NHL - Free Agent Frenzy and More!

...And they're off! The moment free agency began teams started buying early and often. Some of the bigger names were;

DAY 1
- Zdeno Chara to Boston,
-Ed Jovanovski to Phoenix,
-Marc Savard to Boston,
-Scott Thornton to LA,
-Martin Gerber to Ottawa,
-Rob Blake back to LA and,
-Jay McKee to St Louis

Then on DAY 2

-Jason Arnott to the Predators,
-Shean Donovan to Boston and,
-Doug Weight back to St Louis

Since then we have seen a few more moves like,
-Brendan Witt to the Islanders,
-Steve Rucchin to the Thrashers,
-Bill Guerin to St Louis and,
-Marty Reasoner to the Oilers

There are a few goalies left but there aren't many teams looking for them right now which makes it tough for some teams. Vancouver for instance needs to shed Cloutier's salary but who will take him? Here is a list of some of the notables

J-S Giguere, $3.99 million, Anaheim - best goalie available
Martin Biron, qualified for $2.1 million, Buffalo - Best value
Evgeni Nabokov, $5 million, San Jose - Arguably 2nd best available, Toskala makes him expendable
Dan Cloutier, $2.55 million, Vancouver - Probably under-rated but salary + low demand leaves him high and dry
Robert Esche, $1.0m, Philadelphia - Sieve, good price though
Manny Legace, unrestricted free agent - solid and consistent veteran, too old
Ed Belfour, unrestricted free agent - old and broken, should retire
David Aebischer, restricted free agent - Likely staying put
Dominik Hasek, unrestricted free agent - done like dinner

I imagine there will be a few trades and a lot more signings in the next few weeks and who knows what any team will look like by training camp.

Of course not all the news involved free agent player signings. Steve Yzerman ended a 22 year career on the weekend meaning he will be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame in 3 years. A great player and an even better person it will be a great day when the Red Wings retire #19.

Finally the blockbuster trade everyone was waiting for happened between the Oilers and the Ducks. Chris Pronger went one way and coming back was Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid, two consecutive 1st round picks and a 2nd rounder. I think it is an amazing deal for both sides but it will definitely benefit the Oilers in 3 or 4 years.

I love the off-season, I just wish my Canucks could find a decent right winger since we are about to lose Anson Carter after just trading Todd Bertuzzi...oh well at least we have the Sedin's....

Until next time remember, no Payne no gain.