The Florida Panthers today re-signed veteran forward Jozef Stumpel to a two year, $4.5 million contract, while the Vancouver Canucks re-signed checking forward Jeff Cowan to a two-year, $1.4 million contract.
The 34-year-old Stumpel scored 23 goals and 57 points with the Panthers last season, so it's not surprising general manager Jacques Martin hoped to re-sign him. He's consistently posted 50+ point seasons in six of the last seven years, and at $2.25 million per season is an affordable re-signing by Martin, who continues to put his stamp on the Panthers.
His scoring touch and experience should continue to make him a valuable presence for the Panthers offence, particularly as the club gears up to take a run at making the playoffs for the first time since 2000.
Cowan, 30, was acquired by the Canucks in a mid-season trade with the LA Kings and his gritty, energetic style made him a welcome and popular addition to the Canucks checking lines. He even inspired several female Canucks fans to toss bras on the ice whenever he scores a goal.
With popularity like that, who can blame the Canucks for keeping him? Seriously though, he proved his worth to the Canucks during last year's playoffs, which included an overtime goal against the Anaheim Ducks.
**UPDATE**
The Calgary Flames today re-signed forward Wayne Primeau to a three-year contract. Financial terms have yet to be disclosed.
Primeau was acquired by the Flames from the Boston Bruins last February in a deal that also brought defenseman Brad Stuart to Calgary, and while it's unlikely Stuart will return with the Flames it's obvious Primeau's checking skills have been appreciated by GM Darryl Sutter.
Although never a scorer like his older brother Keith, Wayne Primeau is a very good checking forward, who can play both center and left wing, doesn't shy away from the heavy hitting and his penalty kiling skills.
It's believed the Flames could return to a more defensive oriented game next season, so Primeau's style will make him a good fit.
Ha ha. I wish he had inspired the women in L.A. to do that. Oh well, I think Vancouver should have given the Kings atleast an additional 2nd round pick for such an inspirational player.
**Edit** Looks like Briere is leaving for sure. He just turned down the Sabres offer.
Last edited by kings_fan_27 on June 28th at 3:56 PM.
Cowan got in Crawfords doghouse and Lombardi gave him away. Oh Ya Lombardi does not like you unless you played for the Sharks in the past. As usual the Kings let players go and then they play great for there new team
FIRE LOMBARDI
Jeff your a great player and I speak for most Kings fans
We miss ya man
Last edited by True_kings_fan on June 28th at 3:51 PM.
TKF: it's getting old. You're sounding like a certain bitter Buffalo fan these days ...
Good pickup by the Canucks and Panthers. I'm actually getting excited over Florida. They look like they have the potential to sneak up on their Eastern Conference opponents.
Good signing by the panthers, they really are making waves in a great way, and its good to see a team thats been a ceallar dweller for a few years make this many off season moves and have people notice them, funny everyone is looking at them so much since luongo left....
Now the Good news, the flames sign Primeau and Hale, I don't know why it took them this long to do so. Primeau is a great 2 way player, amazing on the penalty kill, hard hitting, fighter and fits in with the Iron Mike way of playing. I didn't get to see too much of Hale, but he seems like he's a good fit. Even if he doesn't play, he'll be an affordable back up player in case of an injury. What do you think about changing they direction they were going? I like going back to the hard nosed style of play, its their way....Any word on Tanguay getting moved, someone told me montreal might be interested....Not sure what I think about that, he's great finess, but if they're going hard nosed again, does he still fit?
Let's see ... Kopitar, Cammalleri, Frolov. Am I mistaken or did Lombardi get those three. He brought back Rob Blake, which was not only classy but in the end it'll help develop his younger defensemen. Traded for Jack Johnson. Got rid of Avery (although that worked out nicely for the Rangers). Picked up Sean Burke for a short-term fix in net, which will ultimately be resolved once LaBarbara can be put back on the roster.
Heck, I can't think of many major complaints, unless you're really attached to Avery. Garon's a good keeper, but he got hurt if I remember correctly. Dan Cloutier was a nightmare on the Rangers and the Canucks. He was never expected to be a starter, and LaBarbara would never pass through waivers. Had he tried to bring LaBarbara onboard, another team would have snatched him up, and you'd be up in arms over that too.
Oh, wait. He didn't pick the most touted prospect in this year's draft. Esposito was ranked fairly high earlier in the year (top-3 maybe?), and he went 20th. Maybe his scouts saw something in the kid they took that you haven't?
Seems to me you're making him the goat because the Kings failed due to circumstance. I don't think that's fair.
I agree with chaas, Lombardi is doing a good job with the Kings. He needs to get them a good starting goalie though. I think Primeau will do well with the Flames, he's a good 3rd or 4th line center that did well with the Sharks, and can help protect his teammates b/c he's not afraid to drop the gloves. And with Iginla on the team, other players will think twice before messin w/ Calgary.
Umm, hate to say it, BUT, Lomardi DID NOT bring in Frolov, Cammalleri. or Kopitar. That was Dave Taylor... He did trade for JJ, which I had mixed feelings at first, but only cuz I really liked Tim Gleason. Oh Well. My two main complaints are Demitra(trade away), and Cloutier. Other than that he seems to know what he's doing. Also, he might make a run for Stuart and Hannan this summer. Yes they were Sharks, but I can't see anyone but TKF complaining about that if it were to happen.
We traded our best player (Demertia) and spent he money for a over the hill Blake
Traded our Captian. Did not trade Aaron Miller and let him walk.
Picked up Colutier. Then signed him to a 2 year Extension before he even played one game for the team. Otherwise he would have been a UFA Now
Gave contract Extensions to 3 scouts and the director of scouting. then fired them all 2 months later.
Al Murray Ran last years draft table. He should get the Credit for Brinier. Made the Trade to get Trever Lewis who was not even ranked in the top 50 last season and took him 17th overall.
Traded Avery and Conroy to early before the Deadline where he could have drove up the price and got less the market value for each.
Free agent signings. McCuley (Bust cost us almost a mill for the next 4 years for that mistake.) Blake (eeh) Dallman (bust fringe player) Wilise (Bust fringe player) and is letting our 2 best roll players from last season walk LundMark and Kostopolis)
Then gets in trouble with the League for the Joe Piskula signing and pissed off ever other GM in the league
Then the Icing on the cake. He runs his first draft as GM and drafts a player who was rated a late second round pick on 22 others teams boards and admits to TSN that he never saw the kid play. and takes a kid in the second round rated higher then the first round pick
The day the Ducks won the cup us season ticket holders got a letter in the mail stating that its
Last edited by True_kings_fan on June 28th at 8:12 PM.
Goint to take longer then expected to rebuilt the team. I am sorry Lombardi has set thei franchise back 5 more years. Crawford will be fired buy the end of 08-09 season. Lombardi not soon after that
i am quite delighted with the Cowan resigning ... affordable and effective. And became a real crowd favourite here.
As to TKF's complaints ... some are legitimate ... resigning Cloutier was ... well ... an odd move. He is Crawford's blue-eyed boy for some reason that we Canuck fans could never figure out.
I wouldn't trash him for the draft though ... not yet. I always wait a few years before lamenting a draft pick.
for example ... I remember the crowd in Vancouver going wild when the Canucks grabbed Peter Nedved second overall
... that was the year they had the 'big four' on the table. Primeau, Ricci, Nolan and Nedved ... all were figured to be can't miss prospects.
Pittsburgh drafted fifth and missed out on the big four ... they drafted some guy named Jagr instead.
IMO the draft is like a box of chocolates ... with the occasional exception you never know what you're gonna get. So you never know ... that Kings pick may turn out to be like ... Sakic going 16th ...
I would love to see your predictions on some of the top UFA's and where they are headed
My picks
Drury to San Jose
Briere to Philly
Gomez to NYRanger
Smyth to Detroit or Toronto
Souray to Kings unless Nerdermeyer retires
Kariya to Dallas unless Selanne retires
Nelander to Buffalo
Hannan to Washington
Stewart to Colorado
Schenider to Phoenix
Comrie to Kings
Rafalski stays in New Jersey
let me here wha you guys think
I don't think Robitaille was taken in the second round. Wasn't he in the 100's? Turned out to be one of the best players in history, best at his position by a good margin.
Ehh, give Rob Blake a chance. You won't see an immediate effect of his re-signing. Wait until Jack Johnson hits year three. Learning from a Rob Blake will definitely help his career, which is good for the Kings.
I still don't see why the Avery trade was bad. He got rid of one of his problem children, and got a return on it. Avery was playing alright at that point. Had his play dipped from there until the deadline, Lombardi might have gotten less. He had a good deal, and he made it. Same thing with Conroy, although I'm not sure what sparked that trade.
Crawford is one of the best coaches in hockey, I highly doubt you'll see him fired anytime soon.
Like I said, the goalie situation was ... bad. Cloutier was meant to be a stopgap, and that didn't work out, so they picked up Sean Burke. Next year, the goaltending situation will be better. Garon and Labarbara are two very skilled keepers.
Just because he's never seen him play doesn't mean he doesn't have good information on the kid. That's why teams have scouts. I'm sure there was a good reason he made the selection he did.
As for UFA, Souray will definitely be in Southern California next season. I'd wager Smyth to Toronto isn't going to happen for salary cap reasons. I'm hoping the Rangers re-sign Nylander tomorrow, but it'd be nice to have Gomez on the team if we can't get it done. Briere shot down Buffalo's offer, so it's a safe bet he's entertaining offers from other venues. No word from the Drury camp. They may already have something in place. Or, they may well go after Nylander if the Rangers don't get it done. Kariya is an unknown. Hannan and Stewart aren't really on my radar. I was kinda hoping Schneider would re-sign with Detroit, but he may end up further West too. Lou's gonna need to sign Rafalski if Gomez walks. No clue about Comrie.
Taylor Suspended him at the end of last season with no desire to bring him back. Good ol dean gave him another shot.
All we got in return was a 5 rounder.
You could have gotten more for Conroy but itwas clearly a salary dump
In regaurds to Garon
He is a UFA and the Kings have no desire to bring him back. Burke will retire. Brust and Fukufuji were not tendered offers.
All we have now Is Cloutier and Labarbra unless we sign someone but that won;t happen with Dan's capspace.
Crawford had TONS of talent in Colorado and won a cup. You or I could have coached that team to a cup.
He did NOTHING In Vancouver. They were a 6 seed no better every year he was there
I gave Rob Blake 10 years. Heis now 37 years old and plays even older.
As for Luc,
That was just blind luck
he was taken in Round 9 171 overall in 1984
of course thats where there were only 21 teams as well By todays standards thats the middle of the 6th round. And a Trivia ? for you. That same year who was taken ahead of Luc with the 69th overall pick in the 4th round?
Ner York Met and future MLB hall of famer
Tom Glavine
Luc's Line his draft year with hei JR team
He knock was he could not skate. yes thats 191 points
QMJHL 63 68 123 191 93 15 17 27 44 28
Last edited by True_kings_fan on June 28th at 10:46 PM.
dont forget about Ersberg or whoever Dean signed...I dont know if hes NHL ready but if he is its another variable for the Kings' goalie situation (although im guessing hes in manchester to start the season)
My god! you kings fans sound worse then leafs fans, and I didn't think that was possible. Instead of crying all the time about your team...be a little happy about what they've done and what they have a chance to do.
I still think Lombardi made the right moves by trading Conroy and Avery. The Conroy trade was a salary dump, no question. Avery though, he wasn't in the Kings' future plans. Lombardi gave him a second chance and he wasted it.
Cloutier should never have been a starting goaltender. He's a career backup, and an overpaid one at that. But, he's had experience in the league. Just as Rob Blake's presence will help Jack Johnson, Cloutier's presence will help Labarbra. I saw the kid play in Hartford and he was amazing. It's too bad they're not keeping Garon, he's also a good keeper.
Crawford had tons of talent on the Avs (including Blake?), and everyone bought into his system. As the late 1990's and early 2000's Rangers squads have proven, you can't have a ton of talent and no system.
Vancouver was a terrible stop for Crawford. He had some decent offensive talent, but Vancouver's lacked solid defensive depth since their finals run in 1994, and their goaltending situation was akin to what your Kings suffered last season. There's no comparison between his time in Colorado and his time in Vancouver.
Tom Glavine is one of the few bright spots on the Mets rotation these days. Thank the Maker he went to the Mets instead of the NHL.
The leafs had won too many, since they won last, they have been a joke. They don't care what kind of team they put out there anymore, as long as they sell out. As for how many cups they've won, well when you were playing against girls ringette teams, anyone could win the cup. Hell, my home town of Thunder Bay Ontario won the cup in I think 1917.
In the past few years I'd much rather watch the kings then the leafs. The kings do have some bright spots and they just need a few breaks. A couple good signings and some young players playing well and there you go.
All I'm saying is I'm glad to be a flames fan. I sure as hell hope they bring in some key players.
It looks like the cap is going up to something like 50.3 mill, thats awesome!!!!!!!!!
I have done enough ####in for the both of us over the last two seasons. Now we have that old Kings coach named Murray and his staff that came last season and really have turned things around. We have John Davidson and Larry Pleau and Al Macinnis and Jaro Kliekanan doing our scouting, buying, selling and trading... It is absolutely beautiful. That way you will be a fan of a team that won't be in the cellar this season with the Kings and the Predators.
I sure as heck hope the flames let Amonte go, all I'm saying is with the superb job the kings organization has done, maybe they'd pay that much for him. HAHAHA.
I'm kinda excited that the cap is going up to about 50 million, we need a good back up to play a few games (Auld), a solid dman (Hannan/Rafaliski) a grinding scorer who isn't afraid to work hard under Iron Mike (Smyth). This weekend is going to be awesome for a few reasons, Canada day and free agent day, and maybe some RFA's get snatched up the following week.
Oh ya, congrats Theduck, you guys had a great team and won, I hope no one takes Penner from you...
Is that what you wanted to hear? Your name is "true Kings fan" yet all you do is cry. If you were a true fan, you'd do something other then cry...ALL THE TIME!!!! Leafs fans have passion, but they always think they have the best team and that "this year" is their year, you sound like the exact opposite....we suck, we got bad players...WOW I'm glad your not a flames fan, you'd be dragging down moral and making people not like hockey. I look at the glass as being half full, Buffalo fans look at it as half empty, you seem to just pour it out and cry...Cheer up, maybe your GM will get a few good players sunday....Drury, Sourey, Brier....someone and then maybe you'll smile for once!
Don't let Theduck cross you up it is just a nickname and I am not an Anaheim fan... I Bleed Blue... I am 100% a St. Louis Blues Fan, I have tickets in section 114...
I wish we could get Dustin Penner that guy is a Brut... He is like 6' 5" and weighs close 250lbs and can skate man... shoots L I believe...
There are a lot of RFA's comin up, and I honestly hope some teams start sending out offer sheets:
Avery, Svatos, Penner, Parise, Emery, in all honesty, there are some awesome players to be had, not to mention the UFA's who aren't Brier, Drury, Smyth and Gomez. I hate that all the attention is on them. There is a shortage of starting goalies, but there are a few back ups to be had...Auld, Belfore, Esche, Cujo. A few good defense; Hannan, Rafalski, Potti, Sydor, Preissing. Good scorers and grinders to fill in either the first 2 or last 2 lines that I'd take a chance on; Peca, Lindros, Perault, Allison and I know that some team will definetly take a chace on Yashin. I'm not too sure whast going to happen to players like Guerin who are on the way down and out...is anyone going to take a chance on them?
OK, folks, the thread has gone waaaay off topic now.
TKF: If you want to continue your "anti-Lombardi" rants, why not do so at my "Fans Speak Out" forum? It's free to register, no strings attached, and you can whale away on Lombardi there until the cows come home. Trust me, you'll generate plenty of attention and debate there.
Otherwise, you're inadvertently highjacking these threads with your "anti-Lombardi" tirades, and it's getting to the point of annoyance.
Unless there's a specific Kings-related post here, perhaps you should leave your obssession with Lombardi off these other threads, ok?
I think it's possible, but I also believe those offers will be matched, as the rising cap gives teams with limited cap space some extra breathing room.
True, but in some cases the team might not want to match the offer if they aren't intersted in the player. Svatos in Colorado for example and then if the devils do reup Gomez, do you think they'll have the space to give up a couple of mill to Parise and then get a backup?
If a player is signed to an offer sheet and it isn't matched, his former team is owed compensation in the form of draft picks depending on the amount of the salary.
Ya, the RFA situation is pretty cool. The only time it makes sense to hand out an offer shee is to force a team to use that salary on that player (ie ottawa with Emery) so that they can't afford to sign other key players or be big buyers in the ufa market, OR if they are buyers in the ufa market, offer just more then they can afford to pay someone who isn't signed, but thats when you start overpaying bigtime for players. Teams that have really high payrolls right now are the targets, cause they want to improve and can't afford to throw money around.
A few years ago, when Sacik was a RFA, and the rangers gave an offer sheet, it was pretty huge, and the avs would have been compinsated HUGE for it in money and draft pics, but they kept him cause he is their franchise. The only down side is that some people consider it "dirty" to try and "steal" players like Clarke did last year with Kesler.
I'm all for it......some really nice RFA's out there
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
