The Frenzy

Well it is Canada day and with that brings the NHL's free agent frenzy. I have decided to put my input into todays and recent moves that have happen so far in this frenzy time!

- Another desperate move by the Canucks....they put a offer sheet in for LW David Backes for 7.5 million dollars. Man these guys are desperate!

- Sadly the stupid Avalanche sign the only player I wanted the Flames to get...Darcy Tucker. He signed a 2 year contract worth 4.5 million which in my mind is a very fair price and the ideal price for which I wanted the Flames to sign him for. This is two years in a row the Avalanche have signed the guy I wanted to see in a Flames uniform, last year it was Scott Hannan. I also think this spells the end of Forsberg in Colorado probably even in the NHL.

- Olaf Kolzig signs. Guess where......Tampa Bay. Defense??

- Rangers add some depth up front by signing LW Aaron Voros.

- The Panthers add some leadership by signing LW Cory Stillman to a very rich 3 year deal worth 10.6 million dollars. Way over-paid!

- The Blackhawks sign G Cristobal Huet. I would say they are definitely shopping the Bulin-Wall, lets hope he doesn't end up in Colorado.

- The Pens add some toughness by signing RW Eric Godard. Does this spell the end of Laraque in Pittsburgh, I think so.

- Tampa is t it again, adding LW Adam Hall to the mix, signing him to a 3-year deal worth 1.8 million. Man I thought the Lightning were bad last year but I didn't think they had that many holes up front. Can anyone else say Defense?

- The Leafs make a slash, signing both Curtis Joseph and D Jeff Finger. Finger received a 4 year deal worth 3.5 million dollars a season, that seems a little rich for him Mr.Fletcher who has been trying to clean house of all the Leafs over-paid players at least he is only 29?

- The Canadiens re-signed their biggest RFA. Andrei Kostitsyn signed a 3 year deal worth 3.25 million dollars a season. This was a must sign for the Canadiens. I love what Kostitsyn brings, he can score but he is also very tough. One of the more tougher talented Russians I have seen for sure.

- The Red Wings have also signed Ty Conklin to a 1 year contract. Conklin resurrected his career last year with the Pens to add some goaltending depth behind Osgood.

- To solve? their goaltending issues, maybe just more help their goaltending after loosing Theodore the Avalanche signed Andrew Raycroft to a 1 year deal. This is a head scratcher, Raycroft was awful for the Leafs so the Avalanche better have some other plan to help themselves out. With these moves the Avalanche have gotten way weaker and even though it is early it is hard to see them making the playoffs next season.

- Finally Mats Sundin has reportedly gotten offers from four teams including a 2 year 10 MILLION DOLLAR offer from the Vancouver Canucks. Man I thought the Canucks were desperate but not that desperate, that is absolutely ridiculous. As a Flames fan I am liking what is going on in Vancouver, Colorado and Minnesota!

- The Caps solved their goaltending issue by signing Jose Theodore to a 2 year contract. I like what I saw from Theodore last year and I think that it is an upgrade over Cristobal Huet for the Caps.

- The Coyotes signed D Kurt Sauer to a 4-year deal. Sauer had a break out season with the Avalanche last season and the Coyotes have some holes to fill on their blueline after loosing both Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton in the Oli Jokinen deal. The Coyotes also added some toughness by signing Todd Fedoruk to a 3 year deal. Why would the Coyotes give and enforcer more than a 1 year deal?

- The Wild brought back LW Andrew Brunette to fill some gaping holes in their top-6. He signed a 3 year deal worth 7 million dollars. The Wild also acquired D Marek Zidlicky from the Preds for a draft pick and a prospect. the Wild had to do something up front becuase it looks like they are going to loose both Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra.

- The Ducks who are going to be nip and tuck at the top of the salary cap, signed RW Corey Perry to a 5 year deal worth 26.635 million dollars. There is no way the Ducks could let this guy slip away like what happened last year with Dustin Penner. Perry is very talented and will put up big numbers offensively for years to come.

- The Penguins re-signed both LW Pascal Dupuis and D Mark Eaton.

- The Champs have been busy too, re-signing both D Brad Stuart to a 4 year deal worth 3.75 a year and D Andres Lilja to a 2 year deal. I like Stuart alot like I have mentioned and I love the pairing of him and Kronwall together. The Red Wings will have another very strong defense next season.

- The Devils re-signed two of their UFA's, locking up both LW Jay Pandalfo and D Bryce Salvador. Pandalfo signed for 3 year, 7.5 million while Salvador signed for 4 years at 11.6 million dollars. They also declined the option on Sergei Brylin's contract, thus ending his very long career in New Jersey.

- The Avalanche re-signed both their big free agent defensemen. J-M Liles agreed to a 4 year deal worth 16 million dollars while veteran Adam Foote signed a 2 year deal worth reportedly 6 million dollars.

- Our enemies from up north have been reeling and dealing so far this summer and I'm sad to say that I like all of their moves. The started with acquiring D Lubomir Visnovsky from the Kings for C Jarret Stoll and D Matt Greene. Visnovsky is a very good puck-mover and will help out Edmonton's PP alot. He isn't the greatest at ES but the Oilers should be able to help him by pairing up with someone like Steve Staios. I was never really a fan of Stoll and with the Oiler's already having Cogliano and Horcoff up the middle there wasn't much room for Stoll. Then today the Oilers acquired RW Erik Cole from the Hurricanes for D Joni Pitkanen. I have always liked Cole and I think he would look great on Edmonton's 2nd line with Cogliano and Gagner. Pitkanen seems like he is looking for a big contract that he isn't worth so the Oilers definitely took the chance to get rid of Pitkanen to the desperate Hurricanes who need a puck-moving defensemen. Finally the Oilers traded LW Raffi Torres to Columbus for C Gilbert Brule. Another solid move, I never liked Torres at all and Brule is still young and still has upside.

-The Lightning have gone crazy with their spending and you would have thought that GM Jay Feester would have learned from the last time he put all this money into players. After just getting rid of Brad Richard's huge contract, he has took that money and put it towards other players. He started with acquiring the rights to LW Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts. He signed Malone to a ridiculous 7 year, 31 million dollar contract and Roberts to a 1 year deal worth 1 million dollars plus bonus's. The Lightning's new ownership obviously has money but the Malone deal will bite them back one day, he has a career high of 51 points, enough said. Then the Lightning also acquired the rights to LW Vaclav Prospal which they then signed to a multi-year deal and finally today the Lightning dished out a 3 year, 9 million dollar contract to RW Radim Vrbata who had a career year last year that came out of no where. With these signings and the hiring of Barry Melrose, the only good thing going good for the Lightning is Lecavalier and Stamkos. Oh and one more thing, rumors say that they might be shipping off their only good defensemen Dan Boyle this summer to make room for these ridiculous contracts they are giving out. Good Luck keeping the puck out of your net!