The New York Rangers traded center Scott Gomez and two minor leaguers to the Montreal Canadiens for winger Chris Higgins and three defenseman including the 2007 first round pick Ryan McDonagh. Gomez had two disappointing seasons in New York, recording 70 and 50 points respectively. Higgins is a New York state native, who is coming off a down year recording 12 goals after notching over 20 goals the past three years.
My take: GM Bob Gainey will be run out of town if Scott Gomez plays the same way he has the last couple years. Especially considering Gomez has 5 years left making $7.3 mil a year. A truly atrocious contract by Glen Sather to sign him to but now that's not his problem. Higgins is reasonable at $1.9mil but he's an RFA. He's still young and has a lot of upside. He goes to the net hard and creates space with his big body on the power play. Look for the Rangers to not pursue Knuble as strongly because of this. But look for them to be in the hunt for some top notch guys: Hossa, Gabork, Havlat, and Cammallerri. They have cleared some cap and it should get interesting in the Big Apple.
UPDATE (7:28 pm): The Dallas Stars re-signed veteran forward Jere Lehtinen to a 1 yr $1.5 mil contract. The 36 yr old was injured most of the year but his defensive prowess and experience can still come to good use.
UPDATE (8:45 pm): The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to a 5 yr deal at $6.6 mil per year. The Flames acquired J-Bo's rights on Sunday from the Florida Panthers. The Flames have $13.1 mil invested in Phaneuf and J-Bo, both defenseman. The Flames will now have two deadly pairings on D, including Sarich and Reghyr on the 2nd pairing. Phaneuf and J-Bo are arguably two of the best all around D-men in the league, and they're still young. The Flames are very close to the cap, look for Jokinen to get dealt down the line.
UPDATE (8:53 pm): The Penguins Rob Scuderi, the Habs Mike Komisarek, and the Sens Chris Neil will all test free agency tomorrow. Scuderi still wants to return to the Pens but he wants to see what's on the market first. There's a 50/50 chance Komi returns to the Habs. And Chris Neil rejected the Sens 3 yr-$1.7 mil a year deal today. Scary to think Neil is worth over 2 mil, but a lot of teams could use some sandpaper including: Toronto, Detroit, and Florida.
UPDATE (9:18 pm): The Penguins have not come to terms with Fedotenko yet. The problem is he wants $3mil/yr and he might just get that on the open market. Both the Rangers and Wild will target him. The Pens can't afford to sign a player to that price, especially if it's Fedotenko. Hal Gill remains an option per TIOPS, he'd have to take a huge pay cut. If Scuderi doesn't re-sign, Gill could be a cheap option as our last defenseman. He is after all an excellent penalty killer and his size is hard to match. Per Rob Rossi: "We're down to specific sorts of players. If we don't get them we're willing to wait," said Ray Shero.
UPDATE (9:40 pm): The Senators and Oilers are discussing a trade which would send Dany Heatley to Edmonton for Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner, and Ladislav Smid. The Oilers are trying to get rid of Sheldon Souray and his pricey contract but the Sens aren't as interested in him. Penner also has a big contract and he's been a bust the last two seasons. GM Murray has a good relationship with Penner from his Anaheim days.
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