The Florida Panthers needed to address a lack of offensive depth after trading away Olli Jokinen nearly two weeks ago.

GM Jacques Martin appears to have found that replacement by signing veteran left winger Cory Stillman to a three-year, $10.6 million contract.

Stillman has proven to be a reliable 50-60 point man in recent years, including an 80-point performance in 2003-04, yet he hasn’t been able to stick with one team for long, as the Panthers will be his fifth team since 2002-03.

He’ll help fill that gap but they’ll still need to bring in a first line center or else elevate Stephen Weiss and bring in a second line center.

Avalanche GM Francois Giguere said he wouldn’t be making any big splashes in this summer’s UFA market but wasted little time bringing in some affordable grit and experience in Darcy Tucker, signing the former Leafs to a two-year, $4. 5 million contract.

The Toronto Maple Leafs bought out Tucker’s contract last week and there were concerns that in his mid-thirties age and injuries might be catching up to him.

Still, Tucker is only two years removed from a 28 goal, 61 point season and if he can stay healthy and bounce back could be a valuable addition to the Avalanche.

TSN in Canada reports tonight Toronto Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher has contacted veteran winger Darcy Tucker to inform him the club will buy out the remainder of Tucker’s contract.

The 33-year-old Tucker has three years remaining on his current contract at $3 million per season, so by exercising their buyout option the Leafs will be looking at roughly $1 million per season counting against their cap for the next six seasons.

It’s understandable why Fletcher is taking this route. The Leafs are in the midst of a massive rebuilding project and has too much money tied up in too few veteran players unwilling to waive their movement clauses. He needs to free up as much potential cap space as possible heading into this summer’s UFA market.

Still, this could be a costly move over the long run for the Leafs.

Tucker struggled through injury and a lack of playing time last season but still might’ve had enough left in the tank to be a worthwhile contributor to the Leafs.

He loved playing for the Leafs and loved living and working in Toronto, and it’s possible he might’ve bounced back next season.

If he didn’t the Leafs could’ve gone the buyout route next June when it would’ve been than $1 million per season against the Leafs cap for a shorter period time (four years).

One million per season in dead cap space might seem like a drop in the bucket for the NHL’s richest franchise, but they still have to work under a salary cap like everyone else and six years is a long time to carry that dead space, which could come back to haunt them.

Tucker in the meantime shouldn’t have any trouble finding a new NHL team to sign with. Rumor has it the NY Rangers might make a pitch if they opt not to re-sign Sean Avery.

The St. Louis Blues have been the busiest team thus far in the final 24 hours heading into the start of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

On Thursday night the Blues dealt veteran forward Jamal Mayers to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a third round pick in this year’s entry draft, and on Friday obtained goaltender Chris Mason from the Nashville Predators for a fourth round pick (111th) overall , also in this year’s draft.

The Mayers trade signals the continuation of the Blues rebuilding with youth, and by acquiring Mason they get an experienced backup for Manny Legace who could challenge for the starting goalie role.

Moving Mayers also freed up $1.4 million per season, which will  alleviate the cost of Mason’s $3 million per season for the same period.

These moves also have consequences for the Maple Leafs and Predators respectively.

The Mayers acquisition could signal the end of Darcy Tucker’s tenure as a Maple Leaf. Mayers doesn’t have Tucker scoring touch but both play a similar style of physical game, plus his $1.4 million per season salary is more affordable than Tucker’s $3 million per.

If Tuckers bought out as has been oft-rumored the $1 million cap hit plus Mayer’s salary for the next two seasons equates to around $600K in savings for the next two years.

Trading Mason to the Blues not only frees up $3 million in cap space for the Predators but is also a likely signal that their anticipated re-signing of impending UFA goalie Dan Ellis is imminent, probably for around the same as Mason’s salary.

It took weeks for the Toronto Maple Leafs ownership to finally fire general manager John Ferguson Jr but they finally took that step on January 22, 2008.

There’s no need to go over Ferguson’s record as the Leafs GM, as the Toronto media has that more than covered. What’s more important here is where the Leafs go from here.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL’s richest franchise, worth more than even the New York Rangers, yet since the lockout they’ve been one of the NHL’s weakest teams.

Of course the Leafs don’t have to worry about losing fan support in Toronto, southern Ontario and throughout Canada.

Whenever the “r” word – rebuilding – has been mentioned with the Leafs it’s been suggested their fans won’t wait for a winner, but that’s foolishness, given the club hasn’t won a Stanley Cup – hasn’t even been in a Cup final – since 1967.

No, Leafs fans are used to waiting, and they’ll wait again while the new full time general manager takes over and hopefully begins the “r” word process.

For now Cliff Fletcher, who was GM of the Leafs from 1991 to 1997, takes over on an interim basis. By the sound of things at the press conference announcing his hiring he’ll be making the big decisions at this year’s trade deadline, entry draft and the club’s potential pursuit of unrestricted free agents.

Whoever takes over the role full-time will have their hands full.

For starters, the Leafs have committed over $42 million committed to 19 players for next season. With the salary cap expected to rise to around $54 million for next season, that only leaves $10 million (assuming they leave themselves a $2 million cap cushion), which isn’t really much room.

The only expensive free agent the Leafs might re-sign is Sundin regardless of whether or not he waives his NTC, but re-signing him could cost almost as much as the $5.75 million he earned this season, perhaps more.

The only other free agents of note are UFA enforcer Wade Belak and restricted free agents Alexander Steen, Matt Stajan and Kyle Wellwood, but given the slow development of the latter three it’s doubtful any of them will get offers worth more than $2 million per, if that.

But if Sundin is re-signed, or if another big name UFA is signed, that won’t leave much space to re-sign those youngsters.

Cap space could be made available by trading some players, but unfortunately many of those eating up considerable cap space on the Leafs roster (Sundin, Tucker, McCabe, Kaberle and Kubina) have “no-trade” clauses and little willingness to waive them.

Kaberle’s clause has a loophole whereby the club can trade him this summer without his consent if the Leafs fail to make the playoffs, while Kubina has one that limits the Leafs by only allowing them to trade him to pre-specified teams.

Even if the Leafs could convince those players to waive their clauses, their expensive, long-term contracts make them almost impossible to move during the season.

It’s only a little less difficult to shop during the off-season, when they’d only have a window of a few weeks in July when teams have more available cap space.

Perhaps one of those players will be moved between now and the start of next season, but given the aforementioned factors Leafs fans shouldn’t hold their breath. Most if not all (except perhaps Sundin) could be back next season.

Jason Blake has popped up in trade rumors, but he’s got another four years remaining at $4 million per, is having his worst season in six years and is battling leukemia. Those factors don’t  make Blake enticing to rival GMs.

Forget the talk of trading Andrew Raycroft; nobody wants a $2 million goalie whose confidence is shot, not even in a backup capacity.

Buyouts are a possibility, but those are at two-thirds the remaining value spread over twice the original tenure of the contract. That’s why you don’t see too many of those nowadays.

Even if a salary dumping trade or two were possible, it’s the return of young players, prospects and/or draft picks that’ll be most important and what the new Leafs GM does with them.

The Leafs are a team that haven’t drafted very well over the last dozen years or so, and those few blue-chippers they do draft often ended up traded away for veterans in quick-fix deals. Ferguson wasn’t the only one to blame for that, as his predecessors – including Fletcher – were also guilty of shortsightedness.

Fletcher said the Leafs had to improve its drafting and development if the club has any hope of making significant improvement in the future. Easy to say but hard to do, and it requires a seasoned hand to carry that off.

It appears the Leafs hierarchy will be looking for someone with NHL experience (and preferably a Stanley Cup on their resume) to become the eventual full-time general manager, which see,s essential for this club if it is to improve its draft record.

But who could take over? The names of Anaheim’s Brian Burke, Detroit’s Ken Holland, Carolina’s Jim Rutherford, New Jersey’s Lou Lamoriello and Montreal’s Bob Gainey have been floated as potential candidates by the Toronto media, but hiring any of those guys could be wishful thinking.

Most are currently on contracts with their respective teams that stretch into next season and some beyond that. Besides, Holland is a Red Wing for life, Lamoreillo isn’t leaving the Devils, Gainey appears determined to rebuild the Canadiens, Burke just won a Stanley Cup in Anaheim and appears happy there, and Rutherford refuses to discuss leaving the Hurricanes.

As for Scotty Bowman, the Leafs ownership had their chance to hire him as team president last summer but blew it when they wouldn’t allow him autonomy to run the club his way.

Current head coach Paul Maurice will finish the season but it’s doubtful he’ll be returning next year. The new GM will have to find a head coach that can work well both with veterans and young players alike, which can be no easy feat in today’s NHL, even tougher in one of hockey’s most demanding markets.

Finally, whoever becomes the new Leafs GM has to be able to handle the heat of the spotlight of working in one of the NHL’s most demanding markets. Fans and media heavily scrutinize every word and action and are quick to find fault if things don’t work out quickly.

In the end, Leafs fans shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking that firing Ferguson and hiring Fletcher will magically turn everything around. This is merely one step in a long journey that could take years.

But of course, Leafs fans have been waiting for over four decades for a Stanley Cup champion, so waiting a few more years shouldn’t be that tough.

- Seems Rory Fitzpatrick's been catching some heat in the media over the fans write-in campaign to push him into the All-Star game. 

Yes, the campaign makes a mockery of the All-Star game, but considering how the All-Star game has been a joke for years, this campaign fits right in.

So some fans have found a way to exploit the inept voting system devised by the league to stuff the ballot box for an unknown for a laugh. The system's been ripe for exploitation, and the only surprise to me is that it's taken this long.

Oh, and Fitzpatrick doesn't deserve to be run down because of this. He didn't seek it and has handled the unnecessary publicity well.

The way I see it, if he gets voted in, it's up to him to decide if he wants to go or not. I don't care either way because I stopped caring about the farce that is the NHL All-Star game a long, long time ago.

- Darcy Tucker to Edmonton? Nope, they need a puckmoving defenseman. To Montreal? Uh-uh, not with the Leafs clinging to a playoff berth. Trades between the Leafs and Habs are scarce as hens teeth and almost never occur during the season.

My guess is the Leafs won't trade Tucker during the season. They'll try to re-sign him but if he proves too rich for their blood could try to peddle him by the June draft weekend.

- I wouldn't be surprised if teams are inquiring into the availability of Florida's Olli Jokinen, but they're not gonna land him, especially if the Panthers are still in the hunt for post-season berth by the deadline. I also wouldn't be surprised to discover he's got a no-trade clause that'll kick in at some point in his contract.

- The Anaheim Ducks are facing real adversity for the first time this season, losing goalies J-S Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov, forward Todd Marchant and defenseman Francois Beauchemin to injury.

This'll be a true test for a Ducks team that has pretty much owned the Western Conference since the season began. Fortunately Bryzgalov is expected back soon whilst "Giggy" is listed as day-to-day, but for now it's up to Michael Wall to get 'er done until one of these guys return to action.

- How dumb is the NHL's playoff seeding system? So dumb that the New Jersey Devils with 43 points get third overall in the conference because they lead their division ahead of the Montreal Canadiens, who have 49 points.

And to prove I'm not biased, the same problem exists in the Western Conference, where the struggling Vancouver Canucks with their 39 points get the third overall seeding ahead of more deserving teams with better records like Detroit, Dallas and San Jose.

I don't care where a team places in a division, if their record isn't good enough for third overall, they bloody well shouldn't be there ahead of more deserving teams. In some cases, it's rewarding ineptness.