from Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun,

Remember not so long ago when teams were camped out outside the Newport Sports Offices on July 1 like college recruiters, trying everything and anything to woo then-prized free agent Brad Richards to sign on their club’s dotted line?

Richards would end up giving the nod to the New York Rangers on July 2, 2011, over fellow bidders such as the Flames, Kings and Maple Leafs but not before Los Angeles went as far as presenting a video that included a cameo by Kobe Bryant on what a great place La-La-Land was to live.

Times have certainly changed since then.

No longer does Canada Day come with the splash associated with the arrival of free agency as the market is no longer saturated with the same level and depth of available talent.

Teams now are more intent on inking their foundation players to long-term deals, with the Ducks setting that trend with the lengthy mega-pacts signed a couple of years ago by Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. What’s resulted is mammoth deals such as those of Chicago’s dynamic duo of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, whose matching $10.5 million US cap hits next season will chew up 29% of the 2015-16 cap limit of $71.4 million US.

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