Even after NHL teams committed over $600 million in contracts on the opening day of free agency, there was still plenty of money left to spend for those willing to jump in.On Saturday, the Florida Panthers signed defenseman Jason Demers to a $22.5 million, five-year deal as they continued to overhaul their blue line. Florida isnt afraid to spend this offseason, as it showed in locking up top defenseman Aaron Ekblad on a $60 million, eight-year extension and trading for and signing Keith Yandle to a $44.45 million, seven-year contract.While others have hesitated to shell out long-term, big-money free agent deals, new Panthers general manager Tom Rowe has taken an aggressive approach with his group in win-soon mode. The Panthers made the playoffs and have what Rowe called the best group of young forwards in the league, led by Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau.Demers said it was a no-brainer for him to sign with the Panthers.I want to go somewhere where I have a chance to win, Demers said on a conference call Saturday. They got a lot of young talent, and we can be very competitive for a lot of years. Theyve been building toward this the past two or three years. Its an exciting time to be in Florida right now.Being right at the start of a Stanley Cup window made the Panthers spenders. Top Cup contenders such as the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals have made low-budget tweaks early in free agency while the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers went for it.On Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Roman Polak to a one-year deal, and the Islanders signed winger Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau to a one-year deal.Every teams in a different spot and theres different reasons for everybody to make decisions out here, said Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill, who signed defenseman Dan Hamhuis to a $7.5 million, two-year deal Friday.Some teams are geared to go for the Stanley Cup, some are rebuilding, so it all depends where youre at. It depends on the free agents, the ages of them. Theres so many different factors that go into play. In the end you hope youre making the right decisions.The need for big contracts scared some GMs away from the top free agents and led them to consider other options. The St. Louis Blues werent willing to go to five years to bring back captain David Backes, so the 32-year-old center signed for $30 million with the Bruins.After also letting right wing Troy Brouwer leave for $18 million over four years from the Calgary Flames, Blues GM Doug Armstrong looked at free agent signings around the league and preferred to stay out of most of the top action because of a fear of what it would do long term.Theres a constant dribble of buyouts every year and its always players signed on this date, Armstrong said, referring to July 1.Philosophically you dont want to be signing players thinking theres a greater percentage chance that theyre going to be bought out. And Im not saying that about our two (departing) players. Im just saying in general term scares me.Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said the same thing after signing only one-year deals with Russian winger Alexander Radulov ($5.75 million) and backup goalie Al Montoya ($950,000). But thats not to say Bergevin played it safe considering he acquired Shea Weber for P.K. Subban in a swap of All-Star defensemen earlier in the week.After saying free agency can be a dangerous time, New York Islanders GM Garth Snow signed left wing Andrew Ladd to a $38.5 million, seven-year deal. The Sabres didnt throw as much caution to the wind with their $42 million, seven-year deal with Kyle Okposo, whos two years younger.We all worry about term in free agency, but he is a young free agent at 28, Buffalo GM Tim Murray said. We dont feel hes one of the guys that youre going to see a massive drop-off in his game.---AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York, contributed to this report. Air Max 270 Damen . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Günstige Air Max 270 Schweiz . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. http://www.schweizairmax270.ch/ . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Air Max 270 Schweiz . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Air Max 270 Herren Schweiz . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. In the New Orleans Saints win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12, Drew Brees completed 78 percent of his passing attempts for 310 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He was so efficient that even one extremely costly lost fumble deep in his own territory couldnt derail his performance, as he finished with an 89.4 total QBR, his second-best effort of the season behind an 89.9 against the Carolina Panthers in Week 6.Even at age 37, Brees continues to play at an exceptionally high level and is poised for one of the best seasons for a quarterback of his age or older since 2006, the first season we have QBR data for:It should be noted that while Tom Brady has been fantastic since his return from a four-game suspension, Brees has over 200 more plays this year than Brady (515 to 311). Maintaining a QBR as high as Bradys gets increasingly difficult the more plays he accumulates. Think of it like a hitter in baseball batting .400. Over a 10-at-bat stretch, its not so hard, but get to 100 ABs, and it becomes more difficult. And once you get to a seasons worth of at-bats, the task gets extremely difficult. This isnt to say Brady cant keep playing as efficiently as he currently is, just that there is a sizable difference in their number of plays.So how has Brees been able to consistently play so well, even as he gets past what are typically a QBs peak years?The biggest reason is that he is great at avoiding negative plays. Over 62 percent of Brees plays this season end up in poositive expected points?for him, highest in the league.dddddddddddd Remember, when we calculate a players QBR,?we divide credit?on the play. So it is possible for the QB to have a positive play for himself while the team overall is a negative -- think a receiver fumbling downfield after a completion. These plays dont occur often, but this analysis would still show such a play as a positive for the QB, rather than a negative.This trend isnt isolated to just this season. Brees is almost always near the top of the leaderboard among qualified quarterbacks, and if he maintains his ratio so far in 2016, hell end up with three of the five best seasons in this measure since 2006.Brees finished Week 12 with 66 percent of positive plays (league average so far this season is 55 percent), extending his streak of games with at least a 63 percent rate to seven games, during which time the Saints have gone 4-3, crawling to near playoff contention. ESPNs Football Power Index?currently gives the Saints a 19.1 percent chance to make the playoffs, but if they can defeat the Detroit Lions this week, FPI would give them a 23.5 percent chance. A loss, however, would drop them down to just a 4.5 percent chance to make the playoffs. To stay in the hunt, Brees will need to continue to be his ever-efficient self.For more from ESPN Analytics, visit the ESPN Analytics Index.? ' ' '