You Can't Replace Grabbo

The top scoring UFAs this season:

Name	Team	GP	G	A	PTS
Teemu Selanne	ANA	48	15	30	45
Ray Whitney	PHX	50	15	27	42
Zach Parise	NJ	48	15	25	40
Olli Jokinen	CGY	50	12	26	38
Jaromir Jagr	PHI	40	12	22	34
Ryan Smyth	EDM	49	16	18	34
Dennis Wideman	WSH	48	9	25	34
Jiri Hudler	DET	49	15	17	32
Mikhail Grabovski	TOR	43	16	16	32
Shane Doan	PHX	50	15	15	30
Kyle Wellwood	WPG	50	9	21	30
Milan Hejduk	COL	51	12	17	29
Nicklas Lidstrom	DET	49	10	18	28
Alexander Semin	WSH	44	12	16	28
Ryan Suter	NAS	47	5	23	28
Saku Koivu	ANA	40	9	17	26
Petr Sykora	NJ	48	12	14	26
Tuomo Ruutu	CAR	51	15	11	26
Kyle Brodziak	MIN	49	13	13	26
Todd Bertuzzi	DET	43	10	15	25
Matt Carle	PHI	48	4	21	25
Jason Arnott	STL	48	12	12	24
Chris Kelly	BOS	47	14	10	24
Lee Stempniak	CGY	50	12	12	24
Steve Sullivan	PIT	49	9	14	23

*numbers listed are from Jan 31, 2012 prior to games being played.

This was the UFA scoring race before the start of hockey tonight. Mikhail "Birthday Boy" Grabovski added to his solid totals with a 2 goal, 1 assist night. Good enough to move him past Wideman, Hudler, Smyth and tie him with Jagr, at the time I wrote this. That puts Grabovski 5th in points, and gives him the lead in goal scorers. Olli Jokinen is the only center with better numbers, and Parise is the only player in his 20s with better numbers.

There isn't a replacement for him available this summer, and his offensive numbers are consistent with the players that seem to be deemed star forwards.

In fact here are a few comparisons:
Rick Nash: 17 goals/33 points
Ryan Getzlaf: 8 goals/34 points
Paul Stastny: 13 goals/30 points
Bobby Ryan: 19 goals/31 points

A few other notes from the above table:
1. A lot of those people are really old
2. What the hell is Wellwood doing there?
3. If Grabbo isn't resigned then Ryan Suter better be a Leaf on July 1st.
4. Zach Parise is going to sign a bat shit crazy contract and thankfully it's unlikely to be coming from Toronto
5. Fuck Lee Stempniak
6. I'm going to assume the Sabres make a stupid offer to Hudler
7. Besides Ryan Suter, Frans Neilsen, Barret Jackman, and Josh Harding it's worth sitting out Free Agency
8. Size up front isn't going to be addressed through Free Agency.
9. Semin will be a huge disappointment for someone
10. Lee Stempniak really is an asshole.