The Official NHL 2007/2008 Thread

[D]

Just heard that the Red Wings nabbed Marian Hossa!!!!!!!

[Malcolm]

PENGUINS INK MALKIN TO FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed Evgeni Malkin to a five year contract extension. The extension mirrors the one signed by Penguins captain Sidney Crosby in July of 2007, a five-year deal averaging $8.7 million.

RED WINGS SIGN HOSSA TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

Less than a month after being bounced from the Stanley Cup Final, Marian Hossa has decided to join the Detroit Red Wings. Sources tell TSN that free agent Hossa has signed a one-year, $7.4 million deal with the Red Wings. The $7.4 million that Hossa will earn next season, is the most Detroit would pay anyone - even an unrestricted free agent. The Red Wings were insistent that no one earn more money than six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom.

AVERY, STARS AGREE TO A FOUR-YEAR, $15.5 MILLION DEAL

One of the NHL's most spirited and hated players has been snapped up off the free agent list, as forward Sean Avery has been signed by the Dallas Stars to a 4-year, $15.5 million contract. The contract has a limited no-movement clause. Avery, 28, was a key player with the New York Rangers since joining them midway through the 2006-07 season in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings. The Rangers are 50-20-16 over the last two seasons (10-8 in the playoffs) with him in the lineup, and 9-13-3 without him.  "We are excited about the opportunity to add a player like Sean Avery to our group," said Stars Co-General Manager Brett Hull. "His ability to play the game with skill and tenacity makes us a better team and is a great complement to the players we have here."

RANGERS SIGN REDDEN TO SIX-YEAR, $39M CONTRACT

One of the NHL's top free agent blueliners is off the market, as the New York Rangers have signed defenceman Wade Redden to a six-year contract worth $6.5 million a season. Redden, 31, became an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. ''The time has definitely come for me to move on. A fresh start is going to be exactly what I need to rejuvenate myself,'' Redden told The Canadian Press. ''I feel I've got a lot to offer the Rangers on the ice and off the ice. I'm certainly looking forward to a new beginning and a new chapter.''

BLACKHAWKS LOCK UP CAMPBELL WITH 8-YEAR, $56.8M DEAL

The most sought-after defenceman this summer has been snapped up, as free agent Brian Campbell has agreed to an eight-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks worth $7.1 million a season. "I'm pretty elated," Chicago general manager Dale Tallon said. "It's been a long struggle the past few years.  This day was always a tough day for us.  We worked hard, and to come home empty-handed wasn't a very good feeling."

OILERS BRING IN COLE, BRULE WITH PAIR OF TRADES

While other teams were focused on the free agent market, the Edmonton Oilers re-vamped their roster with a couple of trades. The Oilers have traded hard-hitting left winger Raffi Torres to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for 21-year-old centre Gilbert Brule, and sent defenceman Joni Pitkanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for winger Erik Cole. The Oilers have now made three trades in the last few days. On Sunday they acquired defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky from Los Angeles for forward Jarret Stoll and defenceman Matt Greene.

ROLSTON AND HOLIK RETURN TO NEW JERSEY

The New Jersey Devils have brought back two stars of yesterday, signing free agent forward Brian Rolston to a four-year, $20.25 million contract and centre Bobby Holik to a one-year, $2.5 million contract.

AVALANCHE SIGN TUCKER TO TWO-YEAR DEAL

he Colorado Avalanche have signed unrestricted free agent forward Darcy Tucker to a two-year, $4.5 million contract. Tucker, 33, was bought out by the Toronto Maple Leafs last week. His new deal will pay him $2.2 million next season and $2.3 million in 2009-10.

CAPITALS SIGN THEODORE, RAYCROFT JOINS AVS

The Washington Capitals have signed goaltender Jose Theodore to a two-year, $9 million contract. The Colorado Avalanche quickly replaced Theodore, signing Andrew Raycroft to a one-year, $800,000 deal.

MAPLE LEAFS SIGN HAGMAN, FINGER AND JOSEPH

The Toronto Maple Leafs jumped into the free agent market on Tuesday, signing forward Niklas Hagman to a four-year, $12 million contract, defenceman Jeff Finger to a four-year deal worth $3.5 million a season and goaltender Curtis Joseph to a one-year, $700,000 contract.

BLACKHAWKS SIGN NETMINDER HUET

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed goaltender Cristobal Huet to a four-year deal worth $5.635 million a season.

PERRY SIGNS FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT WITH DUCKS

The Anaheim Ducks have agreed to terms on restricted free agent forward Corey Perry. It is five-year deal worth $26.625 million and an average of $5.325 a year. The breakdown by year is as follows: $4.5 million, $6.5 million, $5.375 million, $5.375 million and $4.875 million. Of the more than $26 million, $8 million is in signing bonuses, including $3 million in the first year, $2.5 million in the second year and $1 million in each of the following three years.

TAMPA BAY ADDS VRBATA, HALL, KOLZIG

TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Lightning signed unrestricted free agent forward Radim Vrbata to a $9-million, three-year contract Tuesday, and also agreed to terms with UFA forward Adam Hall on a 3-year deal for $1.8 million and goaltender Olaf Kolzig with a one-year, $1.5 million contract.

[tim_m]

Crap i was hoping we'd get Avery back. I don't know anything about Redden that we signed. Anyone know anything about him?

[COMAMOTIVE]

Crap i was hoping we'd get Avery back. I don't know anything about Redden that we signed. Anyone know anything about him?

Yeah, it could be a good signing. Redden was a high draft pick by Ottawa years ago, he was actually compared with Leetch

He's been solid, but un-spectacular as of late. He's a quick, offensive defensemen who should help the Power Play

[Malcolm]

A change of scenery will be good for Redden...I think he will have a huge top 5 type season next year for defenceman

[tim_m]

Crap i was hoping we'd get Avery back. I don't know anything about Redden that we signed. Anyone know anything about him?

Yeah, it could be a good signing. Redden was a high draft pick by Ottawa years ago, he was actually compared with Leetch

He's been solid, but un-spectacular as of late. He's a quick, offensive defensemen who should help the Power Play

Yeah read the article about the signing and that he's kinda fallen off that could be due to the senators falling off to though. We'll see how he does. I wonder if he gets paired up with Staal that could be interesting. What's your take on that trade we did with Columbus?

[The Dog]

Feels like someone punched me in the balls.  Fucking Ho$$a.  I guess signing Malkin to a long term deal is pretty nice though.  I hope Jags doesn't come back to Pitt - we can do without the drama and whining.  Naslund would be nice.  Definite holes on the right side of Pittsburgh offense right now.

In Shero we trust though.

Is there anyway the Wings can lose next year?  I don't think so.

[COMAMOTIVE]

Yeah read the article about the signing and that he's kinda fallen off that could be due to the senators falling off to though. We'll see how he does. I wonder if he gets paired up with Staal that could be interesting. What's your take on that trade we did with Columbus?

Well, I'm not so sure.  I really like Tyutin. We'll see - The kid they got can score, and he's young. Play him with Dubinsky or someone with some skills and he could flourish - Besides, to compete with Pitt, we're gonna need guys exactly like this, so it could turn out well.  Hard to argue with Sather lately. He seems something, I guess...

[The Dog]

Rangers TOTALLY overpaid for Rosival.  I don't see Jags staying with the Rags and I don't see him going to Pitt either.  He needs to be the top dog and he certainly wouldn't be that on Pittsburgh.  Would be a great way for him to end his career and get back in the good graces with the fans, but I think he'd be a huge bitch again and completely unproductive there.

[tim_m]

Yeah read the article about the signing and that he's kinda fallen off that could be due to the senators falling off to though. We'll see how he does. I wonder if he gets paired up with Staal that could be interesting. What's your take on that trade we did with Columbus?

Well, I'm not so sure.  I really like Tyutin. We'll see - The kid they got can score, and he's young. Play him with Dubinsky or someone with some skills and he could flourish - Besides, to compete with Pitt, we're gonna need guys exactly like this, so it could turn out well.  Hard to argue with Sather lately. He seems something, I guess...

Yeah i've read he kinda plays half hearted and only tries when he really wants to. I'm hoping new surroundings and a team with a chance to really compete for something will get this kid motivated to put forth the effort he's capable of. If we can get him to do that i think we got something good here and like you said he's young.

[tim_m]

Rangers TOTALLY overpaid for Rosival.  I don't see Jags staying with the Rags and I don't see him going to Pitt either.  He needs to be the top dog and he certainly wouldn't be that on Pittsburgh.  Would be a great way for him to end his career and get back in the good graces with the fans, but I think he'd be a huge bitch again and completely unproductive there.

I agree we overpayed for him but unfortunately its the market value. A lot of guys i think got overpayed in the last 24hrs.

[CheapJon]

Sundin turned down detroit and vancouver, even though the vancouver contract was 20 million for 2 years i can understand him but turning down the red wings? I guess he's really unsure if he's gonna continue playing

[Malcolm]

COLUMBUS SIGNS HUSELIUS TO A FOUR-YEAR DEAL

The Columbus Blue Jackets continued to turn over their roster on Wednesday, signing unrestricted free agent forward Kristian Huselius.  Sources tell TSN it's a four-year deal worth $4.75 million per year.

COLUMBUS SENDS ZHERDEV TO THE RANGERS

The Rangers and the Blue Jackets completed a two-for-two trade Wednesday, with New York getting younger and faster up front, and Columbus getting some experienced blueliners. The Rangers sent Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to Columbus in exchange for Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche.

SENATORS, RUUTU AGREE TO THREE-YEAR CONTRACT

The Ottawa Senators have added some sandpaper to their lineup. Feisty forward Jarkko Ruutu has agreed to a 3-year, $3.9 million dollar deal with the Senators.

ISLANDERS SIGN WEIGHT TO A ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

The New York Islanders have agreed to a one-year contract with Doug Weight worth $1.75 million in base salary plus bonuses that could bring the total to $4.3 million. Weight brings a total of 1,131 NHL games to the Islanders along with 265 career goals and 704 assists for 969 points in 16 NHL seasons.

PENGUINS, ORPIK AGREE ON 6-YEAR DEAL

Sources tell TSN Brooks Orpik has agreed to a 6 year, 22.5 million dollar deal to remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins.  The contract averages 3.75 million per year.

DUCKS' BURKE BLAMES SALARY RISE ON OILERS' LOWE

After signing free agent forward Corey Perry to a five-year extension worth $26.63 million on Tuesday, Ducks general manager Brian Burke had some choice words about the new salary climate in the NHL and Edmonton Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe.

Burke told the Los Angeles Times that the rise in salaries for young players can be traced back to Lowe.

"You go right now from entry-level to what used to be the third contract, thanks to two offer sheets from Kevin Lowe," Burke said to the Times.

"Most [general] managers don't like starting fights with any other managers. . Thanks to the Edmonton Oilers, the second contract has disappeared."

"They're all being re-signed at inflated prices," he explained to the newspaper. "Everything I said a year ago has come true. Every single word."

Burke and Lowe have been at odds since the Oilers put forth a five-year ($21.25 million) offer sheet to Group II restricted free agent Dustin Penner. The Ducks did not match and Penner became an Oiler.

At the time, Burke explained he had no problem with a team putting an offer sheet forward offer sheets but the money involved was the issue.

"I think [an offer sheet] it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use," Burke said last July. "My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job."

The Ducks' GM was also critical of the process employed by Lowe and the Oilers.

"I was not notified of this until an agent faxed it into us," Burke told Canadian Press in July. "I thought Kevin would have called me and told me it was coming. I thought that was gutless."

The verbal jabs continued and on the TSN 2007/08 season preview show the Ducks GM had more to say.

"If I had run my team into the sewer like that I wouldn't throw a grenade at the other 29 teams and my own indirectly," said Burke.
Brian Burke

[Malcolm]

MAPLE LEAFS ACQUIRE GRABOVSKI FROM THE CANADIENS

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to fill out their roster for the 2008-09 season. Toronto announced Thursday that the club has acquired forward Mikhail Grabovski from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft pick in the 2010 draft. "Mikhail had tremendous success at the most recent World Hockey Championships," said Fletcher in a statement. "He has great upside and we will look for him to contribute for us right away at the centre position." A native of Potsdam, Germany, Grabovski was Montreal's fourth choice, 150th overall, in the 2004 draft. The 24-year old scored three goals and six assists in 24 games with Montreal last year.

PENGUINS LOCK UP FLEURY WITH SEVEN-YEAR, $35 MILLION DEAL

A day after signing core players Evgeni Malkin and Brooks Orpik to long term deals, the Pittsburgh Penguins took care of their goaltender on Thursday.
Sources tell TSN Marc-Andre Fleury has signed a seven year, $35 million extension. The deal includes a no-move and limited no-trade clause that triggers in 2010-2011 The no-move prevents the Penguins from placing Fleury on waivers, while the limited no-trade still allows for some flexibility with Fleury controlling the list of teams he would consider in the event Pittsburgh wants to trade him.

[AxlsMainMan]

BLACKHAWKS LOCK UP CAMPBELL WITH 8-YEAR, $56.8M DEAL

The most sought-after defenceman this summer has been snapped up, as free agent Brian Campbell has agreed to an eight-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks worth $7.1 million a season. "I'm pretty elated," Chicago general manager Dale Tallon said. "It's been a long struggle the past few years.  This day was always a tough day for us.  We worked hard, and to come home empty-handed wasn't a very good feeling."

An excellent catch for The 'Hawks!

[jarmo]

Russian hockey club Avangard Omsk said on its website Friday that it had signed Jaromir Jagr for the upcoming season, just one day after the New York Rangers said they were moving ahead without the superstar.

The club in the Continental Hockey League announced the signing on its website, but did not disclose the terms of the contract. Jagr played for Avangard during the NHL's lockout season in 2004-05.

The player's agent, Pat Brisson, later confirmed the move.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2008/07/04/jagr-russia.html




/jarmo

[Skeba]

That was a bit surprising, but when you think about it... it actually makes sense for him to go there.

I'm sort of hoping that the russians get a good league going there. There's a lot of good talent out there that doesn't get ice time or even a chance at NHL, so I'm really not that worried about the level dropping in NHL.

The only thing they can't install there is the culture of hockey, but this is a step in the right direction...

[COMAMOTIVE]

Jagr was incredible in the playoffs.......but any Ranger fan will tell you that his heart/head just weren't into it during the regular season , and for the most part he just coasted......He played his ass off in the Playoffs and it showed you how good he really is - outperforming just about everyone not named
Crosby or Malkin

Either way, I think Ranger fans appreciated him and will treat him well should he ever return

Good Luck.....Grow back the mullet and have fun in Russia

[tim_m]

I'll miss him but i think it was definitely time for him to move on. He wants to be closer to home and can you honestly fault a guy for that?

[CheapJon]

I'll miss him but i think it was definitely time for him to move on. He wants to be closer to home and can you honestly fault a guy for that?

I also think his contract in russia will be better then a contract with rangers now with the salary cap and all