July 10th to July 13th Recap

-Nashville winger Alexander Radulov signs with KHL (TSN): Young Russian sniper Radulov, though under contract for another season with the Nashville Predators, signed to play next season for the new KHL.  Predators GM David Poile said that Radulov is still under contract and the Preds expect him in camp.  Should he not appear, they will pursue legal action.

-Anaheim Signs Steve Montador and Brennan Evans (Forecaster.ca): Montador is a good pick-up, a tough defender who can play regular minutes.  Evans won't likely see the NHL unless Anaheim is beset by injuries.

-Edmonton Signs Jason Strudwick (EdmontonOilers.com): Good pickup by Edmonton as Strudwick will be the 7th defenceman and, at 6'4" provides size and grit.

-St. Louis signs Brad Winchester and Andy Wozniewski (Both listed on NHL.com official rosters):  St. Louis adds some depth with some big players (6'5" 215 lbs and 6'3" 195 lbs, respectively), though I expect both to begin the season in the AHL.

-Vancouver signs Pavol Demitra, Rob Davison,  (Canucks.com): Canucks finally land a big free agent in Demitra, though the somewhat brittle Slovakian has only played 82 games twice in his career.  Davison, most famously, score that goal on Vesa Toskala last season that came from clear across the rink and was featured on all the sports highlight shows.

-Vancouver also signs Jason Krog (NHL.com): Rumors are Krog has been promised a spot on the big team, and that he would not see duty in the AHL.  I tend to believe those rumors because Krog had already signed in Russia for next season, so why else would he opt out if not for NHL duty.

-Chicago signs Aaron Johnson (Second City Hockey): Johnson, once a prized prospect of the Blue Jackets, has seen his reputation take a tumble in recent seasons.  He will likely begin the season in Rockford of the AHL.

-Columbus signs Craig MacDonald (Listed on Columbus Blue Jackets official roster):  MacDonald played 65 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, a career NHL high since he turned pro with the Carolina Hurricanes in 1998-99.

-Tampa Bay re-signs Chris Gratton (NHL.com):  Tampa must be looking at jettisoning some forwards, because they now have 20 forwards with significant NHL experience under contract.  Hey, does anyone else remember that Phoenix once traded Daniel Briere for Gratton?  I bet they wish they could have that one back.

-Pittsburgh signs Kris Beech and Bill Thomas (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) and (Insider on Pittsburgh Sports):  Both deals are two-way deals meaning they will make a lesser amount of money should they be assigned to the minors.  After the way free agency decimated their forward corps (Out are Ryan Malone, Marian Hossa, Jarrko Ruutu, George Laraque, Adam Hall), though, the Penguins could feature one or both of these guys on opening night.

-New Jersey signs Scott Clemmensen (TSN):  He got into a couple of games for Toronto last season, despite being quite good in the AHL.  He goes back to the team that drafted him in New Jersey.

-Montreal trades Corey Locke to Minnesota for Shawn Belle (TSN):  Locke has scored at every level he's played, but is very undersized (5'9" 168lbs), he'll have a better chance at cracking the lineup in Minnesota than he would have in Montreal.  Shawn Belle is a former Gold Medal-winning teammate of Carey Price in the 2005 World Junior Championships.

-Minnesota signs Krystofer Kolanos (ESPN):  Kolanos is a former first-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes who chose him 19th overall in 2000 (Players who came after him include Alexander Frolov at #20, Anton Volchenkov at #21, Brad Boyes at #24, Justin Williams at #28 and Nicklas Kronwall at #29).  But, at least he's played over 100 NHL games, which is not something a few guys out of that class can say (#7 Lars Jonnson (8), #9 Brent Krahn (0), and #15 Artem Kryukov (0) stand out as major blunders).

-Ottawa signs Brendan Bell (Ottawa Citizen):  Bell is probably most famous for being a well-regarded prospect dealt to Phoenix along with a draft pick that drew a lot of criticism amongst Maple Leafs fans.

RUMORS

- A whole swirl of rumors surrounding the Ottawa Senators.  Sens Chirp (who has had amazing foresight recently) says that the Ottawa Senators and free agent forward Jason Williams have agreed on a 3-year deal that will pay Williams $1.9 million per season.  The announcement has been delayed, though, and speculation is Sens' GM Bryan Murray is attempting to finalize a trade to announce both at the same time.  The same blog is also reporting that Antoine Vermette has requested a trade.  He requested one at the end of the 07-08 season, and reiterated his request this week.  Kevin Lee suggests that Ottawa is in deep discussions with Chicago about Chris Neil, The Senators reported asking price is former third overall draft pick, Cam Barker.

News for July 9th, 2008

-Washington Re-signs Sergei Fedorov (TSN): Fedorov looked rejuvenated playing in Washington, not quite like the Fedorov of old, but at least a fair sight better than the Fedorov of Anaheim, or Columbus.  He also badmouthed Columbus for playing a boring style of hockey that stilted creativity.  His new contract with Washington will pay him $4 million over the course of next season.  For Federov, 38, this could be his last NHL contract.  One has to imagine the temptation to return to Russia for more than market value must be getting too good to ignore.

-Ray Emery signs in Russia (TSN): Ray Emery has signed a one-year deal with Atlant Mytishchi of the new Continental Hockey League (KHL).  The deal is believed to be in excess of $2 million for this season, plus bonuses.  Emery's agent, J.P. Barry said that just three teams contacted his client, with Atlanta making the best offer, but Emery did not want to play as a backup, feeling the best situation for him is to play starting goalie minutes.

-Washington re-signs Brooks Laich (Washington Post): Laich had a breakout season for the Caps last year, with 21 goals and 37 points.  It is a 3-year deal worth $6.2 million.

-San Jose re-signs Marcel Goc (Per his NHLPA page): $775k for next season.  I'm a little surprised Goc was re-signed, I thought he was a prime candidate to be dealt to make room.

-Nashville signs Josh Gratton (Predators.com): Gratton only played one NHL game last season with the Phoenix Coyotes, putting up five penalty minutes in that one game before being dealt to the NY Rangers, and spending the rest of the season in the AHL.  Gratton has 237 PIM in 67 career NHL games.

-Montreal re-signs Josh Gorges (Sportsnet): 3 year deal averaging $1.1 million per season.  Gorges had a breakout season with Montreal last year.

-Pittsburgh re-signs Connor James (Faceoff Factor): He has NHL-level speed, but the rest of his game is AHL level.  He will help the Penguins minor league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre attempt to win the Calder Cup after being runners-up last season, just like their parent club.

-Carolina re-signs Chad LaRose (Carolina Hurricanes.com): LaRose had a career high 11 goals and 23 points last season.  He'll make $875k next year.

-Florida forward Anthony Stewart accepts Qualifying Offer (Florida Panthers.com ):  After three pro seasons, time is running out on the former first round draft pick.  This is likely Stewart's make or break season with the Panthers.

-San Jose re-signs Christian Ehrhoff (Sharks.com): Financial terms undisclosed, though it's rumored to be 3 year, $9.3 million.  Ehrhoff's a guy who's been on the brink of being a contributing offensive defenceman for the past three seasons.  He managed 23 minutes a night in the playoffs this past season, despite playing on an injured ankle.

News for July 8th, 2008

-Ottawa signs Jason Smith (TSN): Smith, who is one of the toughest heart-and-soul-type players around, signed a two-year deal worth $5.2 million.  My favourite recent Smith story that illustrates his toughness is that last season with Philadelphia, Smith played all 17 playoff games with the Flyers, despite having both shoulders separated.

-Tampa Bay signs forward Brandon Bochenski and defenceman Andrew Hutchinson (Tampa Bay Official Website and Lightning Strikes blog): I wonder if a single day will go by this summer that I don't report on the Lightning doing something.  Bochenski hits his fifth NHL team since his debut in 05-06.  He is expected to play for Tampa's farm team in Norfolk.  Hutchinson was a member of the Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup-winning squad a couple years back though he never played a game in those playoffs.  Since being dealt to the NY Rangers, however, Hutchinson never played a game in the NHL.  The link says he signed a one-way deal meaning Tampa expects him to crack their roster, and not toil in Norfolk.  Tampa also recieved a signed contract from massive Russian Evgeny Atyukhin (same link as the Hutchinson article), meaning the man nicknamed R2 will be returning to the NHL next season.

-Atlanta re-signs Eric Boulton (TSN Free Agent Tracker): There were whispers that some NHL teams were interested in the enforcer, including the Edmonton Oilers.

-St. Louis signs Mike Weaver, Steve Regier and Matt Foy; Pittsburgh signs Joey Mormina; Atlanta signs Junior Lessard and Grant Stevenson; Colorado signs Nathan Smith (NHL.com): Though many of these players never recieved formal annoucements, all of these players have been assigned teams on NHL.com which is basically a statement that the deal is done.  Of all these players, I'd say Weaver, Foy and Lessard have the best chance of landing gigs with the pro teams next season.  The rest are likely destined  for their new team's respective AHL clubs.

-St. Louis signs Steve Bernier to an offer sheet which is subsequently matched by the Vancouver Canucks (NHL.com): A little tit for tat after Vancouver signed David Backes to an offer sheet, St. Louis turns around does the same to Vancouver.  Funny stuff.

-Montreal Canadiens re-sign RFA Jaroslav Halak (RDS): 2 Years, $1.55 million.

Other News/Rumors

-Several sites report that Pavol Demitra is close to signing, will sign soon, or already has been signed by the Vancouver Canucks.  Demitra will attempt to offset the offseason departures of Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison.  

-Speaking of the Canucks, today, a trade rumor surfaced that had the 'Nucks dealing both Sedin twins to the Atlanta Thrashers in return for super-sniper Ilya Kovalchuk.

-Now that Jason Smith has chosen his team, expect that clubs will come calling to the Pittsburgh Penguins about Rob Scuderi, and Darryl Sydor.

-Patrick Thoresen of the Philadelphia Flyers has signed in Europe for next season.  The RFA was seeking a one-way deal from the Flyers who balked at the idea.  Thoresen says he will play overseas next season, then become a free agent and return to the NHL.  Thoresen is, perhaps, most famous in NHL circles for being hit in the groin with a slapshot last playoffs and early reports stated Flyers' doctors were concerned he would have to lose a testicle.  Thankfully, he did not, and was able to play in the next game.

-Edmonton has reportedly re-signed RFAs Marc Pouliot and Jean-Francois Jacques.  Annoucements expected tomorrow.

Further News For July 7th, 2008

-Tampa Bay signs Mark Recchi (tsn): Deal is for one year with a base salary of $1.25 million but an additional $250k of incentives.  One would have to expect Tampa will be dealing one or both of Jussi Jokinen and/or Michel Ouellet soon or there won't be any room for the approximately one billion free agents they've signed this offseason.

-Anaheim signs Brendan Morrison (tsn): So, days after casting off another former Canuck, Brian Burke brings in a different former Canuck.  Financials/length are not revealed yet, but Morrison already turned down a one-year, $1.9 million deal to remain in Vancouver, so you'd have to think it's either for more money or more years, or maybe both.  Morrison battled through two injuries last year that ended his iron-man streak at 542 games and only put up 25 points, his lowest total in 9 full seasons in the NHL.

-Columbus re-signs Mike Peca (Columbus Dispatch): Expected to be announced formally on Tuesday.

-Montreal signs Ryan Flinn (RDS): I most remember him as the fighter who got into a scrum back when he played for the Kings, lost his footing and landed square on the top of his head.  It probably cut his NHL career short, as he never really got going in the NHL again, but he brings muscle to Montreal's farm club.

Early Morning Update for July 7th, 2008

-Calgary Flames sign Todd Bertuzzi to a one-year deal. (tsn).  This effectively replaces Owen Nolan.  Is it an upgrade or a downgrade?  Well, that depends.  Nolan is no longer capable of being a scoring power forward, but will show some grit and park himself in front of the net, he's also getting rather frail in his later years and in his 16 seasons has yet to go a single season without missing 2-3 games.  Bertuzzi is also past his prime as a top goal-scorer, and though relatively healthy, hasn't shown a lot of desire to show some grit or park himself in front of the net.  Nolan is no longer a top-flight player, but still provides a use to an NHL club.  Bertuzzi seems like he should be a top-flight player but something is missing.  Should he rediscover whatever it was that allowed him to score 46 goals and 97 points, it would be a major steal for the Flames.  But, my feelings are, if Bertuzzi wasn't able to rediscover that magic playing for a team that personifies his games in Anaheim, he probably won't in Calgary either.  All of that said, Bertuzzi did come slightly cheaper, signing for $1.9 million next season, as opposed to Nolan who will be making $2.75 million over two seasons.  Mike Keenan Vs Todd Bertuzzi could be epic, though.

-Philadelphia signs Arron Asham.  (Delco Times) Not many details available right now.  Asham had just 6 goals and 4 assists for the New Jersey Devils last season, his lowest since 01-02, but provides a good physical presence on the fourth line.  In other words, your prototypical Philadelphia Flyer.

-Columbus re-signs R.J. Umberger to a 4-year deal (tsn): Umberger, newly acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers after a breakout season and playoffs (50 points in 74 games and 10 goals in 17 games respectively), will make an average of $3.75 million per season over the next four years.  Umberger who was playing out of position for the Flyers with their logjam of centers, may seem time as Rick Nash's center man this season.

-Toronto re-signs Matt Stajan to a 2-year deal (tsn): Stajan's deal is worth $3.5 million.  Stajan had a career-high 16 goals for the Leafs last season.

-Carolina re-signs Denis Seidenberg (tsn): One-year deal worth $1.2 million

-New Jersey signs Jay Leach (Listed as a Devil on NHL.com)

If anything else interesting happens, I will update this again later.  If something major happens, I'll break in with it right away.

News for July 6th, 2008

My favourite Owen Nolan memory

-Minnesota Wild sign free agents Owen Nolan, Barry Brust, and Jesse Schultz (Minnesota Star-Tribune I & II): Nolan signs for a surprising $5.5 million over two seasons.  This is a bit surprising as Nolan has been rumored to be re-signing in Calgary since late June.  Nolan will bring some size to the Wild's mostly tiny/not-physical top two lines.  Schultz is the cousin of Wild defender Nick Schultz.  At one point he was expected to step onto the Canucks top line alongside the Sedins but went out and had a terrible camp and never regained the confidence of the Canucks staff before being dispatched to Atlanta.  He has seasons of 66 and 67 points in the AHL, as well as topping 100 for Kelowna of the WHL, so it's clear he knows how to score, but has only got into 2 NHL games, thus far.  Brust was a draft pick of the Wild in 2002 but was never signed.  He spent a couple of seasons in the Los Angeles organization, even getting into 11 games with the Kings, before being signed by the Wild's minor league affiliate in Houston, and now with the Wild.  Brust gets a two-year deal while Schultz signs for one, financial terms for either deal were not disclosed.

Other

-Rotowire.com suggests that Mathieu Schneider might be on his way to Ottawa.

-The Insider on Pittsburgh Sports says that the Penguins are shopping Darryl Sydor for a late-round pick with former teammate Gary Roberts pushing his new team in Tampa Bay to acquire the defender.  Tampa Bay is also said to be interested in Rob Scuderi.

-The same article as the above also suggests that Pittsburgh may try its luck with some fringe players by signing them to two-way deals then giving them a shot to make the Penguins roster.  Names named include Brad Isbister, Jeff Hamilton, Jeff Taffe and Kris Beech, the latter two whom played for the Pens last year.

That's all I got for today, Sunday is traditionally a pretty slow news day (Though I do recall the Martin Havlat 3-way deal coming down on a Sunday several years back), but things should pick up a little bit this week.

News For July 5th, 2008

-Pittsburgh Penguins sign Matt Cooke to a 2-year, $2.4 million deal (Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette)  After Jarrko Ruutu signed in Ottawa for an average of $1.3 million a season, the Penguins replace him with another pest in Cooke, save money, and get a better player in the process.  Ruutu has never cracked the 20 point mark in his career, while Cooke has cracked the 30-point barrier twice, and the once had 42 points (!) in 02-03.  Cooke may have a field day in the less gritty Eastern Conference, especially with Eric Godard, one of the best fighters in the NHL to back him up.

-Tampa Bay Lightning signs Zenon Konopka (Crunch Hockey ) Konopka, who was rumored to be sought after by several NHL clubs, including the Ottawa Senators, signs a deal with Tampa Bay rather than remain in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.  According to Lindsay Kramer's article, he was offered a two-way deal for two years which would see him make $265k in the AHL, but turned it down in favour of a two-year deal with Tampa that would see him play on a two-way deal this season, followed by a one-way deal for next season.  Now, a one-way deal doesn't guarantee an NHL gig, but NHL GMs are much more loathe to demote one-way contracts, so Konopka felt Tampa Bay was the better option for him.  I've only seen him a handful of times, but from what I hear, he has AHL speed, but NHL heart, and could maybe get by as an energy line player.

Other News/Rumors/Conjecture

-15 NHLers have decided to take their clubs to salary arbitration this summer. (Tsn)  The players are

1.Ottawa: Antoine Vermette

2. Florida: Jay Bouwmeester

3 and 4. Washington: Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrisonn

5 and 6. Minnesota: Pierre-Marc  Bouchard and Stephane Veilleux

7. Boston: Dennis Wideman

8. Carolina: Chad LaRose

9. Colorado: Marek Svatos

10. NY Islanders: Sean Bergenheim

11. NY Rangers: Dan Fritsche

12. St. Louis: Jay McClement

13. San Jose: Marcel Goc

14. Detroit: Valtteri Filppula

15. Nashville: Ville Koistinen

What this means now, is that none of these players can now sign an offer sheet with another team.  So all those rumors of Vancouver making an offer sheet on Filppula, Ottawa on Jay Bouwmeester, or Calgary on Antoine Vermette can die.  Personally, if I'd been a team with lots of cap room, I think I would've made an offer on Brooks Laich who had a breakout season last year with 21 goals and 37 points, especially with Mike Green's $5+ million deal kicking in next year, to go with Jose Theodore's $4.5 million a season.  Some interesting RFAs not qualified, any of whom could sign an offer sheet with another team: Dan Paille, Buffalo; Pascal Leclaire and R.J. Umberger of Columbus; Jonathan Ericsson and Jimmy Howard of Detroit; Marc Pouliot, Edmonton; Anthony Stewart, Florida; Patrick O'Sullivan, Jarrett Stoll, Erik Ersberg and Brad Richardson of LA; Jaroslav Halak, Ryan O'Byrne and Josh Gorges of Montreal; Nigel Dawes, NY Rangers; Andrej Meszaros of Ottawa; Dan Carcillo of Phoenix; Ryane Clowe and Christian Ehrhoff of San Jose; Matt Stajan, Toronto; newly-acquired Steve Bernier, Vancouver; and Eric Fehr in Washington.

-Lots of Ottawa Senators rumors out there.  One has them making a deal with Toronto for either Bryan McCabe or Pavel Kubina, another has them acquiring Mathieu Schneider of Anaheim, while still, a third, has them acquiring Kyle McLaren of San Jose.

-Quite a few teams out there with an excess of defencemen.  Carolina has 9 NHL-calibre d-men; Detroit has 7, which will become 8 when Chris Chelios re-signs, and three prospects (Ericsson, Jakub Kindl, and Kyle Quincey) who are said to be ready for the big-time sooner rather than later; Florida has 8; Nashville has 6 with a number of youngsters waiting in the wings (Kevin Klein, Cody Franson, Jonathon Blum); New Jersey has 8 but is rumored to be dispatching Vitaly Vishnevski; Philadelphia has 8, as well, but Derian Hatcher is rumored to be starting the year on the Long Term Injured Reserve; Pittsburgh has 8 and outstanding youngster Alex Goligoski in the AHL, thus rumors have already begun about them sending one of their veteran defenceman, of which they have too many, to Tampa for one of their forwards, of which they have too many (Darryl Sydor for Nick Tarnasky and/or Jason Ward, maybe?  Or how about Rob Scuderi for Jussi Jokinen); Toronto has 8 NHL-calibre D-Men under contract, and are rumored to have signed/are in the process of signing Jonas Frogren.  Calgary GM Darryl Sutter feels you can never have too many experienced defencemen heading into the playoffs, but you have to figure something has to give for some of these teams.