Well, July 1st is the start of free agency and things have started to heat up a little with buy out season and teams qualifying their restricted free agents. What do you think YOUR team is going to do? Being a Bruins fan, I think they are at the top of the list in the Marian Hossa sweepstakes. They have the cap room, he is very good friends with Zdeno and he had his best years production wise playing with Marc Savard... That said, I don't want them to sign him. He's too expensive IMO. I'd rather see them sign a defenseman (Brian Campbell) with that cash and have some left over to lock up some of the youngsters a year or two from now. Another option is Liles from Colorado (good PP quarterback, fills a need) or Ryan Malone from Pittsburgh (big body to replace Glen Murray, productive, good leader, young). It should be fun.
Agreed on Hossa, Campbell, Liles or Malone. We'll see how astute Chiarelli is with regards to the new capped NHL. In TO, it's been a somewhat bizarre start to the off season. Prior to the draft, we traded a 3rd round draft pick for Jamal Mayers. Some sandpaper was needed, but a draft pick for a 33 year old plonker is absolute nonsense. Following that move, and the drama with Sundin, thought the draft was a bit of a mixed bag. Luke Schenn is gold, but the rest of the picks are big bodied enigmas. In the past few days, we've bought out the contracts of a few amoebas. Wellwood is softer than my sofa. Raycroft couldn't stop a beach ball. Tucker could bounce back, but even if he does, the young ones need to see some power play time, and the leadership pyramid in the dressing room has to change. Moving forward, the FA sweepstakes are slim. I would wait next year to see if restricted free agents this year like Mike Green, Corey Perry, and Jay Bouwmeester sign 1 year tenders. No reason to think they won't be locked up for the long term, but you never know. Focusing on this year, I'd like to see them take a run at Malone, or Orpik and trade McCabe. There were rumours yesterday about Cujo and Roberts coming back, but really, if that happens, I'd have a Jamar Fletcher moment. We're in 2008, not 1998.
The free agency should be fun as always. I see an early trend of trimming high cost veterans, seems like teams are on the Pittsburgh boat of winning with a younger team. That being said , the Flames trimmed some contracts too with Neilson, Warrener and Erickson. THey were nice guys and great for the community and team orientated but the money they made was just far too much not to give youngsters a chance to move up. I personally like the move but wish them all well where ever they end up, they certainly sacrificed and worked hard in Cowtown. Unified, i think HOssa would be a great fit in Beantown, but he is a little pricey. But in the right mix he could put up big numbers. Campbell and Liles would be solid pickups as well. I want the flames to go after liles. And in TO pink drovw, i think we'll keep seeing cuts comming. Go with a younger team and build the team back from scratch. And if i was a leafs fan, and i knew they were in for a couple tough years, i would be thrilled. These reputable names that can;t produce theory they have had for a long time just never worked. Fletcher is doing it the right way for the buds ever to have a solid team
I think you'll see Bouwmeester sign a one year tender if the Panthers don't trade his rights to someone. The guy wants out of Florida. The Ducks waived Bertuzzi today to clear more cap room. I think Burke will make a mega offer to Perry pretty quick. He doesn't want to get "Pennered" again because I think someone will throw a HUGE sheet at the guy...I would. I think the Caps will sign Green long term, they would be crazy not to. The guy is the real deal IMO and if he hits the open market I think his contract will set a new bar for D-men. The Leafs are confusing me to be honest. I don't think they know what they want to do. Fletcher doesn't have the power (IMO) to go to MLSE and say "we need to blow this up TOTALLY and do a proper rebuild". He is a placeholder for Burke. The Mayers deal confused me. When should be in full rebuild mode why flip a pick for a guy like him? He is doing some good things, getting rid of the dead weight but at the same time he is sending signals the other way. What they should do is write it off. Play the hell out of their kids (including Pogge), finish 13th in the East and pick in the top 5 again, stop being wishy-washy. Trade whatever vets are left at the deadline and get a ton of picks, flood the farm system and get a CHEAP team. Give Burke the ammo he needs at the draft table (although his draft track record is sketchy) and the cash to spend on free agents. I trust Chiarelli to be honest right now. He's made some astute deals already this offseason. Signing Blake Wheeler was a great move, a top prospect for nothing but some cash, getting Aaron Ward to sign below open market value and getting Mark Stuart signed for 2 years. He's close with Denis Wideman as well and has Carl Soderberg's commitment to come to training camp. He does have some fancy footwork to do in the future. He has a decision to make on his goaltending. I think (hope) Tuukka Rask gets one more year in Providence with maybe a few appearances this year with the big club. That's why I think Fernandez stays with the club this year even with his big price tag. Let him and Thomas split duties for the season. He also can't get too caught up in the "free agent frenzy" thing. He has young players to look forward with. Kessel, Krejci, Lucic and Nokelainen all have bright futures, I don't want to see one or more of them walk away because we are paying Marion Hossa too much money. If I'm Chiarelli, I buy out Glen Murray and trade PJ Axe, clearing cap space. Use that cash (as well as what they already have) to sign Ryan Malone (a new, young Glen Murray) and take a shot at Liles. I don't overpay Liles though. If he wants more then 3.5 I let him slide. Chara, Wideman, Ward, Stuart, Alberts and Lashoff is a serviceable defense. Adding Hossa is not needed in my opinion. They have a lot of young forwards and they have Bergy returning which is like adding a high end free agent for free anyway. I want Ryan Malone the most. Adding him to Savard, Bergy, Kobasew, Lucic, Krejci, Kessel, Nokie, Sobotka, Sturm and Schaefer...to go with a prospect or two? Sounds nice to me. Sorry for turning this into a Bruins thread...LOL! It's hard not to be excited about the future of the franchise though... You are right, the free agent pickings are very slim. There are for the most part, just a bunch of guys after Hossa and Malone if ignore the restricted free agents. You know it's bad when Orpik is talking about 4-5 million a season. Nice player, brings something to the table but I would not pay him like a top 2 defenseman.
I think Liles will be very popular in a few days. Everyone needs a puck moving/PP d-man. I think someone will drastically overpay him, thinking he is the "missing piece". He's a solid guy but my opinion of him changes at 5 million or more per season...LOL!
From TSN... "The Calgary Flames announced Friday that the team has re-signed centres Craig Conroy and Daymond Langkow, left wing Eric Nystrom and goaltender Curtis McElhinney."
The Flyers signed Jeff Carter to a 3 year, $15 million contract. Good deal for them, someone was going to "offer sheet" them for sure.
Yeah those were expected. Besides Langkow, who is vastly underrated imo, Nystrom is a huge signing. The kid is going to blossom in the next few years. And the bruins and blackhawks have a lot of things to be excited about. Them and the Caps too, and the caps need to sign green (calgary boy! whoo.) but he is without question the real deal, washington will sign him no doubt. And how can he not want to stay playing so much with ovechkin
"The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded a fourth-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for the exclusive negotiating rights to forwards Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts, who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on July 1." Waste of a pick. Malone has said on multiple occasions that he wants to test free agency and see what is out there for him and I don't see anyway that Roberts packs up and moves at this point to as team that has no shot at winning anything. July 1st can't come soon enough. I'm tired of the speculation game. The cool part is free agency starts on Canada Day so I have the day off and won't miss anything....LOL!
Well, I was REALLY wrong... IMO, it's a GREAT deal for the Lightning and I think Malone shorted himself. He's going to average 4.5 million a year. I think if he had hit the open market he could have gotten 5.5 a year and found a better team.
Good deal for the Oilers. Luby helps out a sore spot on their blueline and they get rid of an under achiever (Stoll).
Wow...Tampa is making moves. If they sign Rolston they are in business up front. Malone, Vinny, St. Louis, Prospal, Stamkos...that is some high end talent. They are going to need it because their defense is horrible and Mike Smith has proven nothing as a NHL goaltender.
Well, there goes my hope that the Bruins will sign Liles and with Malone gone it's looking more and more like they may do nothing. I think the Bruins move on to Ron Hainsey to help their back end. I don't know about this deal for Liles. He probably would have gotten more in free agency. His agent crapped the bed I think. I don't understand why you'd let your client NOT hit the open market. It is the only time they will get a chance to do it and with the cap having gone up so much and the free agent market so thin you are doing your client a dis-service not letting 30 teams compete for his services.
I just read that the Malone deal is front loaded big time...something like 7.5 a year for the first three years. That is over paying.
The Ducks have to move some salary. Expect Schneider to be traded at some point in the next little while.
Isles, with more cap room then God, will likely do nothing except sign Doug Weight as their youth movement continues. I do hope they go hard after Redden as they need a top pairing D man and they have to reach the cap floor as their current payroll stands at 31.5m after RFA tenders and the floor being around 40m.
Oilers made a pair of deals: Torres for Brule Pitkanen for Cole Good job raping Carolina and Columbus as they acquired the more talented player in both deals. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242167&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_main
Devils wings and pens all making moves...http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=11353 11:58AM Pittsburgh Penguins sign forward Pascal Dupuis to a three-year deal which will average $1.4-million per year. 11:58AM Detroit Red Wings and veteran defenseman Brad Stuart have agreed to terms on a 4 year contract that averages 3.75 per year. 11:35AM New Jersey re-signs forwards Jay Pandolfo (undisclosed) David Calrkson (undisclosed) and Barry Tallackson (undisclosed). Declines option on forward Sergei Brylin. 10:21AM New Jersey agrees to terms with defenceman Bryce Salvador to a four-year deal worth $11.6 million (average of $2.9 million per season).
Brule is still a very intrigueing prospect. I think getting out of Columbus and getting closer to home will help him big time, good deal for the Oilers and it clears cap room. The Pitkanen thing is a need thing for the 'Canes. They needed someone to help run their PP. The Oilers have done a great job IMO. They flip a miserable Jared Stoll for Luby and then flip Pitkanen for Cole, being able to do that because they added Luby. That is how you make deals. Kevin Lowe is changing the face of the team and adding young players while he does it. The rumour is they are in the Hossa thing right now as well.
Tampa continues to forget that defense is something that is played in the NHL. The Leafs just signed CuJo to a 1 year deal. Not a bad idea. Let him play a dozen games behind Toskala and let Pogge have another year in the AHL. The only danger is that if Toskala struggles at any point the fans will be screaming from the rooftops for CuJo.
I couldn't agree more. Brule is going to be good, played extremely well in the world juniors a few years ago. sorta scratching my head wonding what the hell Columbus was thinking. There has to be more behind the scenes, like someone didn't get along with him from the front office or coaching staff. Because him for Torres is just stupid. They must of wanted to move him quick. The oilers are my teams biggest rival and i'm impressed they got Brule
I wouldn't give lowe too much credit, while he has done a tremendous job up front with young scoring players, his defense is going to suffer. He needs a stay at home dman in the worst way. But nevertheless they should be in a lot of high scoring shootout affairs. The two trades today were good moves for sure.
Boston signs UFA forward Blake Wheeler to an entry-level contract Great move by Boston. Top ten pick who had declined to sign with Phoenix a few years ago. Still a solid talent with a significant upside to his game.
That just makes it official, it has been in the works for a couple of weeks. I think he attended the Bruins' prospects camp last week. Adds another young prospect to the system. He'll likely play the year in Providence.
1:58PM Minnesota Wild sign UFA forward Andrew Brunette (undisclosed). 1:33PM Vancouver signs RFA forward Kyle Wellwood to a 1 year deal worth $997,500. Vancouver really couldnt just make it an even $1 million? the $2,500 really meant THAT much to them? cripes.
WOW! The canucks cant spare 2,500 for Kyle wellwood but they'll give a 40 year old 2/20? Thats funny. I still dont think Sundin will sign there. IMO he goes where he can win something; maybe colorado to replace or join Sakic since he started his career in Quebec with that franchise.
The thing with Sundin is he's not your average 37 year old player. The guy is still a high end player who is in great shape. If he goes to Vancouver that will likely convince Naslund to sign for 3-4 million a year. They can win here. they have Luongo for 2 more years and if they want him to sign an extension next summer they need to make moves to win right now. They have a TON of cap room and have to use it. Over paying for Sundin is better then going into the season with no "true" first line and a ton of cap room. Mix in Sundin and a Naslund resigning (who at 3-4 million a year is a very good player but not at the 6 million he made last year) and all of a sudden they have a decent group upfront. Sundin would give them the legit first line center they have needed since the inception of the franchise. Mason Raymond - Sundin - Naslund Sedin - Sedin - Pyatt Burrows - Kesler - Pettinger Salo - Ohlund Mitchell - Bieksa Edler - Krajicek Luongo That looks alright in my opinion. They have a bunch of guys that can play on their fourth line. In my opinion, they would be wise to sign George Laraque to add some legit muscle.
Yes i see them play Calgary 8 times a year. Its very fun to watch Regher smash Hemsky into the end boards and Dion hit anyone who tries to be tough on that team...ahh the Battle of AB, it can't get here soon enough
My friend in Edmonton last year said that Torres wasn't really injured, apparently word on the edmonton street was he was having trouble battling a drug addiction, which i can see why a move would be good for him, the team, basically everyone involved. Brule hasn't blossomed so its a bit of risk, even though i believe he will be good. Not sure how valid it is, never seen any media reports on it, but apparently he was battling his coke addiction. If true i hope Raffi can overcome it, its a scary thing, even though he was my most hated oiler, still don't want to see a guy wreck a career or life that way.
A ton of moves in the last 2 hours: 4:27PM Ottawa signs UFA goaltender Alex Auld to a 2 year deal worth $1-million 4:14PM Tampa Bay signs UFA goaltender Olaf Kolzig to a 1 year deal worth $1.5-million (plus bonuses). 4:02PM Colorado signs UFA forward Darcy Tucker to a 2 year deal worth $4.5-million 3:49PM Vancouver signs RFA forward David Backes to an offer sheet, 3 years $7.5-million. St. Louis has seven days to match or accept a 2nd round draft pick as compensation. 3:43PM Chicago signs UFA goaltender Cristobal Huet (undisclosed) 3:41PM Florida signs UFA forward Cory Stillman to a 3 year deal worth $10.6-million 3:40PM NY Rangers sign UFA forward Aaron Voros (undisclosed) 3:40PM Pittsburgh signs UFA forward Eric Godard to a 3 year deal (undisclosed) 3:38PM Tampa Bay signs UFA forward Adam Hall to a 3 year deal worth $1.8-million 3:24PM Toronto signs UFA goaltender Curtis Joseph to a 1 year deal worth $700,000 3:24PM Toronto signs UFA defenceman Jeff Finger to a 4 year deal worth $3.5-million a season 3:09PM Phoenix signs UFA forward Todd Fedoruk to a 3 year deal (undisclosed) 3:07PM Detroit signs UFA goaltender Ty Conklin to a 1 year deal worth $750,000 3:07PM Montreal re-signs RFA forward Andrei Kostitsyn to a 3 year deal worth $3.25-million a season 3:03PM Colorado signs UFA goaltender Andrew Raycroft to a 1 year deal worth $800,000 2:53PM Washington signs UFA goaltender Jose Theodore to a 2 year deal (undisclosed) 2:50PM Phoenix signs UFA defenceman Kurt Sauer to a 4 year deal worth an average of $1.75-million a year 2:02PM Pittsburgh Penguins re-sign UFA defenceman Mark Eaton to a 2 year deal worth $2-million 1:58PM Minnesota Wild sign UFA forward Andrew Brunette to 3 year deal worth $7-million.
Washington picking up theodore is a really good move and nice pickup by the wild to get Brunette. That guy is seriously underrated in my opinion
Agreed Aqua. Also I cant confirm this as I read it on another board but its been said that 8/56.8 for Campbell from Chicago. Thats a lot for a guy who doesnt play D and takes himself out of the play looking for a hit.
