So the trade deadline came and went. At 3 PM, I was on the ledge, a few hours later I was enjoying a beer on a lawn chair still on the ledge, and by now, I've packed up my stuff in my '96 Mazda Protege and am headed away from the ledge until this time next year.

Anyways, J.J's CSSI from today kind of made my mind wander towards this year's free agency, specifically in retaining our own guys. It was his mention of Abdelkader as a -0.5 overall, and it made me think about his season vs. Helm's as they're both RFA this year and will no doubt be retained.

The question is for how much?

Personally, I think Helm is the far more valuable player. He kills penalties with great effectiveness, he has moves like Jagger (and Jagr), but his hands are carved from stone and so, he never can become the Mike Richards type of player I thought he would after his play from last year.

Abdelkader is useful in his own right. It's pretty clear the guy is a 10-goal player who plays a physical game more than most forwards on the team. Oftentimes he's running around though, and really should start simplifying his game soon to be totally effective. Also, he's a "fighter" in that he usually gets beat up in fights, but at least drags the opponents best players off the ice for five minutes.

So what say you WIIM community? Guess the cap hit and the term each player gets.

My guesses:

Darren Helm: $1.1 million/4 years

Justin Abdelkader: $950,000/2 years

Both get raises, but neither breaks the bank.

(Also, in looking at Cap Geek today, I realized that we currently have more cap space than the Blue Jackets, right now. Scot Howson is a genius!)