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Could flawed free agents Cooke, Jokinen or Demitra help your team?

Matt Cooke Dominic Moore

Montreal Canadiens’ Dominic Moore falls in front of Pittsburgh Penguins Matt Cooke during the second period of Game 3 of an NHL Eastern Conference semifinal hockey series Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

AP

Pierre LeBrun provided a nice little roundup of free agent talk earlier today. I thought I’d expand/provide my two cents on a few of the items. Let’s do it in list form, OK?

Olli Jokinen

The second I read Jokinen’s name, I thought “Obviously, he’s going to the KHL.” Except apparently the oft-derided center’s agent claims that he wants to stay in the NHL. Interesting.

Few players have seen their stock drop as precipitously as Olli Jokinen’s since he left the Florida Panthers. If I’m a fan of a contender, I’m not so sure I would want him on my team ... even at a bargain basement price. He seems like the exact type of guy who will lose every puck battle in the playoffs.

Pavol Demitra

Now, Demitra could be very interesting, but only if he’s willing to play for glory and not for money. Years ago, he was known as an explosive forward with the injury history of Wile E. Coyote. He had a disastrous run in Vancouver, though. If it weren’t for an impressive run in the Vancouver Olympics, I’d have some serious doubts of Demitra being NHL-relevant.

Could the somewhat soft but undeniably skilled forward be a nice, cheap option for a team that’s weak on the wings? His fragility means that his team would almost need to consider him gravy, though. He’d be an interesting gamble, as long as the given team isn’t pushing too many poker chips to the middle of the metaphorical table.

Matt Cooke

It sounds like the Pittsburgh Penguins are struggling to bring back the villainous Cooke. He was a nice fit for the Penguins, as beyond his often-past-the-edge hits, he was a great penalty killer, ferocious forechecker and could put a tiny bit of offense up as well.

Now, he’s not going to win any popularity contests, but if his money demands are reasonable he could be a great fit for a team looking for some edge. Maybe he’d fit in with, say, the San Jose Sharks?

LeBrun discusses Matt Cullen, Andy Sutton and a few other under-the-radar free agents in his article. The above three are the most interesting mentioned, though. Do you think your team would benefit from adding Jokinen, Cooke or Demitra? Share your thoughts in the comments.