Recent Deals and Signings

The Mighty Ducks Sign JS Giguere to 4 years, $24 million
The Ducks, much to my own surprise, signed Giguere to a multi-year deal, and in the process taking the biggest, and only real name goalie off the UFA market. The deal is reasonable, and definitely a home town discount as Giguere surely would have gotten more and for longer on the open market. Now that their cup winning goalie is locked up, the Bryzgalov rumors will be flying.



Toronto acquires Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell for a 1st, 2nd and a 4th round picks
Despite the rumors of Toronto seeking a goalie, I didn’t think they would actually deal for one. But over the weekend they pried Toskala from the Sharks for a bevy of draft picks. Toskala is affordable and has one year remaining so he easily fit into the Leafs cap. If one of he or Raycroft, whose deal also expires after next year, don’t work out then the other will most likely be retained (I have a feeling that would be Toskala).

Bell was a salary dump for the Sharks, not working out with a career low twenty one points. The year before he scored more goals alone than that. If he can return to form like he was with the Blackhawks, and Toskala provides solid goaltending, this can be a very good deal for Toronto.



Florida acquires Tomas Vokoun for a 1st, and two 2nd round picks
With Giguere off the market, Florida, like Toronto, decided to go the trade route and obtain a higher caliber goalie than the mediocre ones that will be available come July 1st. The recent play, not to mention cost cutting measures, of the Predators made Vokoun expendable. The Preds site that wanting to retain free agents like Paul Kariya as the main source of the deal, though many believe it is the attempt to sell the team as the true reason.

Florida gets a good goalie to replace the aging Belfour and shaky Auld. With a young and rising team, and possibly some decent free agent signings, you can expect Florida to be in the run for the playoffs again.



Florida signs Nathan Horton to a 6 year, $24 million contract
What appears to be an emerging trend in the cap era, Florida signed on of their best young players to a long term deal. The deal seems to be based around the same deal Scott Hartnell got from the Flyers, and is also based on how good the team believes the player will become.

Horton though I think is more deserving of this deal than Hartnell. He has steadily improved in his three seasons of play, scoring 31 goals and added the same in assists, both higher than Hartnell’s totals. While the short term the salary is a bit much, but if he improves the way he has, in a few years this deal could be a steal for the Panthers.




Flames trade Andrei Zyuzin and Steve Marr for Adrian Aucoin and a 7th round pick
Much to everyone’s surprise the Blackhawks unloaded Aucoin’s salary unto the Flames, where Aucoin has a past history of playing with new coach Mike Keenan.

The trade more than anything signifies that the Flames will be unable to reach a deal with Brad Stuart, and severely lessens the chance of resigning Roman Hamrlik. Zyuzin though did not play well for the Flames so his loss will not be that great.

If Aucoin can return to form (read as “stay healthy”) than he can be a valuable asset to the Flames. But if he continues to be plagued by injuries, expect the Flames to be caught with a large contract just like Chicago was.




Penguins resign Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts to one year deals
The Penguins kept their two key veterans in Recchi and Roberts for at least one more year. Recchi’s deal is worth up to $2 million if he reaches incentives, and Roberts is worth $2.5 million. Both will continue to add much needed leadership and secondary scoring to the young penguins team.



Sharks sign Craig Rivet to 4 years $14 million dollars
The Sharks signed deadline acquisition Rivet to a long term deal over the weekend. Rivet played well for the Sharks, but I question how much they gave this at best mid-pairing defenseman, even with an inflated market for defensemen. Rivet can definitely be solid, but for $3.5 you would think that the Sharks would try and put that money to the soon to be UFA and more effective Scott Hannan. If rivet can continue his good play for the Sharks, he may b worth it. But if he plays like he did in Montreal they will be overpaying for him.



Kings buy out Alyn McCauley
A surprising move that took pretty much everyone off guard. McCauley only spend a single year with the Kings, and most of it was spend on the long term IR. It seems more that the Kings feel he will not be able to return from a bad knee injury more than anything else. Look for teams that need depth at center to give him a look.



-Jordan