughty eventually sign new deals; but the rest of the free agent crop doesn't appear like it'll bring in huge dollars and surely there's no room left on the Panthers roster for Tallon to add to, right?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/A-graphical-look-at-the-first-week-of-NHL-free-a?urn=nhl-wp8915

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