Free-agents may face waiting game

Never a unified group, NHL owners and general managers seem to be together in preventing player salaries from escalating more out of control this summer.

With the end of the collective bargaining agreement with players coming next summer, teams don't want to add more rich, multiyear contracts. So when the free agency period begins Tuesday, the big-name players will be watching the action for some time while the second and third tier players compete for limited cash.

"I think it may be a little like last year -- one or two guys might go that first day," Chicago Blackhawks general manager Mike Smith told The (Toronto) Globe and Mail.

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