Ok lets discuss all the moves that are about to happen..

We have two big moves today..

Leafs sign FA centre Tim Stapleton.

and a trade between Edmonton and Philly

Ryan Potulny to Edmonton
Danny Svret to Philly

blues acquired Fast from LA for a 2nd rounder.

he is money. kid will do big things if paired with EJ imo.

yes. why LA would ever part with him is beyond me. The Quick/Fast pairing!

haha good point.

i've been watching this guy ever since he got a player of the week award in the WHL last year. he's offensive talent is top drawer but he'll need to fill out a little and get better defensively to get there. he has the skills though.

well, good for the blues, I guess. they've been solid on defense for a long time--not sure why they felt the need to pull the trigger.

Everywhere I've read said it was a 5th rounder next year.



Considering Lombardi always says the Kings are short on Defensive prospects and then trades Fast for a 5th round pick has most Kings fans very very confused.



Quick in net and Fast on defense. I have to admit it would have been cool to have that.

Btw Strat haven't seen you on AIM lately. You going to see the Blues and Kings in KC?

i have seen it reported as a 5th rounder too come to think of it. my guess it that lombardi is committed to bringing in doughty/bogosian and already has JJ, Hickey, Vishnevski and Harrold already in the team/waiting in the wings. The kings dont need another highly offensive but potentially poor defensive player on the back end.

Craig Hartsburgh named coach of the Crappy Senators...

Bad choice for a bad team hopefully...


Good luck

We missed MA Bergeron to the Wild.

yeah, guess it was a 5th rounder. my bads.

I was going to buy tickets at $50 apiece to go with my dad, girlfriend, and friend of the family, but apparently our friend has some connections to get tickets cheaper. I'm excited.

Pens File For Arbitration With Fleury
Jun 13, 2008, 2:02 PM EDT

The Pittsburgh Penguins have elected to file for salary arbitration with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.

Arbitration hearings are set by the National Hockey League and take place from July 20 to August 4. Both sides can continue to negotiate a contract until that time. As a result of the filing, the Penguins retain his rights and he will not become a restricted free agent on July 1.

“By filing for salary arbitration it gives us extra time to continue to negotiate a contract with Marc-Andre,” stated Ray Shero. “As a result of the filing, Penguins' fans are assured that Marc-Andre will be under contract to our club for next season. Marc-Andre has done a tremendous job for us. We remain committed to negotiating a contract with him in the near future."

Fleury, 23, helped lead the Penguins to the 2008 Eastern Conference championship and a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. He was originally selected by the Penguins first overall in the 2003 NHL Draft.

interesting... I guess this prevents teams from throwing huge offer sheets at him? (not that I think he'd sign one)

yes, that's what teams have been using arbitration for. pretty nice safeguard, although I'd like to see a list of teams who actually have all of the picks in tact to even make such an offer. I yearn for the day when buffalo snipes back at edmonton with an offer sheet.

Stay tuned ladies and gentleman..

The next few days will see a flurry of activity...Then a slight pause until July 1..When we will see major action..

Exciting time for hockey fans.

Prospal (rights) to TB

More crazy rumours coming out..Hope this are true..

According to a source...

"offer on the table between Ottawa and Kings, Spezza and OTT's first round pick for Cammalleri and the Kings first round pick"

"Leafs are shopping Antropov around to get another first round pick."

"McCabe has waived his no movement clause to go to the Islanders."

"Habs also have interest in Thrashers pick...(e3)"

Eklund

Leafs acquire Jamal Mayers from St Louis for a 3rd pick..

Strategy what do u think?

I could see the Leafs using Antropov in a package to move up from 7th in the draft to get one of the big 6.

I dont see the logic in picking up Mayers when the Leafs are trying to rebuild. Dont we have enough 3rd and 4th line players?

I think the idea is to bring in character players -- to give the team an identity rather than a random collection of individuals that seem to only come together when their backs are against the wall.

Well apparently Mayers is a hometown boy and is a great leader and a good guy in the room...Maybe Gruven can give some insight.

The whole idea of rebuilding is good, but it doesnt have to be black and white..You can rebuild at the same time as adding key pieces to the puzzle..Sort of in the Flyers mode..I dont believe in dumping everyone over 30 and starting from scratch.

you'd think Mason would be worth more than a fourth rounder. Maybe I'm just overvaluing his ability and undervaluing how much a fourth rounder is worth


not saying by much but if Jamal Mayers is worth a third, then isn't Mason?

Contract

Mayers has a cap hit of 1.33
Mason has a cap hit of 3

ESPN is reporting that a Russian League team is prepared to offer Evegeni Malkin a 12.5 mill a year contract...sorry if this in the wrong spot.

doesn't seem like a big difference. But I guess people would say the difference between a 4th and a 3rd isn't big either. It's just that Mason could play a big impact on a team's success whereas I don't think anyone would say that about Mayers. Either way, good pickup for the Blues. The in-division trade by the Preds is somewhat surprising too, though.

I'm guessing also that with Mayer's character it might have been a little tougher to pry him out of StL while goaltenders on dodgy contracts are a dime a dozen.

plus one of the involved teams was toronto

It has been a brutal market for trading goaltenders for the last few years. Toronto aside, no one has given up much for goalies lately.

Mayers is a great locker room guy. He's really quick and can score a few goals, too. I don't know if he's really what Toronto needs though... kinda old. I'm sad to see him go, but the Blues have their whole youth movement thing...


We really, really needed a backup. I am really happy with the trade, especially considering Mason could possibly take over the #1 later on down the road.

This is so dumb.

The dude had to escape Russia secretly in the middle of the night... why would he go back there for a few extra million? It's not like he couldn't have just stayed there to make that money anyways.

Too many people use the internet to invent stupid shit.

The important part of this report is that the money being offered is tax free...

which bumps the 12.5 mill to roughly 5 mill.

Plus there's the whole celebrity endorsement angle... I'd assume that would be higher if he played in Russia.

Malkin set to take Pens-friendly extension

Obviously great news for the Pens and the NHL. Losing Malkin would have been huge.

Atlanta named the Wolves' John Anderson as their new head coach. Anyone surprised by this?

Alex Tanguay was traded to the habs =D, for 2 draft picks. If we're able to sign Sundin...we'll have 3 really good lineups!!!

taht would bring our count of 50+ pts scorers to 9!!!

The Washington Capitals hope to re-sign goalie Cristobal Huet but with just over a week before free agency, it still isn't done.

"We continue to talk," said Caps GM George McPhee. "We'll see where goes in the next week."

He is also negotiating with offensive blue-liner Mike Green, who burst onto the scene last season. He's a restricted free agent and some observers believe he could possibly attract an offer sheet if still unsigned July 1.

Bring it on, said McPhee.

"We'll try to make the best deal we can that makes sense for him and us," said McPhee. "We've got cap room and owners with money so if someone wants to fool around with an offer sheet, it will be matched. We're not going to lose a player."



I really don't understand why GMs say such things as this. It would be so much wiser, in my opinion, for a GM to say as little as possible.

As suggested by Mike Boone...

Alex Tanguay-----Mats Sundin-----Alex Kovalev
Andrei Kostitsyn-----Tomas Plekanec-----Sergei Kostitsyn
Chris Higgins-----Saku Koivu-----Guillaume Latendresse
Steve Begin-----Maxim Lapierre-----Kyle Chipchura

Tom Kostopulos and Gregory Stewart as reinforcements

Andrei Markov - Mike Komisarek
Roman Hamrlik - Ryan O'Byrne
Josh Gorges - Francis Bouillon

Carey Price - Halak

Tremendous offensive potential....the problem i see is two lines who are unlikely to play a LICK of defense. i predict a lot of 6-4 Hab wins....

The problem is counting your chickens, in this case Swedish chickens before they hatch.

That's a really nice team but it would still worry me that it's a 100pt + reg.season team that can get grinded down in the playoffs.

I think you're underestimating the development of guys like Latendresse, Higgins, Lapierre and Chipchura.

Not counting anything Serge just planning ahead in case Sundin abandons the sinking ship in Toronto.

One good thing might come out of Mats signing with Montreal..I can dig up all the Anti Sundin posts that were made by Dale..ANd post them every day...

I'm willing to wager that the only negative things you'll find that I said about Sundin was that he's a whiner and that he consistently gets away with holding down low.

Dig away!

With Sundin (potientially) gone might as well bulldoze the ACC into Lake Ontario.

I will take all bets on the following..TORONTO VS MONTREAL

--First one to win a Stanley CUP...
--More Stanley Cups in the next 40 years
--Montreal will have less pts than they did last year.


MOre available..Suckers