The Florida Panthers spent big money in the summer

ATLANTA - The Braves pulled off another trade in their busy off-season Friday, dealing right-handed pitchers David Hale and Gus Schlosser to the Colorado Rockies for minor league catchers Jose Briceno and Chris ODowd. Ray Bourque Bruins Jersey .Hale pitched 45 games for Atlanta last season, going 4-5 with a 3.30 ERA, and had been expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation.He became expendable after the Braves reached agreement on a minor league contract with left-hander Eric Stults, according to his agent, Joe Bick. Stults will be invited to the major league camp.The 35-year-old Stults started 65 games for San Diego over the last two seasons, going 8-17 with a 4.30 ERA in 2014. He will compete for the fifth spot in the rotation with hard-throwing prospect Michael Foltynewicz, acquired from Houston, and perhaps veterans Wandy Rodriguez and Chien-Ming Wang, both looking to come back from injuries that sidetracked their careers.The Braves also finalized a $4 million, one-year contract with Jonny Gomes. The deal, which includes a vesting option, was completed Friday after the free-agent outfielder passed a physical.Gomes played for Boston and Oakland in 2014, hitting only .234 with a career-low six homers. He could be part of a left field platoon in Atlanta with former Yankees prospect Zoilo Almonte.Schlosser worked 15 games in Atlanta with a 7.64 ERA.The 22-year-old Briceno played in Class A Asheville, hitting 12 homers with 50 RBI in 84 games. He also threw out 44 per cent of attempted basestealers.ODowd split the 2014 season between Class A Modesto and Double-A Tulsa, combining to hit .271 with five homers and 48 RBIs. He is a son of former Rockies general manager Dan ODowd.Under new general manager John Hart, the Braves have undergone a major overhaul this off-season, dealing away three of their top hitters — Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis — while receiving mostly prospects in return.Atlanta is coming off a disappointing 79-83 season that cost former GM Frank Wren his job. Hart has said rebuilding the farm system is one of his top priorities. Cam Neely Bruins Jersey . The Argentina striker has not played for the Premier League leaders since September when he refused to warm up during a Champions League match and only returned last week from a three-month unauthorized absence at home. City coach Roberto Mancini had initially told Tevez he would never play for City again after his act of public insubordination, but later softened his stance and only asked for an apology. Bruins Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames are spoilers once again. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/phil-esposito-hockey-jersey/ . And fellow Leaf, Jake Gardiner, hiking in Whistler.The Florida Panthers had money to spend in free agency, and loaded up, bringing in four forwards, one defenceman and a goaltender on the first day of free agency. Numbers Game looks at the Panthers big first day of free agency. The Panthers Get: LW Jussi Jokinen, C Dave Bolland, C, Derek MacKenzie, RW Shawn Thornton, D Willie Mitchell, G Al Montoya. The Florida Panthers headed into the offseason giving general manager Dale Tallon more financial freedom than theyve had in recent seasons, and he wasted no time spending that money, with mixed results. Jokinen, 31, had a strong season playing on Evgeni Malkins wing in Pittsburgh, scoring 57 points in 81 games, the second-best point total of his career. That situation is not a luxury that Jokinen can count on in Florida where, despite their young talent, they have no one in Malkins class, but Jokinen has shown that he can be a productive contributor with solid possession numbers when playing with skilled players. Slot him alongside young Finn Aleksander Barkov and that has the makings of a solid two-way line and maybe Jokinen isnt likely to be scoring 50-plus points in Florida, where no one scored even 40 points last season, but Jokinen can be a useful player for at least three of the four years for which he signed, at a total cost of $16-million. Then, things got silly. Coming into free agency, there was a natural connection to make between Dave Bolland and Panthers GM Dale Tallon, given their time together in Chicago, but Bolland is a third-line centre so its really hard to justify the kind of money and term that was given. Bolland signed a five-year, $27.5-million contract, and its just flat-out outrageous. Bolland played well with the Maple Leafs last season, at least he did when he was healthy, but hes missed 142 games over the past five seasons and is coming off a season in which he missed 59 games due to a sliced ankle tendon. At his best, Bolland has been productive, scoring more than 35 points three times, and handled a lot of tough assignments in terms of zone starts and quality of competition, but assuming that hes up to that level now, after his latest injury, seems a tad optimistic and paying money and term that is more typical of a top-six forward is just really difficult to digest. For a checking centre, he also hasnt been very good at limiting shots against while killing penalties. Sure, the Panthers are nowhere near the cap now, and maybe they never will be, but its hard to take a team from being also-rans to contenders simply by paying a checking centre a boatload of money. By contrast, Paul Stastny and Thomas Vanek were the only two free agent forwards to come at a higher cap hit and neither one ssigned for five years. Zdeno Chara Bruins Jersey. They didnt get as much term as Dave Bolland. MacKenzie, a 33-year-old checking centre, has been a reliable fourth-liner for the Blue Jackets. He had a career-high 237 hits last season and in four seasons with the Blue Jackets, hes won 54.9% of his draws. Signed for three years and $3.9-million, MacKenzie gives the Panthers good depth down the middle and it looks like Bolland and MacKenzie are going to bump prospects like Brandon Pirri and Vince Trocheck down the depth chart, presumably right out of the Top 12 unless they can fit on the wing. Shawn Thornton is a tough guy whose game has been declining in recent seasons. Hes fought 90 times over the past six seasons, but thats about what the 36-year-old (who turns 37 later this month) can do at this point. Whether thats worth more than a million dollars per season or multiple years probably has different answers for teams that arent trying to reach the salary floor. After missing the entire 2012-2013 season, Willie Mitchell had a nice comeback season, playing more than 20 minutes a night, a crucial part of the Kings second Stanley Cup win in the past three seasons. Hes 37, so not the fleetest afoot, but Mitchell has size, strength and adds a shot of reliability to the Panthers defence. In Mitchell and Brian Campbell (at least for now), the Panthers have a couple veterans that could show the way for first overall draft pick Aaron Ekblad and Mitchell, while a decent addition gets a nice payday -- two years, $8.5-million -- to eat some minutes on the Panthers blueline. Backup goaltender Al Montoya is a 29-year-old who posted a .920 save percentage in 28 games with the Jets last season. Trouble is, in the prevous two seasons, his save percentage was .894, so its not really reasonable to expect more than Montoyas career average which is .910. Adding Montoya would figure to mark the end of Dan Ellis time in Florida, though it may be difficult to find a taker for a 34-year-old coming off the worst season of his career. The Florida Panthers spent big money in the summer of 2011, overpaying a bunch of veterans in order to reach the salary floor, and this year has a similar feel to it. The issue for the Panthers is that they are a franchise that has reached the postseason once in the past 13 years; they dont need to overpay free agents as much as they need to build a stable base of talent. With all the money the Panthers spent on July 1, theres not much reason to believe any of those players are going to be long-term answers. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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