-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.
-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.
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