There's still some significant unrestricted free agents available (Mike Peca, Danny Markov, Andy Sutton and Ed Belfour, to name but a few), but things have definitely slowed as we head into the dog days of summer, which is also the slowest period for free agent signings.
Most of the "best of the rest" will likely be signed in August, once the arbitration hearings are completed and teams with needs left to address go shopping to address those needs, hoping that the prolonged wait by those available UFAs lowers their asking price.
Thus, we're left with such noteworthy signings as these:
- The Philadelphia Flyers sign goaltender Brian Boucher to a one-year, minor league contract.
For Boucher, his career has now come full circle. He started out in the Flyers system, playing two seasons for the Philadelphia Phantoms before jumping to the big club in the 1999-2000 season. He made a big splash that year with a strong rookie campaign that included a memorable performance in the 2000 playoffs, where he backstopped the Flyers to within one period of qualifying for the Stanley Cup finals.
Sadly, the wheels fell off for Boucher after that, and except for a record-setting five consecutive shutout performance with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2003-04, never regained the form that for one season made him the darling of the Philly faithful.
Boucher bounced from Phoenix to Calgary in 2005-06, Chicago and Columbus last season. It would appear he'll finish his pro career with the Phantoms, the same team he began it with.
- The New Jersey Devils sign free agent defensemen Ian Moran and Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre and forward Noah Clarke.
Looks like GM Lou Lamoriello is stocking up on depth in his system. Moran is a well-traveled blueliner who can also play right wing. Clarke spent his pro career bouncing between the LA Kings and their farm club in Manchester.
Grand-Pierre is returning to the North American pro ranks for the first time since the 2003-04 season, which he split between Columbus, Washington and Atlanta. He's spent the last three years (including the lockout season) playing in Europe. Like Moran, he can play defense or right wing.
I now return you to your summer slumber, but do check in regularly in case there are bigger signings or perhaps a trade analysis or two.
Spector I'm dying to hear something about possible trades. Any way you could throw us a bone or two on anything others teams are talking about? I can't remember the last time the hockey world was this quiet. Oh yeah... last mid-offseason.
what? No one with anything to add on the Devils rounding out their coaching staff? johnny mac stays, Robinson comes back. Albaline and his rings is coaching too.....El Capitan is always around someplace......people need to stop hating..not you guys...but alot of people
I think it's interesting to see that new Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has continued his predecessor's tendency to bring back former players. Boucher still has one of the biggest highlight reel saves in Flyers history where his mask comes off while making a Hasek-esque sliding backhand save. Hey, I'm trying to stay positive, this lack of hockey news is depressing. Wake me when it's over.
MPH: I think that Brion should have a pretty good year with Smith and Hatcher playing the role of stay at home defesemen. The question is how many games and Biron play in a year without playing and looking overworked?
And Ilya Bryzgalov has one more season left at 1.3 million. What's going to happen to this guy? He's put up good numbers for a few seasons now. I wonder if Tampa has been looking in his direction.
Huge hulking 22 year old Matt Smaby might be a good gamble. It seems that Burke likes having a tough team and you can't go wrong with 6"6 240 pound giant. Paul Ranger has ok size for a d-man and put up almost 30 points at the age of 22. Shane O'Brien is another 230+ pounder who could bully forwards from the back end. If the Ducks want a forward they could ask for someone like Michel Ouellet.
I also could see Washinton grabbing him and signing him to a long extension. Kolzig is getting old and can't put up good stats forever no matter how much they upgrade their defense. I don't really know what Washington would trade for him. It's been a while since we've seen Washington make significant trade and saw them receive a quality player meaning we don't know what Mcfee would be willing to give up for a good quality goalie who's just coming into his prime.
It's good to see someone other than me posting at this hour. Of course, I just got back from this really great party the Staal brothers threw..well, someone had to go there. Anywho..
To your point on Biron, boy do I agree. I think Biron is a bigtime upgrade over the Nitty/Esche pairing to begin last season, but he is going to need more help before the year is out. In addition to your point about the crease-clearers, they've also added several effective shotblockers, so perhaps they've got an eye in that direction as well. Most important reason Biron is the best goalie the Flyers have had since, oh I dunno, Bernie Parent? Let's just say..he can actually steal a game if he needs to.
Interesting point about Washington as well. I definitely don't see Olie going beyond this season. He's still competent enough in a Belfour-like way, but that's not going to fly as they build around Ovechkin. I don't think they are in a Pittsburgh type situation as far as actual contending, but they aren't that far removed from it either. I would highly suggest they deal for a goalie, and Bryzgalov is the best available.
The real point is why would Burke be motivated to move him at this time. His contract is cheap enough that it's not eating cap space, and you know some team is going to overpay when the first ligament is sprained. So he's clearly biding his time for someone to come and wow him. Who wants to bet that's going to happen sooner rather than later?
Don't worry. We're on a 12 hour time difference. Heh I'm ALWAYS here!
Because I can name two Eastern teams, one which would be a shoe in, and the other which would have to work to get into the playoffs if they had him in net. It might be more important to Burke to trade him now so that he can land a second line forward or a quality top four defenseman. If he does it now whoever comes over in the trade will be there for training camp and will be able to contribute instantly. I don't expect big burt to cover for all of Selane's goals. Getting beefed up now and looking like Stanley Cup champs at the begining of the season looks better than going through a 20 game slump and then making a trade out of desperation.
The next thing is, goalies can be really streaky in this day and age. There aren't a lot of goalie's who you can say "yeah, he'll definatly have great stats next year", and Bryzy has put up good numbers in his past few seasons. If he plays backup and can't get his "A" game working for whatever reason his stock will drop.
For the price he gets paid I could even see him going to Calgary in case Calgary doesn't want to pay top dollar for Kipper. LA and Phenoix should be interested in him, but they're probably too close to home for the Duck's liking.
Columbus, Colorado, and St. Louis could also be interested in getting ahold of a better goalie. The dude in Columbus played alright, but he's still young and hasn't proven that he's ready for the #1 position. Burke should trade now while there are so many teams around who think they might be interested in getting ahold of a better goalie. Most of the other teams don't have the cap space to become interested and if they were they'd possibly need to send a higher paid player to the Ducks, which is something they most likely aren't going to be into doing.
Well, there's no doubt there is a market for goalies. I don't know that it's as widespread as you think it is, but I'll certainly concur that it exists and that Anaheim has the best track on it for obvious reasons. Colorado is locked up with Theodore for the moment, even if he doesn't play, and they've already got a good starter in my view. St. Louis could use an upgrade perhaps, but I think they give Legace one more shot before pulling the plug. Plus, you know Burke's going to be much less likely to ship him to a Western team, even before the season. (Though way less likely approaching the deadline.)
Tampa Bay certainly comes to mind, as mentioned, but they've got a lot of money tied up with their star players and therefore don't have a heck of a lot with which to move. I still think that might be the final destination, but not at the moment. I get you in that Anaheim could ship him out now, but a couple things work against it..for one, let's not forget Giggy was hurt for a good portion of last year. Good teams need insurance. Second, there are still a few intriguing free agent goalies out there that might prevent some of the above from doing what they eventually may. Third, there's way more pressure on a team to make an upgrade heading into the playoffs then during the offseason when you're still holding out hope that the guy you have is "THE" guy.
The only way this backfires is if you never move him and he leaves as a free agent, or if you get less value for him later than you would now.
Warn me when I'm at the limit, infernal machine! In the meantime, you've got a more than capable goalie playing behind JS as a safety net, and you may have the services of Selanne, Niedermayer, or both by the time things get rolling. I think there's a bit too much uncertainty to roll the dice now unless someone's making a hell of an offer.
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.
