Not that much going on right now. I'm getting more and more curious about what the Blackhawks might stir up with their fresh batch of players, combined with some of the routine they actually have.
Giving the C to Patrick Toews shows that they have a lot of faith in their young guns. It is beyond any doubt that the expectations of this team has been raised along with the firepower added to their team. There is still one big question to be answered:
Will the competing goalies get along? Khabibulin and Huet are two great goalies, both worthy the primary spot, thus starting the majority of the games. If there is a drama and these two gentlemen doesn't get along, the Blackhawks will have a problem. Khabibulin will be almost impossible to trade, given his huge salary. On the other hand, who signs a goalie just to trade him right away? I know, this is the NHL and it does happen but it sounds a bit far fetched.
I do think Toews will rise to the challenge with his C, and he will be the Blackhawks top scorer this year. Again, if I'm not mistaken. I'm very interested in what $7.1M man Brian Campbell will achive. We all know that he is a tremendous D man. Will he bring stability to the defence? I think so. In combination with Cristobal Huet, who I personally think should be the first goalie, this could be very interesting.
Given the fact that it is still off season, my postings might not be that many right now. But I'm going to be more active, the closer we get to the first puck dropping.
I have to admit something. I read most of my news at tsn.com or nhl.com, but this thing about was really my own initiative. Then I had a look at nhl.com and what do I see....a column about the Blackhawks. Ah, well.......
7/21/2008
7/05/2008
The Sharks get their man
Told you so, didn't I? Yesterday I wrote that I didn't think the Sharks were done signing D men. And what happened over night (for us in Sweden)?
For the "cheap" price of their 2009 first round Draft Pick, 2010 fourth round Draft Pick, Matt Carlie (D) and Ty Wishart (D) they got their man, Dan Boyle, from the Bolts. Together with Boyle comes Brad Lukovich. Nice move by the Sharks, although Boyle is on a five year, $40 million contract. This takes up a lot of their cap, but they get a very good D man. Are they done now? Signing D men perhaps.
Short one today, going to Gothenburg in fifteen minutes. Springsteen!
I'll be back tomorrow
For the "cheap" price of their 2009 first round Draft Pick, 2010 fourth round Draft Pick, Matt Carlie (D) and Ty Wishart (D) they got their man, Dan Boyle, from the Bolts. Together with Boyle comes Brad Lukovich. Nice move by the Sharks, although Boyle is on a five year, $40 million contract. This takes up a lot of their cap, but they get a very good D man. Are they done now? Signing D men perhaps.
Short one today, going to Gothenburg in fifteen minutes. Springsteen!
I'll be back tomorrow
7/04/2008
Some big-name moves!
First of all:
Markus Naslund, 34, has signed for the New York Rangers. The contract is for two years and all in all it is worth $8million. Naslund stated that the Rangers was his first choice and hopefully we'll see him get some points in. He had "only" 55 points (25 + 30) in 82 games during the 07-08 season. This also means that Jaromir Jagr will not be playing for the Rangers next season. We will probably find him in Russia and in the new KHL. We'll see...
One more player has signed for the Blueshirts. And yes, it's a new D man! Having sent both Tyutin and Backman to Columbus, it wasn't a big secret that the Rangers needed a new defenseman. Dmitri Kalinin, 27, joins the club from Buffalo Sabres. He is a defensive D man which will suit the Rangers just fine.
Both Naslund and Kalinin was Unrestricted Free Agents.
Miroslav Satan (former New York Islanders) has signed for the Penguins on a one year deal. It's not a bad deal at all. The Pens needs the firepower, although Satan has dipped is points over the last season (41 pts in 80 matches). The Pens has also signed Ruslan Fedotenko on a one year deal.
Rob Blake has left the Kings and signed for San José Sharks on a one year deal. This is an attempt to fill the void after short-termer Brian Campbell moved to Chicago. Blake is a good player but he is not a fast-moving skater. I think the Sharks aren't done signing D men.
Other players who moved yesterday was:
David Hale (D), two years - Phoenix Coyotes
George Laraque (F), three years - Montreal Canadiens
Antti Miettinen (F), three years - Minnesota Wild
Daniel Tjarnqvist (D), one year - Colorado Avalanche
Also worth noticing is that Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury to a seven-year contract worth $35 million.
That was just day 3 of the Free Agency and it feels more crazy than ever. Amazing.
Markus Naslund, 34, has signed for the New York Rangers. The contract is for two years and all in all it is worth $8million. Naslund stated that the Rangers was his first choice and hopefully we'll see him get some points in. He had "only" 55 points (25 + 30) in 82 games during the 07-08 season. This also means that Jaromir Jagr will not be playing for the Rangers next season. We will probably find him in Russia and in the new KHL. We'll see...
One more player has signed for the Blueshirts. And yes, it's a new D man! Having sent both Tyutin and Backman to Columbus, it wasn't a big secret that the Rangers needed a new defenseman. Dmitri Kalinin, 27, joins the club from Buffalo Sabres. He is a defensive D man which will suit the Rangers just fine.
Both Naslund and Kalinin was Unrestricted Free Agents.
Miroslav Satan (former New York Islanders) has signed for the Penguins on a one year deal. It's not a bad deal at all. The Pens needs the firepower, although Satan has dipped is points over the last season (41 pts in 80 matches). The Pens has also signed Ruslan Fedotenko on a one year deal.
Rob Blake has left the Kings and signed for San José Sharks on a one year deal. This is an attempt to fill the void after short-termer Brian Campbell moved to Chicago. Blake is a good player but he is not a fast-moving skater. I think the Sharks aren't done signing D men.
Other players who moved yesterday was:
David Hale (D), two years - Phoenix Coyotes
George Laraque (F), three years - Montreal Canadiens
Antti Miettinen (F), three years - Minnesota Wild
Daniel Tjarnqvist (D), one year - Colorado Avalanche
Also worth noticing is that Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury to a seven-year contract worth $35 million.
That was just day 3 of the Free Agency and it feels more crazy than ever. Amazing.
7/02/2008
And I'm back!
Hey!
The weird part is that I published this post on te day before yesterday. At least I thought I did. So there will be a "double" post in the same post, if you know what I mean
Call me mad if you want, but the NHL began yesterday. OK, it really began with the draft. But I've been in Thailand so I couldn't follow it that much. Now, however, is the time of wheelings and dealings. The thing we all now is that Mats Sundin won't be playing with the Maple Leafs this upcoming season. The latest rumour is that he's off to Vancouver. We'll see what happens.
These are just some of the deals done during the Free Agency period:
Niklas Hagman (F), four years - Toronto Maple Leafs
Jeff Finger (D), four years - Toronto Maple Leafs
Curtis Joseph (G), one year - Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto is building a new team, which means that this is not the last moves we will see during the summer. Worth mentioning is that Andrew Raycroft (G), Darcy Tucker (F) and Kyle Wellwood no longer are Toronto-players.
Andrew Raycroft (G), ? - Colorado Avalanche - Replacing Jose Theodore
Jose Theodore (G), ? - Washington Capitals - Replacing Cristobal Huet
Cristobal Huet (G), ? - Chicago Blackhawks - Will work "together" with Khabibulin. I'm interested in if this will succeed. None of those two would want to sit on the bench.
Ty Conklin (G), ? - Detroit Red Wings - Will be a backup for Osgood. Weird move by Holland. There were better guys out there.
Olaf Kolzig (G), one year - Tampa Bay Lightnings - Will bring stability to the goalkeeping side. Interesting.
Alex Auld (G),? - Ottawa Senators - This means one thing and one thing only. Ray Emery WILL be gone.
Brian Rolston (F), four years - New Jersey Devils
Bobby Holik (F), ? - New Jersey Devils. - Both these guys will be coming "home" and they will rock in "The Rock".
Brian Campbell (D), eight (!) years - Chicago Blackhawks - Long contract, hefty price ($7.1 million a year). But it's a great player and he's needed to bring calm to the young Chicago team.
Wade Redden (D), ? - New York Rangers - Fantastic signing by the Rangers. He will be great. Together with Campbell, Redden was the best D name in the Free Agency.
Jarkko Ruutu (F), ? - Ottawa Senators - Somewhat a weird move. But the signing has to do with the fact that Ruutus older brother is a scout for the Sens.
Sean Avery (F), four years - Dallas Stars -$3.87 million a year for four years. I don't know. Is it worth it? I mean, he's for sure a special player but that's a lot of money. I would not have signed him for more than two years, perhaps with an option of extension.
Darcy Tucker (F), one year - Colorado Avalanche - One weird move, for sure. The Avs need to get younger players into the team, not collecting old ones.
Kristian Huselius (F). four years - Columbus Blue Jackets - A good move for Huselius. He's coming to a new team. A team that has just lost one of its snipers (Zherdev) and this could mean playing in the first line. Worth mentioning is that he's linking up with former team-mate Fredrik Norrena, who he played together with during the lockout season in Linkopings HC (Sweden).
Four player trade:
Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche goes to New York Rangers in exchange for Christian Backman and Fedor Tyutin. A nice move for both teams. The Rangers needs to improve their offence while Columbus needs some strong defensmen. My guess is that the Rangers aren't even close to be done aquiring new guys for the 08-09 season.
Marian Hossa (F), one year - Detroit Red Wings.
Nice move by GM Ken Hollamd. But is Hossa as good as the hype tells us? Personally I think the Pens would have done just fine without him in this playoffs. But maybe Holland knows something we don't.....
Like I said, these are just some of the moves done. More will follow. Stay tuned!
The weird part is that I published this post on te day before yesterday. At least I thought I did. So there will be a "double" post in the same post, if you know what I mean
Call me mad if you want, but the NHL began yesterday. OK, it really began with the draft. But I've been in Thailand so I couldn't follow it that much. Now, however, is the time of wheelings and dealings. The thing we all now is that Mats Sundin won't be playing with the Maple Leafs this upcoming season. The latest rumour is that he's off to Vancouver. We'll see what happens.
These are just some of the deals done during the Free Agency period:
Niklas Hagman (F), four years - Toronto Maple Leafs
Jeff Finger (D), four years - Toronto Maple Leafs
Curtis Joseph (G), one year - Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto is building a new team, which means that this is not the last moves we will see during the summer. Worth mentioning is that Andrew Raycroft (G), Darcy Tucker (F) and Kyle Wellwood no longer are Toronto-players.
Andrew Raycroft (G), ? - Colorado Avalanche - Replacing Jose Theodore
Jose Theodore (G), ? - Washington Capitals - Replacing Cristobal Huet
Cristobal Huet (G), ? - Chicago Blackhawks - Will work "together" with Khabibulin. I'm interested in if this will succeed. None of those two would want to sit on the bench.
Ty Conklin (G), ? - Detroit Red Wings - Will be a backup for Osgood. Weird move by Holland. There were better guys out there.
Olaf Kolzig (G), one year - Tampa Bay Lightnings - Will bring stability to the goalkeeping side. Interesting.
Alex Auld (G),? - Ottawa Senators - This means one thing and one thing only. Ray Emery WILL be gone.
Brian Rolston (F), four years - New Jersey Devils
Bobby Holik (F), ? - New Jersey Devils. - Both these guys will be coming "home" and they will rock in "The Rock".
Brian Campbell (D), eight (!) years - Chicago Blackhawks - Long contract, hefty price ($7.1 million a year). But it's a great player and he's needed to bring calm to the young Chicago team.
Wade Redden (D), ? - New York Rangers - Fantastic signing by the Rangers. He will be great. Together with Campbell, Redden was the best D name in the Free Agency.
Jarkko Ruutu (F), ? - Ottawa Senators - Somewhat a weird move. But the signing has to do with the fact that Ruutus older brother is a scout for the Sens.
Sean Avery (F), four years - Dallas Stars -$3.87 million a year for four years. I don't know. Is it worth it? I mean, he's for sure a special player but that's a lot of money. I would not have signed him for more than two years, perhaps with an option of extension.
Darcy Tucker (F), one year - Colorado Avalanche - One weird move, for sure. The Avs need to get younger players into the team, not collecting old ones.
Kristian Huselius (F). four years - Columbus Blue Jackets - A good move for Huselius. He's coming to a new team. A team that has just lost one of its snipers (Zherdev) and this could mean playing in the first line. Worth mentioning is that he's linking up with former team-mate Fredrik Norrena, who he played together with during the lockout season in Linkopings HC (Sweden).
Four player trade:
Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche goes to New York Rangers in exchange for Christian Backman and Fedor Tyutin. A nice move for both teams. The Rangers needs to improve their offence while Columbus needs some strong defensmen. My guess is that the Rangers aren't even close to be done aquiring new guys for the 08-09 season.
Marian Hossa (F), one year - Detroit Red Wings.
Nice move by GM Ken Hollamd. But is Hossa as good as the hype tells us? Personally I think the Pens would have done just fine without him in this playoffs. But maybe Holland knows something we don't.....
Like I said, these are just some of the moves done. More will follow. Stay tuned!
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