With the start of the NHL's 2008-09 season slated for October 4th several NHL teams were busy trying to pare down their rosters.
The Chicago Blackhawks made the biggest news of the day, placing veteran goalie Nikolia Khabibulin on waivers in hopes a rival club might be willing to claim him rather than trade for him.
Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon would love to move Khabibulin's $6.75 million salary for this season but it's doubtful he'll find any takers for "The 'Bulin Wall" via waivers. He might have better luck demoting Khabibulin and then placing him on recall waivers, where an interested team could claim him and only be on the hook for half his salary, with the 'Hawks having to absorb the other half.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were busy as well, trading forward Nick Tarnasky to the Nashville Predators for a conditional pick in 2009 and placing forward Michel Ouellet on waivers.
Tarnasky, a checking line forward, played 80 games for the Lightning last season and had 6 goals and ten points.
Placing Ouellet on waivers however suggests the Bolts couldn't find any takers for him via the trade market and could also mean the club now intends to retain forward Jussi Jokinen, who was the subject of trade speculation this summer but impressed new head coach Barry Melrose with a strong training camp.
Ouellet is an energetic winger who last season had 17 goals and 36 points in 64 games with the Lightning, and with an affordable $1.25 million salary cap hit he might be an affordable option for rivla clubs.
The New York Islanders meanwhile added to their blueline depth, claiming Thomas Pock off waivers from the New York Rangers.
Pock was considered a promising defense prospect several seasons ago but struggled to stick with the Rangers over the past two years. He might get a better opportunity with the Islanders.
The deadline for
Club-Elected Salary Arbitration notification is July 6, 2008 at 5 p.m.
ET. Hearings will be held in Toronto from
July 20 to August 4, 2008."
More significant is the fact that these players are now ineligible to receive offer sheets from rival teams.
The Pittsburgh Penguins took action to fill the gaps on the
wing left by the departures of Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa on Thursday,
signing right winger Miroslav Satan and winger Ruslan Fedotenko to one year
contracts.
Satan, who had 41 points in 80 games with the NY Islanders
last season, will earn $3.5 million, while Fedotenko, another ex-Islander, had
33 points in 67 games and will make $2.5 million.
Neither will fully replace what Malone and Hossa contributed
to the Penguins last season and will be seen as stopgap replacements, but at
least GM Ray Shero has addressed the lack of depth on the wing in the wake of
Hossa and Malone’s departures with a pair or decent free agents
This probably means we can scratch those speculations of
Jaromir Jagr and Markus Naslund signing with the Penguins.
The New York Islanders were looking for affordable depth at
center in this summer’s UFA market and believe to have found it in veteran Doug
Weight, signing him to a one-year, $1.75 million contract.
Weight has had a long and productive career as a first and
second line center but it was apparent last season that age was finally
catching up to the 38-year-old, who managed only 24 points in 67 game in
2007-08 split between the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues.
It’s doubtful Weight will post up more than 40 points next
season but the Isles are counting on his experience and leadership more than
anything else.
New York Islanders GM Garth Snow claimed prior to July 1st
that he wouldn’t make a big splash in this summer’s UFA pool.
He apparently changed his mind, signing former Montreal
Canadiens goalie defenseman Mark Streit to a five year, $20.5 million contract, or $4.1
million per season.
Streit had a terrific performance in his third NHL season
last year, with 62 points in 81 games, most of those coming on the Canadiens
lethal power play.
The Habs hoped to re-sign Streit but with forward Andrei
Kostitsyn to re-sign and with GM Bob Gainey focused on landing an impact
forward there was no room on the payroll for him.
If Streit’s asking price was $4.1 million per, it’s no
wonder Gainey passed.
It’s understandable that Snow wants to bolster his blueline,
and Streit is a good offensive defenseman, but as noted earlier, he put up
those big totals last season on one of the top powerplay units in the league,
which he won’t be playing for on Long Island next season.
Snow is gambling that Streit is capable of at least 40
points per season on a lesser team, and it could prove to be an expensive
gamble.
The Florida Panthers have announced placing center Jozef
Stumpel on waivers in what could be a prelude to buying out the remainder of
his contract.
Stumpel has one year at $2.25 million remaining on his
current contract. He’d been a consistent 50-point player throughout this decade
but last season struggled with injury posting his lowest offensive totals in a
decade.
It’s possible he could play overseas next season but he
might test this summer’s NHL UFA market where he could be an affordable depth.
The Vancouver Canucks have claimed center Kyle Wellwood off
waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Not a bad move by the Canucks as this is an affordable way
to bring some depth at center. Wellwood has the potential to be a second line
scorer but the injury prone center must improve his conditioning to reach that
potential.
The Ottawa Senators have parted ways with tough guy Brian
McGratton, shipping him to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for a fifth round
pick in 2009.
McGratton’s presence should make teams in the Western
Conference think twice about taking liberties against the Coyotes best players.
He’s a restricted free agent but the Coyotes shouldn’t have too much trouble
getting one of the league’s best brawlers under contract.
Former NY Islanders goaltender Wade Dubieliewicz has
reportedly signed a two-year contract with AK-Bars Kazan of the newly formed
Kontinental Hockey League.
Dubielewicz rejected a contract offer from the Islanders and
was eligible for UFA status in July.
Trevor Linden recently announced his retirement from the NHL
after 19 seasons, sixteen of which were spent with the Vancouver Canucks, nearly
seven of those as team captain.
Linden hasn’t been captain of the Canucks for years but in
the minds of most of the team’s fans he’ll always be considered the best
captain the team ever had.
His best seasons were in his first go-around with the
Canucks from his NHL rookie season of 1988-89 through the 1997-98 campaign,
where he’d score over 30 goals six times and exceed the 50 point mark seven
times, including four 70-plus point seasons.
Linden was never flashy as teammate Pavel Bure during that
time but his strong two-way play and leadership made him a standout and the
true heart-and-soul of the club for most of the 1990s.
He also earned a reputation as a solid playoff performer
renowned for his clutch play, and he was never better than in the 1994
playoffs, captaining the Canucks to a thrilling seven game Stanley Cup final series
against the NY Rangers, where the Canucks rallied from a 3-1 series deficit before
falling to the Rangers in the deciding seventh game.
Dealt to the NY Islanders mid-way through the 1997-98 season
for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe and a third round pick (used to select Jarkko
Ruutu), Linden struggled with injuries as he bounced from the Isles to the
then-equally mediocre Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals over the
course of four seasons.
But early in the 2001-02 season Linden was dealt back to the
Canucks where he truly belonged, and while he was no longer the captain and his
offensive skills were in decline he was still relied upon for leadership and
strong defensive play.
He was also president of the NHL Players Association for 8
years, during which the NHL was shut down for an entire season due to a
lockout.
Linden was a loyal lieutenant of PA Executive Director Bob
Goodenow but broke with him in March 2005 following the league’s cancellation
of the 2004-05 season, joining with PA assistant director Ted Saskin in
negotiating the current collective bargaining agreement which brought the lock
to an end in July 2005.
His role in the firing of Goodenow later than month and in
the controversial hiring of Saskin as the PA’s new executive director remains
murky, and resulted in his stepping down as PA president
Linden has also been a long-time active member of the
Vancouver community, particularly in charity work associated with the BC
Children’s Hospital and other charitable organizations, which has only deepened
the love Canucks fans feel for Linden.
Presently it’s unknown if Linden will have a role in the
Canucks organization in the near future, but considering all he’s done for the
team on and off the ice as a player as well as in the community the Canucks
hierarchy would be daft not to hire him, if not in management then at the very
least a goodwill ambassador.
Linden finishes his NHL career with 375 goals and 867 points
in 1, 382 regular season games, and an even more impressive 99 points
(including 65 assists) in 124 playoff games.
It remains to be seen if he’ll ever be inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Canucks retired his
number 16 in honor of the most popular player in team history.
Following the NHL lockout the league’s newly formed competition committee introduced legislation designed to improve their product by speeding it up and increasing the potential for more offense.
Among the legislation were restrictions which shrunk the size of goaltending equipment. The theory was such reductions would increase goalscoring by prevent netminders from wearing oversized equipment, as there were numerous complaints that goalies wore such equipment more to block shots than for protection, the primary function of their equipment.
It appeared to be working in the first season following the lockout as goalscoring increased, but since then the increase has been so marginal as to appear stagnant, leading again to complaints that goaltenders were finding ways to work around the system to again wear out-sized equipment.
Several reasons why scoring hasn't significantly increased include the conditioning and skill of today's netminders compared to their predecessors and the adjustments in defensive systems by NHL coaches. Still, goaltending equipment remains a hot button issue.
As a result the NHL and NHLPA announced on April 29th the formation o####oalie Equipment Working Group, consisting of five players and four general managers, who’ll meeting in Toronto on June 11th to address again this niggling issue.
As per their press release:
“ The NHL representatives include Doug Risebrough of Minnesota, Garth Snow of the New York Islanders, Jim Rutherford of Carolina and Brett Hull of Dallas (co-GM). The NHLPA’s Executive Board voted to select three goalies and two skaters. Martin Brodeur of New Jersey, Rick DiPietro of the New York Islanders, Ryan Miller of Buffalo, Dany Heatley of Ottawa and Mike Cammalleri of Los Angeles will represent the NHLPA.
The Goalie Equipment Working Group will meet on June 11, 2008 in Toronto to examine the configuration and dimensions of goaltender equipment with respect to safety and performance. If the working group decides alterations to the rules governing goaltender equipment are warranted, and will not jeopardize the safety of the goalies, these recommendations will be forwarded to the Competition Committee for consideration. “
It remains to be seen what, if any, recommendations the group will make and if they’ll have any significant impact.
“We already know that goaltenders are a pretty tight group, and I have little doubt that Snow, a GM and former goalie who is extraordinarily close with DiPietro, will fight tooth and nail to protect his team's most valuable -- and some would say only -- asset. And thanks to a Sports Illustrated piece from a few months back, we already know that DiPietro and Brodeur form something of a mutual admiration society.
Combine them with Miller, and that's four solid votes against doing anything that's going to make a goalie's job harder than it already is. And while those four could very well be outvoted if the other five stick together, my guess is the group won't want to forward any recommendations to the Competition Committee if they aren't unanimous.”
He suggests that Brodeur could cast a significant vote against such changes, but with all due respect to Eric, that doesn’t jibe with comments the Devils netminder has made in the past. If anything, Brodeur could be among those voting for change:
From NHL.com, September 29, 2003: “Brodeur, who led the Devils over Giguere's Mighty Ducks for the Stanley Cup, told Le Journal de Montreal recently, said that complaints by his goaltending brethren that restrictions to the size of the equipment -- and more precisely many flaps used as add-ons by goalies -- leave them vulnerable to injuries is not true.
"The limit for the height of goaltender's pads is 38 inches, so?" said Brodeur, a three-time Cup winner. "Mine have always been 34 inches and that's enough. I've always preferred less bulky equipment so I could move around easier. Certain goaltenders have really gone too far in the last few years and I can understand why the League wants to stop it.
"I have to point out that I don't use the butterfly style, unlike most Quebec goaltenders. With plastic foils attached to their pads, butterfly goalies could completely close the space between their legs. I can understand why forwards complained they can't score when they shoot for the 5-hole. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was the target of such complaints last year."
From The Sporting News, October 6, 2003: “"It's got to be proportional to your body" says Brodeur, who wears 34-inch pads. "That's why the rule should be individual. The advantage of a little goalie wearing 38 is bigger than a bigger goalie wearing 38. Everybody should get measured and say, 'OK, you can have this.' And the guys who don't (follow that) should be penalized. You shouldn't be penalized for being 6-4 or 6-5."
Most recently, from the Toronto Star, February 20, 2008: “From my point of view, and I hope they think about this, they need to make the effort to size everyone individually," said Brodeur in an interview from New Jersey. "If they do that, they'll see a big difference. They have to reduce the little guys to being little guys and the skinny guys to being skinny guys. Those guys are taking advantage of the system."
Brodeur, who is 6-foot-2, wears pads that are 34-35 inches in length and can't understand why most goalies in the league are wearing the maximum 38-inch pads.
"There's no reason why anyone under six-feet should be wearing 38-inch pads, but everybody is wearing them," he said. "It's like if you have a 33-inch waist, you shouldn't be allowed to wear XXL pants."
Garth Snow might be keen to protect DiPietro, but the aforementioned Star article also noted that, when the subject was discussed during this past February’s meeting of NHL general managers, he gave them information on how he used his equipment to add blocking area.
And given that the GM’s emerged from that meeting unanimously agreeing to address this issue, including Snow, it appears those in this group determined to maintain the status quo could be in a distinct minority.
Lost in the trade deadline hoopla was the NY Islanders retaining an important free agent, re-signing Mike Comrie to a one-year, $4 million contract.
Comrie is the Islanders leading scorer this season and clearly enjoys playing for the club. Indeed, it appears that, after struggling to fit in with Edmonton, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Ottawa, Comrie may have finally found a home with the Islanders.
For a team that usually loses their best players to unrestricted free agency every year, for a franchise that is oft-maligned as the Islanders have been since the early 1990s, it was important to retain their top scorer when he obviously wanted to stay.
The salary might appear a bit steep but the term works for the Islanders, for if Comrie should regress next season they’ll only be on the hook for a year. If he improves, they can commit to a more lucrative, longer term.
Islanders general manager Garth Snow still has to consider re-signing Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Josef Vasicek and Bryan Berard. Satan might not return but it’s possible Fedotenko, Vasickek and Berard could be affordable retained if they wish to stay and if they still fit in the Isles future plans.
At least this year, Snow won’t have to worry about losing his best forward to the UFA market, which could be the basis for retaining other key players this summer.
The Minnesota Wild added more muscle to their roster by acquiring controversial forward Chris Simon in exchange for a sixth round pick.
Wild GM Doug Risebrough obviously still remembers how his team was pushed around in last year’s playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks, hence the reason for adding Simon, although this move is not without its risk.
Simon is coming off two lengthy suspensions over the last year, one for slashing NY Rangers Ryan Hollweg in the face last season and stomping on Penguins forward Jarkko Ruutu with his skate earlier this season.
The Wild are in need of more than another goon, as this team has been lacking depth at center throughout the season, especially after Wes Walz retired earlier this season.
Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke has added yet another significant defenseman to his already deep blueline corps, acquiring Marc-Andre Bergeron from the New York Islanders for a third round pick.
Bergeron had butted heads a couple of times this season with the Islanders coaching staff, leading to speculation he could be moved by today.
The Ducks already have a scary-deep defense in Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Mathieu Schneider, Francois Beachemin and Sean O’Donnell. Bergeron adds another offensive piece to the Ducks blueline, with his heavy shot from the blueline.
Bergeron’s defensive skills can be considered average at best, but if paired with a seasoned all-around defenseman on the Ducks defense corps (take your pick) he should make a terrific fit, particularly on the power play.
The San Jose Sharks acquired a top defenseman in Brian Campbell from Buffalo, and in a move that could perhaps be seen as making room for Campbell have shipped little-used defenseman Rob Davison to the NY Islanders for a seventh round pick in 2008.
Davison’s best season was 2005-06 when he played in 69 games notching 6 points with a plus-minus of +6. This season he’s appeared in only 15 games, missing considerable time due to injuries.
At 6-3 and 220 he has good size and decent defensive skills and was used mainly as a sixth or seventh defenseman by the Sharks, struggling to crack their blueline over the past two seasons.
He might get a good opportunity with the Islanders to see more playing time and firmly establish himself as a regular NHL defenseman.
With the NHL Trade Deadline fast approaching speculation has dogged the New York Islanders over which of their eleven potential unrestricted free agents they’d retain or trade.
The Isles scratched one name off the list, re-signing forward Trent Hunter to a five-year, $10 million contract extension. Hunter’s new contract will break down as $2 million per season against the Isles cap, beginning in 2008-09. It’s a modest raise over the $1.55 million per season he earned on his current contract.
Hunter had a promising rookie season in 2003-04, with 25 goals and 51 points with a plus-minus of +23, but he’s been unable to match those offensive stats since.
He reached the 20-goal mark against last season with 35 points, and while he’s on pace for only 11 goals this season he’s also on pace for 41 points, which would be his second-best single season total.
The reason however why Hunter hasn’t returned to the lofty stats of his rookie season is his all-around play, which at times seems to go unappreciated by some observers.
It’s that versatility combined with his desire to remain with the only NHL team he’s ever played for that made him a worthwhile re-signing for the Islanders.
In trade rumors regarding the Islanders Hunter was usually mentioned as an after-thought, with much of the attention focused on Mike Comrie, Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bryan Berard and Josef Vasicek, all of them also UFAs this summer.
Goes to show that sometimes the guy you don’t hear much about is the guy who gets re-signed first.
It now remains to be seen which of the remaining UFAs the Islanders re-sign. It’s believed GM Garth Snow is in contract talks with Comrie and it’s also believed he might retain Fedotenko, but the future appears uncertain for Satan, Berard and Vasicek.
The New York Islanders signed UFA winger Bill Guerin to a two-year, $9 million contract.
You read that right, folks: two years, $9 million.
Islanders GM Garth Snow was desperate to replace several key forwards that departed via free agency on July 1st, and I can certainly understand why he was interested in Guerin. I can even understand the willingness to overpay for a soon-to-be 37 year old winger who scored 36 goals last season split between the moribund St. Louis Blues and the playoff-bound San Jose Sharks, even if he did come up small in 9 playoff games with the Sharks.
But there's overpaying, and then there's overpaying far too much, and that's what Snow and the Islanders have done here.
They're hoping - heck, probably praying - that Guerin will pot 30 goals a season over the next two years, but surely to heavens they didn't have to pay $4.5 million per season for that gamble.
There's no question that Guerin's stock likely rose as this week progressed and the top UFAs were snapped up quickly, but again, he's an aging winger and not worth that kind of contract.
But when you're desperate like the Islanders, and have the cap space to spare, you happily pay it and hope that his play will justify that salary.
It's been reported the NHL is expected to announce today the suspension of NY Islanders forward Chris Simon for thirty games for stomping on Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jarrko Ruutu with his skate last weekend.
TSN.ca reports that because of the severity of the suspension Simon, who's currently taking time off from the Islanders to apparently seek counseling, might attempt to appeal it.
My question is, why did the NHL stop at thirty games? Simon is a repeat offender who never seems to learn from the consequences of his actions.
- A three game suspension in 1997 for using a racial slur against forward Mike Grier,
- A one-game suspension in the 2000 playoffs for cross-checking then-Penguins defenseman Peter Popovic in the throat,
- A two-game suspension in April 2001 for elbowing then-Panthers d-man Anders Eriksson in the head,
- Two 2-game suspensions in 2004; one for attacking then-Lightning forward (and now Simon's Islanders teammate) Ruslan Fedotenko, and one for kneeing Dallas Stars blueliner Sergei Zubov,
- A 25-game suspension last season for slashing Ryan Hollweg of the NY Rangers in the face.
If any player in the NHL has earned a season-long suspension, it's Chris Simon.
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.
