July 5 - As Needed Only

The Bruins added Tomas Kaberle to their fold at the trade deadline this past season, and boy what a let down he turned out to be. Posting only 9 points in 24 games with Boston, Kaberle's season ended much worse than it actually was. He scored 4 goals and registered 43 assists in 82 games, but found fitting in with the B's a bit difficult.

So, what better way to get ready for next season than to head for a new club where he can make a fresh start. Enter the Carolina Hurricanes.

Carolina recently retained the services of Joni Pitkanen, and now have the services of one of the best puck-moving defenseman in the league. As part of the whirlwind surprise that this deal left us with came the additional deal between Boston and Carolina. The Canes sent Joe Corvo off to the Bruins for a 2012 draft pick. Yet another exciting day early in this off-season.

Elsewhere, the Winnipeg Jets resigned captain Andrew Ladd to a 5 year $22 million deal, and the Phoenix Coyotes and Keith Yandle agreed on a 5 year $26.5 million contract. Besides these two monster deals, there was Toronto inking F Clarke MacArthur to a 2 year $6.5 million contract, and Columbus brought in the services of D Marc Methot for 4 years at $12 million.

For updated free agent signings visit CapGeek.com

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July 4 - Easy Does It

The stunning trade between Minnesota and San Jose in the first round of the draft was apparently not enough to satisfy fellow GM's Doug Wilson and Chuck Fletcher. This time the two swapped a little more than prospects and draft picks. The Sharks Dany Heatley was sent to the Wild for Martin Havlat, and fireworks began to fly early on this 4th of July. These former teammates could never have predicted this moment in time, but each will have to deal with its reality. Heatley leaves a beleaguered Sharks squad that has been so close but yet so far from a shot at Lord Stanley's Cup, while Havlat joyfully joins teammate Brent Burns for a chance to help the same Sharks reach that coveted peak. Whatever may come of their respective future's, one must pause and take in this interesting news.

Heatley, who at one point in the not so distant past was a contender for the Rocket Richard Trophy, heads north after a relatively disappointing year in San Jose. In the 2010 - 2011 season, Heatley scored only 26 goals and 64 points, but it was his lackluster performance in the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs that turned out to be the real let down. In 18 playoff games, he managed a measly 3 goals, 9 total points and had a -2 rating. However, he is still a scoring threat, and now he has something to prove. Watch out for this guy to fit in pretty well and to make a resurgent effort in the 2011 - 2012 season. He may not carry the Wild into the playoffs, but he'll definitely have people tuning in to watch; especially with the help of teammate Devin Setoguchi.

Havlat, on the other hand, hasn't seen the post season since the "lights out hit" he suffered at the hands of Detroit's Niklas Kronwall. Minnesota's inability to make the playoffs has not been his fault, as he has averaged 20 goals and 58 points over the past couple of years. The Wild just didn't have the pieces they needed to make a real push. The Sharks have the pieces, and now they've offloaded a little drama as well. But, this paragraph is supposed to be about Havlat. Well, there's his breakout speed to talk about as NHL.com quoted GM Doug Wilson, "This is a guy when you are looking at high-end speed breakaway players that like to play in big moments, Marty is at top of that list." On top of this, Havlat comes at a $2.5 million discount per year. Expect Havlat to more than make up for the loss of Setoguchi, and to add a jolt of excitement and optimism to the locker room.

With this trade being completed late Sunday night, the 2011 offseason continued to entertain us as we await the return of hockey in North America. There's sure to be more free agency signings, but as this deal showed, it seems the trading between teams in a scramble to meet cap requirements may prove to be most entertaining. I for one am definitely paying attention!

For the most updated look at UFA signings and RFA re-signings visit CapGeek.

July 2 - The Saga's Fading

With all of the activity that Day #1 of free agency brought, NHL fans and commentators were left with little to cover today other than a recap of July 1's dealings. Oh, I almost forgot, we also saw Brad Richards choose a suitor, witnessed a half-hearted-almost-fooled-me phone interview with Jagr explaining how much he really "believes" in the Flyers (not the money, sure!), and a top-tier goalie in Vokoun head to the Caps for basically a job as a third goalie coach.

Did I say there was little to cover? My bad, there was enough left over to cover with the Richards deal alone. He's the proud new member of the New York Rangers, and another long-termed contract ($58.5 million over 9 years). Of course, no one is fooled by the cap hit ($6.5 million per year) since most of the money will be paid in the first few years. Most important of all, though, is the fact that the CBA was not breached. That's right, Brad and the Rangers did a good job dotting their "I's" and crossing their "T's"; well done ladies and gentlemen.

Now, there are a few things left to be determined such as the Rangers RFA outlook. Some might say there's little to no chance they are able to sign them all, but with a little over $16 million left I would say they've got a decent chance to land the most important guys. For a more in depth look at the Richards deal from a Ranger perspective, check my esteemed colleague Jim Cerny's blog here.

Some of the other business of the day included Simon Gagne to the Kings, Tim Connolly to the Leafs (next best choice after Richards), and Anthony Stewart to the Hurricanes. Detroit also sneakily added another established D-man in Ian White; got to love the consistency in Hockeytown. But, the most interesting deal of all was Vokoun to Capitals for one year and a measily $1.5 million.

I mean come on! Don't get me wrong, this is a great deal for Washington, and I congratulate them for being able to take advantage of the situation. But, Tomas could've easily landed a lot more money if he would've said yes to Tallon. Maybe he likes the way the Caps scored so much against his now former team, and feels he deserves a break from having to always play at an other than worldly level. There's one thing certain, however, Caps prospect goalie Braden Holtby will get another year to develop, and that's always good for a team's future. Neuvirth also has a veteran tender (and fellow Czech) to help drive him to the next level. Caps definitely made out like bandits in this deal and fill the middle of my list of today's winners.

Winner #1
New York Rangers
They sold their indentity as a team looking to rebuild from within, but signing the number one UFA is a great accomplishment. Again, I reference you to Jim Cerny's blog for further detail.

Winner #2
Washington Capitals
Even expecting Vokoun to stay seated after an offer like this would've been thought ludicrous a week ago. However, today is not a week ago, and the Caps did well with this signing. Looks like they're putting the pieces together on the Potomac.

Winner #3
Detroit Red Wings
It may not seem like much, but this is why the Wings are always in the playoffs. Ian White signing today adds another defenseman to their fold (Holland inked Mike Commodore yesterday), and helps keep the pressure off of their developing youngsters. Lidstrom, Stuart, and Kronwall are the core of this unit, and they alone are better than most NHL defensive squads. Cup contender, again, as usual.

Follow CapGeek.com for up to date UFA signings.

July 1 - Winners and Losers

An astonishing number of contracts were signed (or relative terms agreed upon) in one busy opening day of free agency. The gates flung open at noon today, and there was an immediate sense of the "frenzy" the NHL Network had been advertising. From Dale Tallon's rebuilding of Florida to the Flames and Rangers late night "Brad Richards Bidding War", this day was remarkably entertaining.

Twitterbugs were tweeting, and the NHL Network's "Breaking News" ticker seemed to never leave the screen. What was equally amazing was the number of fans like you and I that were actively weighing in with colorful commentary on practically each and every deal. After witnessing a day like today, one could only admit that the NHL is headed to an extremely interesting season and future.

No one can tell what the past few years worth of front-heavy, overloaded contracts will do to the League's future, but everyone from the athletes to the fans certainly hope there will be no looming lockout to fear. Today certainly felt reminiscent of the pre-Lockout era with teams spending unbelievable amounts of money, but what forced most of the teams to spend so much money was the salary floor of $48 million.

I don't believe that Panther's GM Dale Tallon would've spent as much money as he did on some of the new members of his team if the floor had been a bit lower. Maybe the future CBA could address teams overspending to hit the floor by adjusting to allow teams to pay realistic dollar amounts based on performance or estimated skill level. Overspending was what 2004 was supposed to be all about changing, but then again maybe what we saw today was not overspending but only a reflection of estimated inflation of the dollar!

So, on to the business of the day. I've selected whom I believe to be the top three winners and losers of July 1 and have listed them as follows:

Winner #1
James Wisniewski
With the newly provided vacancy (courtesy Mike Commodore), Wisniewski landed himself a solid contract worth $33 million over six years. I put him at #1 because he landed a monster payday, and came to terms 65 minutes before the actual start of free agency! He could've faced what other indecisive UFA's had to go through on this active day (Tomas Vokoun may be Europe-bound). This is quite possibly the most reasonable of all of the long-term, high-priced contracts on the day. Wisniewski did very well on this deal.

Winner #2
Pittsburgh/Detroit
No, this isn't a typo. These two teams dodged a bullet named Jagr when the Flyers moved ahead in the "Jaromir Sweepstakes" with a whopping $3.3 million, 1-year deal. Now, I know Jagr will now be the active points leader, and that he has performed well in Europe recently. But, I say buyer beware, and by buyer I mean you Holmgren. Swapping out Richards and Carter for an opportunity to take shots at your in-state rival (PHI also signed Maxime Talbot to a long-term deal) seems to be all that you've accomplished. Shero and Holland, I salute you for passing over this potential thorn in the side.

Winner #3
Jagr/Svoboda
Yes, I know that I just slammed the Flyers for signing Jagr, and that I inferred that he is old with the possibility to be a lemon. But, you've got to hand it to Jagr and his agent for milking the money out of this feeding frenzy. I'm calling all of it a publicity stunt aimed at getting Jagr as many greenbacks as possible that he could stuff into his duffle bag and retire with. It started to seem suspicious when ESPN's NHL headlines were "Where Are You" with a picture of Jagr outside of an airport terminal. So, hats off to you Mr. Svoboda, and congratulations to you Mr. Jagr. Here's hoping you prove me wrong, and at least add the value of your paycheck to the Flyer nation.

Loser #1
Christian Ehrhoff
I know he didn't sign today (he actually signed at 9:23pm on 6/30 - courtesy CapGeek.com), but after seeing what Wisniewski was able to land in the market I have to believe that Ehrhoff could've signed a bigger contract for a shorter term than 10 years! So, with the unknown looming Ehrhoff blinked, and a decade is a pretty long blink!

Loser #2
Dale Tallon
Don't get me wrong, I like what he did today. His losses were forced upon him because of the CBA-implemented salary floor. It used to be that really talented players could be paid whatever a team wanted to offer, and lower end talents got whatever the ownership cared to pay them. Nowadays, in the "everyone's a winner North America", teams are forced to spend X amount of dollars regardless of the talent pool. I believe Tallon's genius will not get the praise it deserves, because people will be wondering why he signed players like Fleischmann to a 4-year $18 million contract. So, to be clear, Tallon's a genius who is being sacrificed on the altar of the CBA.

Loser #3
Toronto Maple Leafs
The difference between the Panthers and Leafs is that Florida went after feasible contracts, and it seems as if Toronto was a bit distracted. It could have been Brad Richards, or it could have been that GM Brian Burke & Company was not prepared for all of the deals that actually closed today. Perhaps they thought that there would be opportunity to feel the market out, so I guess the "Fire Sale" memo never made it to there office. Now they've got two main options: fill out the roster with less-talented, low-priced contracts, or they can just go ahead and be like everyone else and just pay way too much money for the same roster filling fodder.

For a list of each UFA deal this Summer, click here.

And stay tuned, as I'm sure there's plenty more interesting deals to come.