saskhab

Good for Jeff. Very good player when healthy.

So are the Red Wings. So it's us or Philly? Rangers?

Why did people think Wiz wouldn't get $5.5m? Souray got about that four years ago when the cap was much smaller, and Wiz is younger than Sheldon was. He could've gotten more if he waited a couple of hours.

Garon or Theodore, anybody?

I'm assuming we'll hear a Trotter signing sometime on July 1-4th as well. That signing is still not official, but all indications are that he is returning. Trotter could be put in Pyatt's spot. Pouliot's spot I think we're saving for a UFA. Remember, Trotter and Desharnais were a deadly tandem in the AHL just a little while ago.

No way is it 3.9m per. I assume it is 3.9/3, or 1.3 per year. Since Moen got 1.5m (and others have scored higher), Talbot probably thinks he can do better.

Laich gets 4.75m per from the Caps. Looks like they just waited until they saw the cap # before getting serious on the offers.

I'm over the top for this one. My junior team and my NHL team finally converge! I've talked to the kid briefly at a season ticket holders function, seems less serious, more of a joker type. Grew up a Canucks fan in Alberta. On the ice, he definitely went under the radar, but I like his skill set quite a bit. He got more bold as the year went on, looking forward to what he'll bring as potentially on the Blades' top pairing next year with Siemens. He's got great instincts as far as pinching goes.

Sounds like a lot of Thrashers fans will be becoming Predators fans from conversations I've had. That is, the ones that aren't completely anti-NHL as a result of what happened.

Losing Detroit would hurt teams a little, but I think if Phoenix were in the same division as Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver that would be made up for in a hurry.

I guess maybe the counter to that is that Nashville could build a rivalry with a similar type opponent in Dallas... and now that Chicago is hot, there's hope they can sustain and become the 'new Detroit', the successful O6 franchise out West steeped in tradition and history. I know Detroit fans are sick of offering charity. They want their games against the Leafs, Habs, Rangers, etc. Putting them in the SE is a compromise: they get more games, but they don't get an O6 division rival, but they can build on their Pittsburgh rivalry, re-establish a Philly one, keep the Columbus one and maybe ignite a Washington or Carolina/Tampa one. I'm not convinced that Florida will be there long term, but they do still exist, I suppose.

Well that's great that they have all that young talent up front to contend with in a couple of years... when Bryz is 35, Pronger is in his 40s, and they have issues there again! BRILLIANT STRATEGY! Folks, the Philly window? It's gone. They just closed it with their hand still in there. This is a terrible, terrible day for the Flyers. They now are relying on really young guys and really old guys. There are not enough prime year players. Did they need a goalie? Sure, they needed help there. But they signed a 31 year old guy for 9 years when they had a very promising 22 year old rookie. They could've signed a decent goalie for a couple of years and left it at that.

One of the reasons they like having Detroit in the West is they boost the attendance of some softer markets, like C-bus and Nashville. They might grant them their wish of going East but make them do the same for Tampa and Florida. They cut out the Caps from the Patrick over a decade ago... they've maintained some level of rivalry with the other teams despite this. I'm not sure I understand divisional playoffs without going full out like the old days. This proposal is interesting, but really weird on that front. So the NHL wants every geographical region represented by at least two teams in the Conference semifinals, and then they don't care.

Maybe it would be NE+NY: Montreal, Boston, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, NYI, NYR, New Jersey. Then: Detroit, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Philly, Washington, Carolina, Tampa, Florida.

And now Columbus has Carter, Nash, Umberger, Vermette, Johansen, Brassard, Filatov, Calvert.... thankfully they don't have defence. Yeah, if this goes through, making the playoffs starts to become very difficult.

You forgot the Whalers. And by that, I mean Carolina. This proposal would be a 16/14 conference split. Until they award two expansion franchises out west to any of Seattle, Vegas, Kansas City, Houston or Austin. So putting Carolina in... dear God, does that mean Pittsburgh joins our new division, too?

We can only hope to get a Bettman point.

http://twitter.com/#!/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/83921758087950336 Montreal is the 3rd team in mix for Jagr, he wants to play with Plekanec. Pittsburgh seems less interested than Detroit. Says nothing about Montreal's interest, but we do know Goats is at least talking to Svoboda about Hamrlik, could be talking to him about Jagr as well.

2 years would mean the next contract wouldn't be a dreaded 35+ deal, either.

So... I get two games this year to try and go to Winnipeg and one of them is the first freaking game? Ugh, yeah, I'm not getting into that one.

And a factor you're not considering, CC: Wiz might be completely out of our price range. Do we really want to keep Wiz if he's asking for Markov money? He was arguably our #3 d-man last year even with Markov and Gorges out. And Markov and Gorges, and you're looking at our #4 d-man right now, and then for 4-7 years into the future is he going to ever be more than that? Also, with Weber, we'd have 3 RH puck moving D, plus Markov on the left side. That's nice to have, but it is definitely a surplus situation. We could use Weber as trade bait, but again... is that the best use of our resources? I'm not saying we can't afford Wiz... I'm just wondering if we really need or even want to.

Well, he was our #1 D last year. I didn't understand bringing back Gill before Roman, to be honest. This would indicate that Wiz is not coming back. It will again put the speculation w/r/t Spacek in the air, as well.

Weber fired Don Meehan as his agent... speculation is that the two of them had different priorities: Weber wants to stay in Nashville, Meehan wants him to extract the most money possible.

The BPA won't be Oleksiak. I'm not a big fan of him... he's this year's McIlrath, which was a terrible draft pick by the Rags. To be honest, I'm pro-trading down and picking up a 2nd rounder to go with a late first.

Crap, was that what those mortgage papers were for? Uh, I think we have like $10m or so to spend still, with Gorges the only significant RFA.