Free Agent Frenzy Part Two

More deals roll in. I won’t be here all afternoon, but once I leave, I’ll come back tonight or tomorrow with some broad reactions to whatever happens today.

2:28- The Islanders sign Dwayne Roloson to a two year contract. He could back-up Rick DiPietro or start if/when the U.S. National team starter has another injury. Also, the Blackhawks sign Tomas Kopecky from Detroit, to go along with Marian Hossa, and Ty Conklin leaves Detroit for St. Louis.

2:47- Reports from TSN and Puck Daddy that Steve Montador has signed with Buffalo. The Boston Globe’s round-up of early signings thinks it’s a case of Sabres coach Lindy Ruff believing Montador can improve his defensive game with better coaching. Having Ryan Miller in goal helps too…

2:55- The Rangers sign Donald Brashear away from Washington, while the Caps add Mike Knuble from the Flyers. Not a Brashear fan although he has developed into more than just a fighter. Apparently, Ranger fans now have to forgive him for crushing Blair Betts last season. Knuble should add some scoring depth to Washington’s forwards, taking the heat off the likes of Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin. For two years and $2.8 million per, it could be a bargain. Coincidently, Brashear’s contract with the Rangers is virtually identical.

3:27- Nothing big right now, some relatively minor signings, although Scott Niedermayer has re-signed with Anaheim (which was virtually certain after they traded away Chris Pronger), while Philadelphia signs Brian Boucher for what will be his second stint with the Flyers. He’ll compete with Ray Emery for the starting job in goal. Not that this will give Flyer fans too much confidence.

4:03- Jaroslav Spacek signs with Montreal for three years and $11.5 million. Decent offensive defenseman, but might be overpaid at that rate. It probably means Mike Komisarek isn’t coming back.

4:19- Edmonton addresses their goaltending need by signing Nikolai Khabibulin to a four year deal. He’s 36, but was excellent last year (25-8-7, 2.33 GAA), winning away the Blackhawks’ goalie job from Cristobal Huet. Almost certainly an upgrade over Dwayne Roloson.

4:21- Erik Cole re-signs with Carolina for two years.

4:48- Puck Daddy’s live blog posts confirmations that Scott Clemmensen has signed with Florida. He did a great job in New Jersey filling in for the injured Martin Brodeur during the mid-part of last season, and while he will likely again be a back-up, this time to Tomas Vokoun, he apparently will also get a nice pay raise too. Further, Ian Laperriere leaves Colorado to join the Flyers. Both players signed for three year deals.

5:06- Hal Gill is headed to Montreal. Two years, $4.5 million. He did well for Pittsburgh during the playoffs last year, but don’t ask him to be a front-line defenseman. He tends to do a little better in the #2 or 3 pairing. Elliotte Friedman of CBC notes that Gill likes disciplined defensive systems, which could make him a good fit for Jacques Martin.

5:17- More from me later. Gotta run.

Free Agent Frenzy

As TSN hypes NHL free agency every year! We’ll update from time-to-time over the course of the day with stuff culled from various sources. Quick-fire reactions as warranted.

Canucks will take over a $12 million cap hit per year to keep the Sedin twins. Mild surprise there, because it sounded like Toronto was going to bid and possibly go all-in on them. But they keep the playmaking and goal-scoring pair, and for not much more than they would have paid under one of those 10-12 year deals players have gotten lately (these contracts are for 5 years each). At least one Canucks fan/blogger likes it on the grounds that Vancouver is keeping its core intact, and might now even have a window to win the Cup, especially if they add one more top-notch scorer.

On the other hand, they lose Mattias Ohlund, who is headed to Tampa. The ‘Bolts did give him a seven year deal, even though he’s 33 years old, but that keeps the cap hit under $4 million per year. For at least the first 3-4 years of the deal, he should definitely improve their porous blueline from last year, and could be a valuable mentor for this year’s #2 overall pick and fellow Swede Victor Hedman. As Scott Burnside notes in ESPN’s running blog (linked above), this may up the price for Mike Komisarek and Rob Scuderi, because with Jay Bouwmeester choosing to accept Calgary’s offer last night, there aren’t many good defensemen on the market.

1:15- Puck Daddy has a live blog with twitters from various good sources and some comments. Good stuff so far. Also one from TSN. I will mostly post what is officially confirmed. Nonetheless, there are rumors that the Leafs have signed former Ranger Colton Orr. Not a bad move, because as Derek Harmsworth notes, Brian Burke wants them to be a tougher, workmanlike team than they have been in recent years.

1:20- Remember to hit refresh (or just check in every so often) for updated posts. WordPress doesn’t post what I add automatically…

1:27- Another blog notes that Radek Dvorak re-signed with Florida, which the Sun-Sentinel confirms. Scintillating, I know.

1:34- A Flyer fan’s wishlist. Not sure if they’ve really got the cap room to do much though. Chris Pronger might be it for the moment.

1:43- Andy Greene resigns with New Jersey. Probably more of a depth move than anything else; they actually didn’t give him a qualifying offer because of cap considerations, hence he became a free agent.

1:50- TSN confirms the Panthers have re-signed David Booth to a 6 year contract worth over $25 million. Booth set a personal-best with 31 goals last season, and could make next year’s U.S. Olympic team.

Another Wild Day

Reality finally hit for Syracuse, as Louisville just had more left in the tank and blew them away in the second half of the Big East title fight (which is almost an accurate depiction of most Big East games these days). Louisville’s photo gallery sums up the intensity of the game and the thrill of victory. Still, missing all those layups has to be an issue for Syracuse going into the NCAA Tournament, especially since they might be staring at a trap game/seed for the first round. Louisville, meanwhile, did something seriously impressive. Whatever happens in the Dance, they finished the regular-season in first place alone, and won the conference tournament too. In other words, undisputed Big East champions. Against opponents like the ones they have had to play, that’s saying something even bigger than usual, and Rick Pitino just added another notch to his eventual Hall-of-Fame resume, this time at what is practically his second home.

Meantime, LSU, North Carolina, and Michigan State all fell in their conference tournament semis. Congrats in order to Florida State, who took out UNC late. Their basketball program is now truly on the national map with their best ever wins and results as an ACC school. Nice to take the football program’s troubles off the front page for a change (other FSU teams were also involved). As for UNC, I hope for their sake that Ty Lawson’s healthy come next weekend. On paper, that team should probably win the national title, but if he can’t go, I could see them losing before the Elite Eight. Mississippi State might have played their way in by beating LSU, regardless of whether or not they claim the SEC title in the final against Tennessee. Their coach was modest about the team’s case after the game, but the stats pretty much read like those of an NCAA tournament participant. USC stole a bid in the Pac-10, at least two teams are going to be delighted come Sunday night that Duquesne and Baylor lost their chances at conference auto bids.

On another note, congratulations to Martin Brodeur. He tied Patrick Roy’s all-time win record in his native Montreal. It just so happens that Roy himself starred there for a number of years. And fittingly, Brodeur could break the record on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day. Even as a Ranger fan, I’ll never begrudge the guy his success because he performs at a high-level every night, plays an absurd number of games each season (aside from this one because of an injury), and he seems like a good person too. Both he and Roy made some classy comments in their post-game media sessions. Also, very good job by the fans in Montreal to salute him afterward, even though he obviously played a key role in beating the Canadiens and putting them at risk of dropping out of the playoffs.

Anyway, I guess Henrik Lundqvist now has something to shoot for! After all, records this big require pretty good teams (plus longevity), so the closer he comes to whatever mark Brodeur finishes with, the better the Rangers will have likely done over the next ten years or so (yes, I am going to assume that Henrik will play most, if not all, of his NHL career on Broadway).

Lastly, a shout-out to Jeff, Dan, and several other friends from Colgate that I ran into yesterday in Manhattan.

And All is Right in the World…

Okay, not exactly. I don’t have a solution to health care, and we’ll see if the various groups who discussed how to find one at the White House can do better. Same with all the other issues.

And A-Rod could be out for a while. Despite the vociferous boos from a minority of Yankee fans, I appreciate how great a player is. What the Yankees do will have a lot to do with his performance because he is unquestionably the most dangerous hitter in the lineup. If A-Rod needs to have surgery for his torn labrum now instead of after the season, I’m not sure that the Yankees are that likely to win the AL East. I really think the Rays still have room to improve (even if tougher competition means their win total could still drop) and it’s anyone’s guess what the Red Sox will do this season. They will likely at least get the wild card because a reasonably healthy C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Chien-Ming Wang on the mound should turn a few losses from last year (started by the likes of Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner) into wins.

But… some warmer weather is finally coming to NY. And this guy’s back. Now things are really getting better. He’s not fit yet, while Derek Morris and Nik Antropov have to adjust to their new teammates, but coupled with the Blueshirts’ other acquisitions, the Rangers should at least be entertaining for the remainder of this season, if probably not a title contender. Granted it’s come against two of the NHL’s worst teams in the Avalanche and Islanders, but they are starting to win and score goals again.

Credit to ESPN and the Associated Press for this photo of a rivalry that we apparently haven’t seen the last of. Life is getting better each day.