Sorts of Sports

NHL Free Agent Live Blog

You know you loved it and you know you missed it, and here’s the 2^nd Annual NHL Free Agency running diary!

The draft is in the rear-view mirror and teams now have had time to look at their squads and see what puzzle pieces are missing to take them to the promised land and have them hoisting the Cup at the end of next season.  Steve provided you with a great rundown yesterday of where he thought players will go, and today will hopefully be an exciting one full of moves and signings.

11:55 – Things are about to get underway.  Currently sitting at my desk checking various news sources and clearly getting nothing done work-wise.   As per CBA rules, no free agents can sign with a team until Noon Eastern time, but trades can happen at any time.  There has been one this morning – with Philly trading a 2^nd round pick in the 2012 draft to Tampa for D Andrej Meszaros.  A good depth move by Philly and Tampa should always be stocking up on draft picks.

12:02 – And the Rangers are the first on the board signing G Martin Biron to a 2yr year just south of $1M per year – a good backup for Henrik in NYR.

12:03 – The Bruins don’t take long either signing PK F Daniel Paille to a 2yr deal worth just north of $1M a year.  I am definitely not going to get anything done.  While you can’t sign before noon – all these deals just needed to be signed at noon, that’s why they’re coming in two minutes after Free Agency opened.

12:06 – There’s a strange calm in the process.  I expected more deals to finalize at noon.  Well I’ll do some work for 5 or 10 minutes.

12:14 – My top Forward available – Kovalchuk – D man – Hamhuis – G –Nabokov.

12:22 – Ottawa makes the biggest signing of the young day picking up Sergei Gonchar for 3yrs for $5.5M with a No-Trade-Clause.  I can’t say I’d be very happy with that deal as a Sens fan, seems like a little too much for too long since Gonchar is already 36 years old.

12:27 – While It might seem like my updates are few and far between there are two things to consider.  1) I am at work and need to earn my keep, and 2) I’ll be doing this until about 6pm tonight so there will be plenty to read.

12:38 – Serious talks about Marc Savard to Calgary for Robyn Regehr – both players would have to waive their No Trade and No Movement clauses, respectively.  I think Regehr on the blue line in Boston is a good step for the Bruins to make a Stanley Cup push, although losing Savard will be a massive loss.  Would have liked to see him and Tyler Seguin on a line together next year.

12:54 – Nothing really worthwhile to talk about – a 1yr deal to Alex Tanguay from Calgary for $1.7M. A bit of an overpayment, as I haven’t been all that impressed with him since his Colorado days. Only 5 hours to go – hopefully things pick up.

2:10 – After a nice lunch it seems as if there have been a few different deals worked out.  The biggest is Derek Morris resigning with Phoenix.  Apparently he likes that dry heat and a possible move to Canada as he signed a 4yr deal worth a total of $11M.

2:13 – Alex Auld signs with Montreal for a 1yr deal worth $1M.  Always liked Auld after his strong play as backup for the Bruins when Fernandez was injured a few years back.

2:15 – The other 2 big signings while I was away were Michalek Zbynek to Pitt and Antero Niittymaki to San Jose.  Zbynek is signed for 5yrs at $4M per year which is Pittsburgh trying to replace Gonchar on the blue line – and the Niittymaki signing makes me think that Nabokov might not be playing in NHL next year.  Maybe he’ll take a winter trip to Russia and play for KHL.  I hear Siberia is nice that time of year.

2:21 – Joey Crabb just signed with Toronto!  Isn’t a big deal I just wanted to write his name.

2:29 – Dan Ellis to Tampa.  Let me correct my earlier statement about Tampa should be collecting draft picks.  I forgot that Yzerman is now in charge down there.  As he is the man who put together the Canadian national team, I’d have faith in him to run my team as well if I’m a Bolts’ fan.  Also extended Martin St. Louis for 4 yrs.  Both are good moves for Tampa.

2:46 – 2 more deals – Boogaard to NYR (a big fellow that should push people around) and Paul Martin to Pitt in another good move by the Pens – locked him up for next 5 yrs at $5M/year.  I like both moves.

2:53 – Boogaard 4 years at $1.65M/year is not the deal I expected to hear.  I see it as a big overpayment.  Plus NYR doesn’t have that much cap room, doesn’t make sense to spend it on Boogaard.  To say he isn’t an offensive forward is an understatement.  Hasn’t scored a goal in 4 years.  This deal is absolutely perplexing.

3:16 – Now a quarter hour past the halfway point.  All three of my #1s are still out looking to be signed.  Philadelphia has had a good day thus far, their defense is downright scary.  An improvement like this is remarkable for a team that went to the finals last year.  Calgary has made some interesting decisions, I expect them to have a busy rest of the afternoon, as they still have some holes they have to fill.

3:28 – I would have expected a few more trades to have occurred by now . . .

3:37 – Is it possible that my three biggest names don’t sign today?  I mean I guess it’s possible but where is the fun in that?  Com’n GMs – let’s make it so I don’t look like a complete and total idiot.

3:55 – The Olli Jokinen return to Calgary is confusing the entire hockey analyst world.  TSN’s Dave Hodge said it best “Who gets homeless Uncle Ned for the next year?” For all the places for Jokinen to end up – I don’t think anyone would have picked a return to Calgary.

4:00 – Henrik Tallinder to NJ is a very good pickup and a bigger loss for Buffalo.  Buffalo has now lost both Tallinder and Lydman via free agency.  Does Darcy Regier know that today is July 1^st and that he too can sign FAs?  According to capgeek.com they only have 5 defensemen who spent significant time in the NHL last season and $13M to spend under the cap.  Maybe they can trade with Toronto for Thomas Kaberle, they need bodies on the blue line.

4:04 – It has gotten very quiet on the Savard/Regehr noise, there was an awful lot of red tape to cross to get it done, we’ll see if anything actually happens.

4:12 – And it’s rumored my #1 defenseman is off the board!  Hamhuis to Vancouver.  An interesting move as they don’t have a ton of cap room and need to sign a few more guys to fill out the team.  I would expect them to make a trade with someone to shed some salary.

4:14 – Hamhuis is to Vancouver for $4.5M/year which I think is a good price – still waiting to hear about the length of the deal.  Also – as a hockey fan – the Canadian coverage of the Entry Draft, Opening of Free Agency & the Trade Deadline are second to none.  If you watch the TSN coverage, you will literally see the analysts checking their Blackberries on television and reading directly from them.  It’s just excellent sports coverage.

4:23 – Reports have Anton Volchenkov signing with the Devils for 6 years.  I haven’t seen the total amount yet, but apparently Lou wasn’t too pleased with his defensive core as he’s spending some significant coin on them so far this offseason.  But to be fair they did have to replace Paul Martin, and I think they did that and improved.  NJ really is a premier club in terms of personnel decisions.

4:27 – Teams that I can see haven’t made a move (this might not be a comprehensive list but just off the top of my head): Buffalo, Detroit, New York Islanders, Carolina, Atlanta, Florida Panthers, LA Kings, Minnesota, Dallas, Chicago, Nashville, Colorado, St. Louis, Washington.  That’s 14 by my count and I’m sure I’m missing a few.  It’s always interesting to see who is active on days like this.

4:43 – Hamhuis isn’t a done deal yet.  Apparently the papers haven’t been filed with the NHL so other teams are still open to make him offers.  So my top guys at each slot are still on the board, could get very exciting.

4:54 – Actually not exciting at all, Vancouver makes it official with Hamhuis at the same terms that I mentioned earlier ($4.5M/year).

4:59 – Now I have to give Steve the credit of putting his name out there with predictions – but sadly he doesn’t have a single one right thus far in the day.  0 for 9 at 5pm.  You can get my contact information from Chris there Steve, I’ll gladly take that $5.

5:05 – As we enter the final hour; worth noting that defensemen have been the biggest movers, and I took a look at all the signings of the day, I think Pitt comes out the strongest with their two moves of picking up Martin & Zbynek, each for the next 5 years.  They got younger by not signing Gonchar and while the loss of Hamhuis hurts, I think there is an upgrade on what was already a good defense.

5:13 – And Buffalo is on the board!  Jordan Leopold.  I think he’s going to do well in Buffalo’s system, and while he doesn’t make up for the loss of both Tallinder & Lydman, I think he’s underrated and will be a strong blue-line presence for the next three years.

5:19 – I should mention that there was a trade earlier in the afternoon – Atlanta gets Andrew Ladd from Chicago for a 2^nd round pick (while it hasn’t been disclosure yet I’m believing it is in the 2011 draft) and Ivan Vishnevskiy.

5:21 – Also worth noting is that my spell check hates me right now with all of these foreign names.  My screen is lit up like a Christmas show with all the red marks I’m seeing.

5:26 – By my count there have been 27 signings and 2 trades today.  I have no idea how it stacks up against last year’s July 1^st and I’m far too lazy to check, but wanted to let the readers know how active it’s been.

5:30 – Down to the final 30 minutes for me.  Do we see a big splash?  A GM waiting to drop the biggest news of the day?

5:50 – AND STEVE IS ON THE BOARD! Saku Koivu to Anaheim for two years.  Now I’ve never met Steve or had a conversation with him, but you got to be happy for the guy.

5:52 – Getting to the home stretch – we’ll see if we have a deal or two left in us for the day.

6:00 – It seems as if that is going to do it for the day.  Not a bad first day by any means.  There were definitely some puzzling moves (I really won’t ever understand the Jokinen move, or the Boogaard one either for that matter), there were a number of very smart moves as well.  And look at it this way, there wasn’t any LeBron controversy to overshadow a litany of moves today like what was seen in the NBA.  I heard somewhere that there are less than 100 days to the start of the 2010/2011 season.  I know that I am excited for it, a number of things to look forward to: Another year of the NHL opening the season overseas, the big Winter Classic matching up Crosby/Ovechkin.  A lot to be excited for as a hockey fan.  Hope your team ended the day more improved than when they started.  July 1 is always a good day.