NHL Free Agency

[sw_vile]

Started today with 3 big moves already..

#1 .
The Philadelphia Flyers made a big splash to kick off the offseason, signing centre Daniel Briere to an eight-year contract worth $52 million. The deal will average $6.5 million a season against the salary cap, with the first year paying him $10 million. The contract also features a no movement clause.

he is getting over paid..but eh atleast Buffalo will keep Drury now it looks like..who is the better player imo.

#2.
The Anaheim Ducks have signed defenceman Mathieu Schneider to a two-year deal paying him $5.5 million and $5.75 million, prompting speculation that Scott Niedermayer is likely to retire.

This sucks! :mad: as I am a redwings fan but good for him he will help the ducks win another cup problly.

#3.
Free agent defenceman and Michigan native Brian Rafalski has agreed to a five-year, $30 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

yay Detroit fills Mathieu Schneiders spot and picks up a solid defenceman.

still alot of free agents to be signed. I would love to see detroit pick up Ryan Smyth :D

[ons]

just goes to show what a waste the lockout year was, the caps alrdy at 50$ million and players salaries are inflated like crazy now. Gomez is supposedly getting 7.5 million or so a year. NJ needs to do something big this year, losing gomez (most likely) and rafalski when lamoriello promised to bring in more solid D.

[JimtheMagicalHamster]

Rafalski is not good or solid. He can skate and that's about it. He is extremely weak in the puck, hesitates going to pick up the puck after its been dumped in, couldn't flatten a fly, can't clear the front of the net, turns the puck over, has poor awareness and has a shitty shot. He got absolutely killed by Ottawa in the playoffs because he got manhandled by bigger forwards. Countless times he was going into the corner ahead of the Sens' player and protected himself instead of taking the hit to move the puck. I honestly believe he was the Devils' worst player in the playoffs and was a huge reason why they got eliminated. He is not worth the 4+ million he got last year and he certainly isn't worth 6 million. I don't see him as more than a slightly better version of Tom Poti, who signed for 4years/$14 million.

As a Devils' fan, I hope they take the 4 million he was making last year and use it to increase their offer to Gomez or to try and sign another defenseman not named Souray. If they can maybe get Bertuzzi for a reasonable price, I think he'd fill a big hole as a power forward. Probably be good for him from a personal standpoint to go to a team without the media spotlight to try to regain his game.

I'm wondering how the Briere deal is going to affect how much Drury/Gomez get. Those 3 were generally regarded as options 1a, 1b and 1c, and I'm wondering if the $6.5 million is going to be the kind of the going rate for the other two.

I thought it was kinda funny that Shawn Thornton signed with the team that traded his brother away a couple of years ago.

[Repair Man]

Gomez just went to the Rangers.

[AGT-Shady]

^yep

"Scott Gomez is staying in the Tri-State area, but not with the only team he's played for in his seven-year NHL career.

Gomez, one of the top centers on the free-agent market, signed a seven-year deal with the New York Rangers, ESPN The Magazine's E.J. Hradek reports."

[JimtheMagicalHamster]

Jesus, Rangers signed Drury also. Best two FA and got a great talent in Cherepanov in the draft. What an awesome offseason.

"Sportsnet.ca has learned that the New York Rangers have signed free agent rival Scott Gomez to a seven-year deal worth over $50 million, as well as free agent Chris Drury to a five-year, $35 million deal."

[ons]

looks like rangers are trying to buy a stanley cup again. Lets see how it works out.

[saut]

except drury and gomez arent exactly messier or gretzky

[Phazex3375]

watch out baby here come the flyers

[Repair Man]

I think Buffalo is going to burn to the ground by tomorrow morning. Wow. People here are fucking HEATED.

[9h0st]

smyth signs with avs, coming back to haunt the oilers

[eminent]

we got pitkanen and sanderson, not too bad but still had to give up enough. a little surprised the canucks didnt do anything. the avs are gonna be a lot better now, lame smyth.

and damn did the sabres take a hit.

[Hellsy]

As an absolute Flyers lunatic, I'm very happy with Holmgren.

He's done a ton to turn this team around in the offseason.

Just need another offensive defensemen (who doesn't play like Dave Babych in his own end) and it will be a clean turnaround.

He's also bought us a future. Our prospects are very decent now (Downie, Parent, VRD, Coburn) when we were ranked one of the lowest teams in prospect talent.

[Jomma]

lol @ the rangers trying to buy a cup

do the NY teams ever get it? (notibly yankees and rangers - although it has paid off before for the yanks)

[Magus]

how did Buffalo not sign both Briere and Drury? Is living there THAT bad?

[Sutterkane]

You guys can call me crazy if you want, but I'm kind of glad Kariya is out of Nashville. I got pretty heated watching him in the playoffs last year. He thought his 5'10 frame was just going to pound it in the shark's zone vs thornton and cheechoo(both over 6') forchecking and he lost the puck every single time. At least legwand was trying to juke them. I won't miss Hartnell either since I got tired of everyone saying he plays dirty, plus he was hurt all the damn time. I will miss Vokoun and Timonen tho; don't know what to think about this Ortmeyer kid yet.

[Repair Man]

how did Buffalo not sign both Briere and Drury? Is living there THAT bad?

The GM completely mismanaged their contract situations.

[Magus]

Did he anticipate the market incorrectly? Couldn't he just throw the house at one of them?

[JimtheMagicalHamster]

I've heard that they offered Drury as much (or more) than what he signed for with New York, but he wanted to play for the Rangers. They didn't think Briere was worth what he was offered (which I agree with) and were prepared to let him go.

It sucks for them, but I think they only made one mistake (albeit a big one) in thinking that Drury would come back if the money was the same. By the time Drury signed, Briere was already with the Flyers and so they couldn't up their offer to him to try to retain at least one of them.

[Hellsy]

do the NY teams ever get it? (notibly yankees and rangers - although it has paid off before for the yanks)

Yeah. How dare they try to sign the best players available every year.

4 world series in 11 years.

6 AL pennants in 11 years.

[ruker]

Yeah. How dare they try to sign the best players available every year.

4 world series in 11 years.

6 AL pennants in 11 years.

They should just buy the Angles.

[Kenobody]

As a Devils' fan, I hope they take the 4 million he was making last year and use it to increase their offer to Gomez or to try and sign another defenseman not named Souray. If they can maybe get Bertuzzi for a reasonable price, I think he'd fill a big hole as a power forward. Probably be good for him from a personal standpoint to go to a team without the media spotlight to try to regain his game.The Ducks just signed Bertuzzi (two years, $8 million)

For those interested, here's a real time NHL Free Agent Tracker (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=4965)

[Repair Man]

....and there goes Zubrus to NJ.

I wonder if Buffalo actually plans on signing someone.

[JimtheMagicalHamster]

I'm happy with the Zubrus signing. He's not as good as Gomez, but he is still a solid top 6 forward for a team and he's making less than half of what Gomez got.

I'm surprised nobody has signed Souray yet. He's crap defensively, but I was expecting somebody to throw a ton of money at him because he has an incredible shot and he's big.

[AGT-Shady]

Yeah. How dare they try to sign the best players available every year.

4 world series in 11 years.

6 AL pennants in 11 years.

And yet 5 years and 1.25 Billion dollars later and they're still waiting for another WS.

[Suicidal Anomaly]

And yet 5 years and 1.25 Billion dollars later and they're still waiting for another WS.

LOL seriously. Ever since they started go spend crazy they haven't won shit.

[BigSerd]

Have fun cheering for that minor league outfit the Preadators are going to throw on the ice this year. Seriously, are they going to win 10 games?

[Mario]

Wow Red Wings..... I was gone for a weekend and come back to this. We lose Bertuzzi who was finally getting use to playing with everyone. Thankfully get rid of Lang, I feel bad for Blackhawk fans. Schneidz is gone so we have no offense on the D line except Lidstrom. They sign Rafalski to a 5 year deal? He hasn't even played 1 second with a red wings jersey on and the commit to 5 years. I can't believe he is our #2 defenseman. Plus we lose Calder a Grind Line style player that we need.

Lol at Kariya goes to Blues to waste a year.
Lol at Kings sign like 12 people and basically did nothing.
Lol at Buffalo GG one fluke year.
Lol at Ducks, nvm another cup for them 07-08

[MightyMouse]

I like the capitals signings, If they get to keep Nylander, I think hes really good and he did great in the playoffs for NYR, also Kozlov had a great year. Tho I do not feel they will be a powerhouse, they could make the playoffs, and I would like to see ovechkin play with some good people along with him.

[bergenhell]

Wow Red Wings..... I was gone for a weekend and come back to this. We lose Bertuzzi who was finally getting use to playing with everyone. Thankfully get rid of Lang, I feel bad for Blackhawk fans. Schneidz is gone so we have no offense on the D line except Lidstrom. They sign Rafalski to a 5 year deal? He hasn't even played 1 second with a red wings jersey on and the commit to 5 years. I can't believe he is our #2 defenseman. Plus we lose Calder a Grind Line style player that we need.

Lol at Kariya goes to Blues to waste a year.
Lol at Kings sign like 12 people and basically did nothing.
Lol at Buffalo GG one fluke year.
Lol at Ducks, nvm another cup for them 07-08

the sabres made it to the conference finals the last two years, do you mean two fluke years?

[ruker]

The Ducks just signed Bertuzzi (two years, $8 million)

Such a bust for the Wings, glad to get rid of him.

[Mario]

sure

[sw_vile]

Im glad Bertuzzi is gone tbh..he didnt do much for the wings ..sucks too see lang go..and schnieder...
oh well DATSYUK for 7 more years :D we'll be ok.

[carrot]

The Wings definitely did good to get rid of Bertuzzi. He's been mediocre at best since he left Vancouver.

Hopefully the Leafs can trade away Raycroft now that Toskala signed an extension until '09-'10.

And in the wishful thinking department, trading away Kubina or (especially) McCabe would be super.

[Mario]

lang is a joke. i rather wings be 8th in the west without lang than watch him turn the puck over another time

[sw_vile]

lang is a joke. i rather wings be 8th in the west without lang than watch him turn the puck over another time

or not watch him save our ass again vs san jose :)

[Hellsy]

And yet 5 years and 1.25 Billion dollars later and they're still waiting for another WS.

It isn't like I am paying for it.

They try.

Unlike, say, the Phillies, who have spent that amount of money over 27 years and haven't won shit since 1980.

[UsTeD]

Crosby signed to a 5 year extension = yay

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2931332

[Repair Man]

Next seasons NHL schedule is posted tomorrow. Theres going to be a regular season game held outdoors. The local news here is reporting that Buffalo will be hosting, but the official announcement will be tomorrow. Buffalo's opponent is rumored to be the Penguins or Maple Leafs.

I can see it now...the Sabres and Leafs duking it out in the middle of a snow storm at Ralph Wilson Stadium in early February...

I'm so fucking there if this is true.

[AGT-Shady]

^lol sounds like a blast.

and Go Pens, love to see them opening the checkbook!

[saut]

looks like the outside game will be pens/sabers

would have been an epic game last season. now im not so sure. poor sabers.

btw pens locking up crosby for 5 more years is fantastic. looks like fleury will also have a new contract before the season starts. now just to figure out how to pay staal and malkin after this season....

[CZ_]

Next seasons NHL schedule is posted tomorrow. Theres going to be a regular season game held outdoors. The local news here is reporting that Buffalo will be hosting, but the official announcement will be tomorrow. Buffalo's opponent is rumored to be the Penguins or Maple Leafs.

I can see it now...the Sabres and Leafs duking it out in the middle of a snow storm at Ralph Wilson Stadium in early February...

I'm so fucking there if this is true.

Id go although i already got 40tickets to the ottawa season :S

[Repair Man]

looks like the outside game will be pens/sabers

would have been an epic game last season. now im not so sure. poor sabers.

The Sabres are still going to be within the top 6 or so in the east. They lost their two captains but they've got quite a few guys that played down in the AHL last year that are pretty fucking good. They won't be missing a hell of a lot in terms of skill; leadership, on the other hand...

Connolly is back after missing 80 games last season, Stafford will have a permanent spot on the roster, and Paestch is ready to step into an every-night role. Then they've still got guys like Pat Kaleta, Clark McCarthur, and Mike Ryan they can bump up when they need it.

They won't be dominant right out of the gates this year but they're still going to be good enough to earn one of the top 5 or 6 playoff spots.

[UsTeD]

I have to agree w/ repair. And I am def road tripping from Pittsburgh up there depending on the availability of tickets!

[StryKuuR]

I think the avs did well picking up Smith and Hannon...addressed real needs they had. I still think they could use a solid 2-4 d man.

If Forsburg was willing to come back for pennies I would take him, but I doubt he would. But dont take him at the cost of messign with the team.