Wednesday, July 1, 2009

NHL Free Agent Frenzy has begun....Updates at top of page


UPDATE (8:45 pm): Rob Rossi says Scuderi will wait until Thursday to make a decision. He has a number of offers on the table including the Pens, Wild, and Stars. Meanwhile Chris Neil has signed with Ottawa on a 4 yr/$2 mil per year deal. This is a surprise considering the Oilers, Rangers, and Maple Leafs were the front runners earlier in the day.

UPDATE (8:38 pm): The Canadiens have signed forward Brian Gionta to a 5yr/$5mil per year deal. This is another ridiculous contract by the Habs for this type of player. Gionta has a lot of upside and he'll be re-united with former teammate Scott Gomez, but still $5mil wow.

UPDATE (8:22 pm): TSN is reporting the Rangers have signed winger Marian Gaborik to a 5 yr/$7.5 mil per year deal. This is a huge signing for the Rangers, and it was expected after the Rags dealt Gomez yesterday. Columbus has agreed to a 2 yr/$1.2mil per year deal with former Pens backup Mathieu Garon. The Gaborik deal comes at a huge cost, but the Rangers have been eager to land him all afternoon.

UPDATE (7:06 pm): Chris Neil has narrowed it down to 3 teams: Oilers, Rangers, and Maple Leafs. He will make a decision soon. Nik Antropov is being pursued strongly by the Habs, Kings, Blues, and Thrashers. I'm getting dinner/haircut be back in about an hour to get you caught up.

UPDATE (6:23 pm): The Blue Jackets have signed defensive forward Sami Pahlsson to a 3 yr/$2.65mil per yr deal. After losing out on re-signing Manny Malhotra, they needed a shutdown center type guy, and Pahlsson is a terrifc one.

UPDATE (6:12 pm): Some minor deals to mention but: Vernon Fiddler signed with Phoenix ($1.1 mil per 2 yrs), Steve Begin signed a 1yr/$850k deal with Boston, and enforcer David Koci signed a 1yr/$575k deal with Colorado. One pretty big deal: Steve Sullivan re-signs with Nashville to a 2 yr/$3.75mil per year contract. Sullivan was one of the players Shero had interest in.

UPDATE (6:04 pm): Komisarek signs to a 5 yr/$4.5 mil per year deal with Toronto. Great defenseman and that price was to be expected. The Wild have signed defenseman Greg Zanon to a 3 yr/$1.66 per year deal. Zanon was targeted by Shero if they lost out on Scuderi. Scuderi was apparently waiting to hear about the Komisarek deal, could affect where he goes.

UPDATE (5:54 pm): The Maple Leafs have signed coveted defenseman Mike Komisarek, details will come in a couple seconds. The Penguins are planning to shop Eaton/Dupuis/Godard to another team. Talks continue with the Flames continue about a deal for Dupuis/Godard package. Mike Rupp is a nice addition. He's an enforcer and was 51.1% on the faceoff circle, nice replacement for Ziggy.

UPDATE (5:30 pm): The Habs signed Mike Cammalerri to a 5 yr/$30mil deal. Finally a good signing by the Habs, but the price is huge. The Maple Leafs have traded high priced defenseman Pavel Kubina and the rights to forward Tim Stapleton to defenseman Atlanta for Garnett Exelby and Colin Stuart. God knows what Atlanta is thinking. Kubina is getting old and slow although he still owns a booming shot. Exelby is a real nice pickup by Burke, he's physical and in your face. On top of that Stuart has a lot of upside.

UPDATE (4:48 pm) PENS SIGNING: the Pens have signed enforcer Mike Rupp to a 2 yr/1.65 deal. The Rupp signing means Godard is likely going to be traded somewhere. Calgary? Trade talk with the Flames did take place earlier in the day involving Dupuis/Godard. Mike Rupp was the game 7 hero for the Devils in the 2003 Stanley Cup final. I like that he can skate and screen the goalie real well, Godard can't skate/hit to save his life.

UPDATE (4:45 pm): The Habs have signed Pens defenseman Hal Gill to a 2 yr/$4.5 mil deal. This is insane that Gill will be getting over $2mil a year, but hey it's the Habs, they're going CRAAAZYYYYYYY. Gomez for $7.3 mil, Spacek for $3.75 mil, and now Gill LOL.

UPDATE (4:41 pm): The Flyers signed pesky veteran Ian Laperierre to a 3yr/$3.5 mil deal. Laperierre was a guy the Shero targeted at the deadline. He'll fit into Philly's smash mouth hockey approach. How many enforcer types do they have? Asham, Carcillo, Laperierre, and Cote. Do you really need anymore stupid players on your 3rd/4th lines? I don't mind Lappy but whatever they'll still lose next year.

UPDATE (4:35 pm): The Panthers have signed goalie Scott Clemmensen to a 3 yr/$3.6mil deal. He will earn around $1.1 mil per year. Clemmensen was the starter for much of last year for the Devils while Marty Brodeur was injured. Clemmensen has proven he can start and he'll compete with the starting job with Tomas Vokoun.

UPDATE (4:08 pm): The Canes have re-signed forward Eric Cole to 2 yrs at $2.8mil the first year and $3mil the 2nd year. This is a great bargain by the Canes, as Cole could've got close to $4mil if he waited around some more. He wanted to play in Carolina after a dissapointing 1.5 yrs in Edmonton.

UPDATE (3:58 pm): The Oilers have signed goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to a 4 yr/$15 mil deal. The Bulin Wall was the best goalie available and Edmonton needed a goalie badly after Roloson left for New York. Sources say Eric Cole is close to a 2yr deal with the Canes. Pierre McGuire has been talking way too much on TSN, more Dreger/Mckenzie less Pierre please.

UPDATE (3:35 pm):
The Flyers have agreed to a deal with former Flyer goalie Brian Boucher to a 2yr/$1.85mil deal. He'll be backing up Emery. The Habs have signed veteran defenseman Jaroslav Spacek to a 3 yr/$11.5mil deal. This insane money for a 35 yr old on the downside of his career. Mark my words, Bob Gainey will be run out of town sometime this year.

UPDATE (3:12 pm): The Ducks re-signed Scott Niedermayer to a 1 yr $6 mil deal. His brother Rob is being coveted by a number of teams: Devils, San Jose, and Dallas. The Predators re-signed Joel Ward to 2 yr/$1.5 mil per season.

UPDATE (2:55 pm): The Capitals have signed gritty forward Mike Knuble to a 2 yr/$2.8mil per season. Great deal by the Caps, they need a front of the net presence in their top 6. Pens are now out of the running unfortunately. Other options: Cole, Kotalik, and Tanguay. The Rangers have signed enforcer Donald Brashear to a 2 yr/$1.4 mil per year deal. They lost Orr so they needed a replacement, this deal makes sense.

UPDATE (2:42 pm): The Penguins have made a 1 yr offer to Mike Knuble with a NTC. Knuble is reportedly seeking a 2 yr deal but he still might accept this. The Buffalo Sabres have signed defenseman Steve Montador to a 2 yr/$1.55mil per season. Montador was a guy I wanted the Pens to target if Scuderi were to sign elsewhere. The Panthers have signed defenseman Ville Koistonen.

UPDATE (2:25 pm): The St. Louis Blues have signed backup goalie Ty Conklin to a 2 yr at $1.3 mil. The Islanders have signed goalie Dwayne Roloson to a 2 yr/$5mil deal. This guy is 40 and he's getting this money, Wow is right Darren Pang. Dipietro isn't fully healthy, they just want to be safe. The Hawks have also signed Tomas Kopecky from the Red Wings.

UPDATE (2:04 pm): The Hawks have signed Marian Hossa to a 12 year!!! 5 mil per year. It might be a little over $5mil, I'll get that to you in a little bit. The Lightning have signed defenseman Matt Walker to a 4 yr/$1.7 mil per year contract. I like Walker a lot, very solid 5/6 defenseman, I wish the Pens could've targeted him. But wow how scary is Chicago going to be? Kane, Toews, Hossa, Ladd, Byfuglien, Sharp, etc. Scary team out west. Say goodbye to Havlat and look for Samuelsson to re-sign with Detroit.

UPDATE (1:54 pm): The Hawks are close to a deal with Hossa per TSN. Confirmation will come in a second. The Avalanche signed goaltender Craig Anderson to a 2yr/$3.6mil deal. Anderson shared goalie duties with Tomas Vokoun in Florida, and he is capable of being a starter which is what they'll try to do with him in Colorado.

UPDATE (1:45 pm): The Leafs are close to trading defenseman Pavel Kubina to the Atlanta Thrashers. This would be a nice cap clearing for Toronto. The Habs have offered Kovalev a 2 yr/$8.4mil deal. The Panthers have re-signed David Booth to a 6yr/$25.5 mil contract.

UPDATE (1:34 pm): Rob Scuderi is being offered a 4 yr/$14mil deal from the Stars. The Islanders are strongly pursuing Komisarek and Moen.

UPDATE (1:22 pm): The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed enforcer Colton Orr to a 4 yr-$1mil per year deal. Orr is one of the few enforcers who can actually skate well and check.

UPDATE (12:58 pm): The Penguins are talking to the Flames about a trade for forward Curtis Glencross. Could Dupuis be going the other way? We would save $200k, not sure if that makes a huge difference, stay tuned.

UPDATE (12:46 pm): The Blackhawks are close to a deal with Marian Hossa. You can say goodbye to my favorite Hawk, Marty Havlat. On a minor note, the Panthers re-signed forward Raded Dvorak to a 2yr/3.4mil deal.

UPDATE (12:35 pm): The Penguins have inquired about forward Eric Cole and Todd Bertuzzi. Cole as we know, is best friends with Brooks Orpik. By best friends I mean that Orpik broke Cole's neck three years ago.

UPDATE (12:28 pm): The Canadiens are very interested in Hossa and Gaborik. The Kings have inquired about Havlat. The Rangers, Wild, and Stars are talking to Scuderi's agent.

UPDATE (12:14 pm): The Tampa Bay Lightning signed defenseman Mattias Ohlund to a 7 yr $3.75 per year contract. Ohlund is a great veteran presence who's played his whole career with Vancouver, look for him to be a mentor to newly drafted Victor Hedman.

UPDATE (11:35 am): The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed Henrik/Daniel Sedin to 5 yr $6.1 mil per year contracts. The Sedin's wanted a deal that was a bit longer but they took this and they'll be staying in the city they've played in their whole careers.

UPDATE (11:08 am): Edmonton Oiler goalie Dwayne Roloson is testing the market. He is looking for a $2.5-3mil per yr deal.

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