Winter Classic - Sabres vs. Penguins

[Antropov]

Moves/signings from 4:00pm - 8:00pm EST (again, courtesy of James Mirtle at mirtle.blogspot.com):
#Wade Redden signs with the Rangers on another big-time deal: $39-million over six years ($6.5-million cap hit). There were apparently three teams in the running for him up until the end: New York, Dallas and San Jose
#Rich Hammond, who is king of all things Kings, says there are rumours of Nikolai Khabibulin being dealt to Los Angeles. The Blackhawks are definitely going to have to move someone out, and having that much salary in two netminders makes zero sense. Here's a thought (entirely of my own devising): The Kings could move Michal Handzus back to Chicago, where he was relatively popular, and take on Khabibulin, giving the 'Hawks nearly $3-million in salary relief and getting rid of one of their own headaches
# The Devils also bring back Bobby Holik on a one-year, $2.5-million deal, six years after losing him to the Rangers on an insane contract. New Jersey gets a lot stronger down the middle with both Holik and Rolston, but both are getting up there and Rolston's deal in particular, because he's over 35, could be a problem if his production declines
# I took a bit of a dinner break and there were a whole slew of new deals, courtesy of TSN:
- Toronto signed Niklas Hagman to a four-year contract at $12-million
- The Rangers re-signed Michal Rozsival to a four-year deal at $20-million and Patrick Rissmiller to an undisclosed deal
- Vancouver Canucks signed Darcy Hordichuk to a two-year deal
- Philadelphia signed Nate Raduns to a one-year deal and Glen Metropolit to a two-year deal
- New Jersey signed Brian Rolston to a four-year deal at $20-million
# Philadelphia has signed Finnish defenceman Ossi Vaananen out of the Swedish league for one year at $1-million. Vaananen played in the NHL prior to last season with Phoenix and Colorado
# Columbus gets on the board, signing Mike Commodore to a five-year, $18.75-million deal. The Blue Jackets still need a puck-moving defender, but this is a decent pickup
# It sounds as if Michal Rozsival is going to re-sign with the Rangers
# St. Louis has matched the offer sheet for David Backes, waiting only a few hours to do so. Here's Blues president John Davidson: "David is a major part of our youth movement in St. Louis and we expect him to play a huge role as we move forward."
# Avalanche beat writer Adrian Dater says he can't believe the contract given to Jeff Finger by the Leafs: "No wonder that team hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1968."
# Chicago has signed Brian Campbell to a huge contract: $57.12-million over eight years, an average of $7.14-million per season. The Blackhawks have made two of the biggest buys on the day, and are now going to have cap issues up the ying yang. Campbell's a nice player, and will do wonders for a power play desperate for a point man, but defensively he's only average and his speed will diminish in the later years of this deal. For now, Chicago looks a heckuva lot stronger
# It's a good day to be a backup: The Sabres have settled on Patrick Lalime as the man behind Ryan Miller, giving the veteran a two-year contract worth roughly $2-million
# The Senators get their goalie: It's Alex Auld on a decent two-year, $2-million deal. Auld had a decent season for the Bruins last year and can potentially challenge Martin Gerber for a few starts
# Chicago has $12.4-million committed to goaltending next season. That is all
# Kolzig's contract in Tampa Bay is for one year at $1.5-million (plus undisclosed bonuses), meaning the Lightning are getting close to the cap (they're over $50-million) and likely finished for the summer
# Vancouver has broken the offer sheet seal for 2008, signing Blues centre David Backes to a three-year, $7.5-million potential contract. St. Louis would receive only a second-round pick in return for one of its promising youngsters, so I can't imagine they don't match given all of their available cap space. GM Mike Gillis isn't making any new friends in the league
# Darcy Tucker signs with Colorado on a two-year deal worth $4.5-million, which he can add to the $6-million the Leafs paid him to go away. Tucker's a good fit at that price

[Ran]

Looks like New Jersey is trying to put the band back together with Rolston and Holik.

Did I call Brian Campbell or what?

What the hell was Toronto thinking giving Finger that much money? He's 28 and has barely played a full season.

[Antropov]

Since 8:00pm EST (again, from Dr. Mirtle):
# Mike Ryder has just hit pay dirt, signing a $12-million, three-year deal with the Bruins despite the fact he's coming off a 31-point season. A bad signing, in my opinion, and one that will eat up the majority of the team's available cap room
# The Rangers have re-signed backup 'tender Steve Valiquette (terms to come)
# The Islanders arrive to the party, inking defenceman Mark Streit to a five-year, $20.5-million deal that will pay him $4.1-million a season. Not a horrible deal, although he is going to be 31 in December and has played just 205 NHL games. The Isles desperately need some help up front.
# Still there? That's nice. The Wild have added depth forward Craig Weller on a two-year deal at $1.2-million, picking up a big player who can fight and bang a bit. He's 27 and has played the majority of his career in the minors, so... yeah

That'll probably be it for tonight, which is very surprising as so many top-tier guys are still up for grabs.

What the hell was Toronto thinking giving Finger that much money? He's 28 and has barely played a full season.

I may have posted it earlier, but I think it was best said with this:

Avalanche beat writer Adrian Dater says he can't believe the contract given to Jeff Finger by the Leafs: "No wonder that team hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1968."

I can't wait for tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see who the wineers of the Hossa/Sundin/Jagr sweepstakes are!

[Ran]

The Sabres' GM says they talked to Orpik, but probably won't be pursuing it further. Guess his asking price is too high.

My new theory is that after all the top tier free agents sign, whoever missed out on them will trade for Afinogenov, hopefully for a defenseman. And there will be much rejoicing in western New York. Unless it is Edmonton...Buffalo will tell them to suck it.

[Antropov]

After a long July 1st, it looks like the second will be equally taxing. Here's the notable names left on the board today (from mirtle.blogspot.com):

Forwards:
Sundin, Mats
Jagr, Jaromir
Hossa, Marian
Huselius, Kristian
Naslund, Markus
Demitra, Pavol
Recchi, Mark
Shanahan, Brendan
Fedorov, Sergei
Satan, Miroslav
Straka, Martin
Sakic, Joe
Bertuzzi, Todd
Williams, Jason
Peca, Michael
Fedotenko, Ruslan
Avery, Sean
Nolan, Owen
Nagy, Ladislav
Vyborny, David
Weight, Doug
Morrison, Brendan
Smolinski, Bryan
Selanne, Teemu
Gratton, Chris
Stumpel, Jozef
Gelinas, Martin
Brylin, Sergei
Ruutu, Jarkko
Forsberg, Peter
Perreault, Yanic
Lapointe, Martin
Sanderson, Geoff
Laraque, Georges
Yelle, Stephane

Defensemen:
Hainsey, Ron
Blake, Rob
Berard, Bryan
Mara, Paul
Hedican, Bret
Ozolinsh, Sandis
Orpik, Brooks
Brisebois, Patrice
Malik, Marek
Smith, Jason

Goalies:
Holmqvist, Johan
Emery, Ray
Aubin, Jean-Sebastien
Sanford, Curtis
Thibault, Jocelyn
Denis, Marc

[Ran]

Edmonton, Vancouver, and the Rangers are the 3 teams still in the running for Sundin. Detroit has backed out, not that they really need him in the first place. ($8-$10M)

Pittsburgh, Edmonton, Montreal, and the Rangers might be after Jagr.

At least Pittsburgh & Edmonton have offers in for Hossa. ($9-$10 Million range) Good luck trying to field a decent team with that sort of contract tied up on a single winger.

Chicago is now almost 2 million over the cap...and right now they are paying their two goalies a combined $12 million. They can try to trade Khabulin all they want. No one is going to take him.

Sakic supposedly said he will play for Colorado or retire.

Tampa might try to trade Dan Boyle.

It is really good that there is a salary cap to keep some of these teams under control.

[Antropov]

Edmonton, Vancouver, and the Rangers are the 3 teams still in the running for Sundin. Detroit has backed out, not that they really need him in the first place. ($8-$10M)

The Rags already have cap issues. I can't see them really being too much of a contender.
[quoteGood luck trying to field a decent team with that sort of contract tied up on a single winger.[/quote]Kevin Lowe is a moron of the highest order, so this common sense is wasted on him.

Chicago is now almost 2 million over the cap...and right now they are paying their two goalies a combined $12 million. They can try to trade Khabulin all they want. No one is going to take him.

Apparently, the Kings are showing interest. LA can pretty much steal him, since the Indian is between a rock and a salary cap.

Sakic supposedly said he will play for Colorado or retire.

Its always nice to see loyalty. Seeing Sakic in another uni would be like seeing Rice playing for the Seahawks.

[Antropov]

Let me clear my throat for this one. *Ahem, ahem* Can everyone hear me? Good.
MARIAN HOSSA IS A RED WING!
Holy fucking shit. I'm absolutely shocked. I guess that takes them out of the Sundin bidding, eh?

woooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[Ran]

He said he wanted to play for a contender, I didn't think he would sign a 1 year contract. Does that mean Chelios is out?

[Antropov]

Does that mean Chelios is out?

Signing Hossa left $3.3 million to sign Chelios and Filpulla. I can't see that being a problem unless Filpulla wants to be paid beyond his talent.

[Antropov]

Its 10:00pm on day 2. Other than the excellent Hossa news, here's the notable stuff from today (per James Mirtle):

Huselius signs with Blue Jackets
Penguins keep Orpik
Rangers deal for Zherdev
Atlanta inks Hainsey
Malkin signs extension
Avery does Dallas

[Ran]

So over the past 2 days, Columbus has dumped both of their "disappointing" prospects (Brule and Zherdev). You know, some day Columbus might make the playoffs.

That Avery contract was pretty stupid, too.

Looks like Buffalo has had talks with Jason Smith. So it is either him, or trade for a defenseman. I think Anaheim has an extra one.

[Antropov]

That Avery contract was pretty stupid, too.

If anything else, it furthers the notion that there are only two things that come from Texas.

[Diabolical]

I love the fact that Detroit can dish up that much cash and still be under the cap, with only Val Filppula needed to re-sign.

It could get a bit scary next year, although I can't see Zetterberg leaving.

Bigger decisions loom in the summer of 2009, when Hossa, Zetterberg and supporting forwards Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Kopecky will all be unrestricted.

[Antropov]

Sammy would make an excellent "other guy" in a trade if he can put up good numbers this season and Kopecky is completely arbitrary. Given the incredible farm system the Wings have in place, they'll more than likely be best served by letting those two slip by in order to commit some serious cash to Zetterberg (I want to say Franzen, too, but I'm not totally sold on him. Let's see what he does this year).

I wonder what number Hossa will pick. Maltby currently has the #18, Drake has #17, it kind of goes with out saying that #19 is occupied and Aaron Downey is #20. There is a distinct chance that Drake will retire, though. Otherwise, I think I can get used to seeing "HOSSA 16" in red and white.