The list of available free-agent talent in the National Hockey League is getting very thin as the offseason continues. Currently there are 26 of the 30 teams with at least $1 million of cap space to play with to acquire a low risk, high reward type of player. One player that is certainly making news around the free-agency rumor mill is Bloomington, Minnesota native Peter Mueller.
As many of you know, Mueller, a 2006 8th overall pick of the Phoenix Coyotes, had shown a lot of promise as a young player in the Western Hockey League; playing in 103 regular season games he amassed 47 goals and 89 assists with the Everett Silvertips. Ranked 6th through the “Final Central Scouting Rankings”, Mueller went to the desert and contributed quite nicely. In 81 games with the Coyotes, he posted 22 goals and 32 assists in his rookie campaign.
Although Mueller did have a good rookie season offensively, his sophomore season was the start of a downward spiral in his career, due to lack of offensive numbers and frustration with the Coyotes organization. He later requested a trade ultimately getting his wish being traded with center Kevin Porter to the Colorado Avalanche, with Wojtek Wolski going to Phoenix.
With the trade, a determined Mueller made his Avalanche debut (March 12th, 2010) scoring a goal in a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Playing in 15 games for Colorado he scored 9 goals and 11 assist which was much better than the 54 games he was a Coyote where he posted 4 goals and 13 assists. It seemed as though there was an issue on and off the ice with the Coyotes organization, and that parting ways was the best move for Mueller.
On September 10th, 2010 Mueller and the Avalanche agreed on a two year, $4 million dollar deal and things now started to seem like a great fit for him in the rockies, but late in the 2010 season, Mueller suffered a concussion from a hard check by defenseman Rob Blake. His time in Colorado was filled with post-concussion syndrome symptoms and other injuries, which forced the Avalanche organization to not give Mueller a qualifying offer and on July 1st, 2012 he became a free agent.
Ten days later the Florida Panthers came calling for the services of Mueller, signing him to a one-year, $1.725 million dollar contract in hopes of him again being an offensive producer, but in the shortened 43 game season due to the labor dispute, Mueller failed to get on a roll with the Panthers only posting 8 goals and 9 assists.
The Panthers could not come to a deal with Mueller and the rest of the NHL seemed to also show absolutely no interest in the risk of signing him, so Mueller opted to play overseas in the Swiss League, signing a one-year deal with the Kloten Flyers. In 49 games with Kloten, Mueller seemed to have regained that once known scoring touch, posting 24 goals and 22 assists, leading the Swiss League in goals, and finishing second in points.
With the 26-year-old Mueller’s recent success in Switzerland, he has stated an interest in returning to the National Hockey League saying ,“As long as the season is on, you can’t negotiate with NHL teams, so the Kloten Flyers and I have our cards on the table, so there have been no discussions about a contract extension so far”.
The question remains if any team in the NHL would want to take a “risk” like this with a player trying to get back to form with, in my opinion, inconsistent offensive numbers. Mueller is rumored to be asking for $1 million to return which could net interest from 26 teams with salary cap availability. I have heard teams like the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in the services of a potential depth player like Mueller. I find the Philadelphia Flyers interest funny, because the Flyers are currently $3 million over the cap.
This is certainly the interesting aspect about running a sports organization and the “gamble” that many teams make to see if they can get good value, or an outright loss and waste of time. In my opinion I would like to see Mueller catch on with a team to see if he can find that game he once had as a sought-after 6th ranked forward in the Central Scouting and the numbers he posted in his rookie season.
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