NHL Free Agency Starts Today

[classy]

No Alfie, that's for sure haha. I'm not sure I would even say he's worth 5 mil in today's league. The guy gets 20 goals, but it would seem in order to maximize his skill he needs someone to feed, I have no clue who the frig that would be on the Wild, unless it's Havlat who can't stay healthy these days. He just doesn't strike me as the kind of player the Wild would want making top dollar. They have no franchise player.

Even when Koivu skated with Gabby he didn't strike me as a top player. He is a second tier star. I see your Sens logo, I don't see him in the same league as a Alfie or Spezza. He is a good 2nd line center. I was surprised to see some of the comments by the Wild on the contract. He's just not worth almost 7 million a year.

Speaking on the Sens they need to let Elliot go ahead and run with the net. He has got some nice skills and I think he can be a top netminder, but they need to let the young guy settle in.

 

[KMFJD]

No Alfie, that's for sure haha. I'm not sure I would even say he's worth 5 mil in today's league. The guy gets 20 goals, but it would seem in order to maximize his skill he needs someone to feed, I have no clue who the frig that would be on the Wild, unless it's Havlat who can't stay healthy these days. He just doesn't strike me as the kind of player the Wild would want making top dollar. They have no franchise player.

When the Leafs are paying Colby Armstrong and Jeff Finger 3+ Mil a year, Koivu's contract is a bargain

/and Spezza sucks

 

[Firsttime]

When the Leafs are paying Colby Armstrong and Jeff Finger 3+ Mil a year, Koivu's contract is a bargain

/and Spezza sucks

Spezza is by no means worth 7mil a year right now. Earlier sure. But he by no means "sucks" he's the kind of player everyone wants, him and Kovalev are just both so insanely skilled they can turn any D man inside out any day. Just just don't do it consistently enough right now to make their contracts worth it.

Our team this year is solid, next year we get rid of about 7 mil in useless contracts from Cheechoo and Leclaire. Karlsson and Cowen are both looking great. I'm pleased with the direction of the franchise right now. And yes, Elliot should get the starting job, and I would like to see more from Brodeur too. He looked really good in the few games we brought him up for last year.

 

[KMFJD]

Spezza is by no means worth 7mil a year right now. Earlier sure. But he by no means "sucks" he's the kind of player everyone wants, him and Kovalev are just both so insanely skilled they can turn any D man inside out any day. Just just don't do it consistently enough right now to make their contracts worth it.

Our team this year is solid, next year we get rid of about 7 mil in useless contracts from Cheechoo and Leclaire. Karlsson and Cowen are both looking great. I'm pleased with the direction of the franchise right now. And yes, Elliot should get the starting job, and I would like to see more from Brodeur too. He looked really good in the few games we brought him up for last year.

He sure puts up the points (Spezza) , there's just something about him that bugs me

 

[classy]

He sure puts up the points (Spezza) , there's just something about him that bugs me

J Spezz is one of the top players in the league and this year he was probably the best player in the NHL in the second half of the season when he got back.

 

[Blackjack200]

The Devils announced via twitter that they have officially signed Kovalchuk. Press conference to follow.

I don't use twitter, this is what my friend told me.

I am so freaking stoked. This guy is a fantastic show and worth the price of admission. One of the best scorers in the leage and probably the most talented hockey player ever to play for the Devils (non-goalie, of course). YES! YES! YES! :awe:

 

[mugs]

The Devils announced via twitter that they have officially signed Kovalchuk. Press conference to follow.

I don't use twitter, this is what my friend told me.

I am so freaking stoked. This guy is a fantastic show and worth the price of admission. One of the best scorers in the leage and probably the most talented hockey player ever to play for the Devils (non-goalie, of course). YES! YES! YES! :awe:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/pu...t=ArbGAxpuZjiBfDR_esdwZHt7vLYF?urn=nhl,252872

WTF, I thought we were pretty much out of it. I guess the Kings didn't give him the money he wanted.

 

[Dominato3r]

Which might be a good thing. The kings have a ton of young players that are going to want big bucks next year.

 

[Blackjack200]

WTF, I thought we were pretty much out of it. I guess the Kings didn't give him the money he wanted.

I knew we weren't out of it. Lamorello had pretty much put his offer on the table and was letting Kovalchuk feel out the market without putting any expiration date on it. Smart, IMO, since he knew the other GMs wouldn't make any major moves until Kovalchuk landed somewhere.

There were those rumors that he was on the verge of signing with the Kings, but those same kinds or rumors were flying around on July 5th about the Devils, so I didn't put too much stock in them. I think the Kings were offering him a lot less money than the Devils were.

 

[Blackjack200]

Which might be a good thing. The kings have a ton of young players that are going to want big bucks next year.

Yeah, I wouldn't say the Kings did the right thing or the wrong thing here, they have a lot of young talent, so they were coming at it from a different angle than the Devils. If they had been able to sign Kovy at the rumored $5.5 million cap hit that would've been pretty scary.

 

[mugs]

I knew we weren't out of it. Lamorello had pretty much put his offer on the table and was letting Kovalchuk feel out the market without putting any expiration date on it. Smart, IMO, since he knew the other GMs wouldn't make any major moves until Kovalchuk landed somewhere.

There were those rumors that he was on the verge of signing with the Kings, but those same kinds or rumors were flying around on July 5th about the Devils, so I didn't put too much stock in them. I think the Kings were offering him a lot less money than the Devils were.

Well, I thought we were pretty much out of it because it seemed like Kovalchuk wanted to play in LA.

It's funny, people were saying Lombardi was a genius for walking away from Kovalchuk the first time, because Kovalchuk came back. Then he did it again, and again Kovalchuk came back. I guess Lou was the genius. I hope - I'm still worried about what we could have to give up, but I trust that Lou knows what he's doing there. And if his cap hit will really only be ~$6 million or so (based on 17 years/$100+ million), that'd be a sweet deal. I don't think paying him $10 million a year is an issue for the Devils, they can afford it. They sold out most games after he joined the team last year, and I'm sure they'll sell a ton of jerseys.

 

[KMFJD]

J Spezz is one of the top players in the league and this year he was probably the best player in the NHL in the second half of the season when he got back.

That's a joke right? Sarcasm doesn't travel well sometimes...

 

[Blackjack200]

Yeah, he definately wanted to play in LA. He was even offering them a discount, as I understand it, from the Devils offer. But he couldn't even get that. I'm really shocked at the tepid interest most teams seemed to show in signing him.

As for the cap, I have a feeling we're going to have to bribe someone to take Brian Rolston's contract off our hands. It might cost us yet another 1st round draft pick or one of our top prospects (Tedenby or Josephson). Hopefully Lou can do it without sustaining too much damage.

 

[mugs]

Rolston also has a no trade clause that he'd have to waive. If I were him i wouldn't want to leave the Devils to play on a team that's bad enough to be willing to pay him $5 million a year.

I could live with losing draft picks though.

Edit:
I don't really use twitter either, but I just bookmarked a search for "kovalchuk" to keep up with the latest news and rumors.
http://twitter.com/#search?q=kovalchuk

There's been some funny tweets throughout the ordeal.

Kevin Smith seems happy:
ThatKevinSmith Via @NHLDevils "Ilya Kovalchuk signs with Devils." MAKE IT FOUR, MOTHERFUCKERS! 1995, 2000, 2003, 2011. Thank you, Jeff & Lou! #CupRun2011

 

[Blackjack200]

lol, that's great.

Looks like the contract is $100 million for 17 years btw. I'll be 46 years old when that contract is up D:

 

[mugs]

lol, that's great.

Looks like the contract is $100 million for 17 years btw. I'll be 46 years old when that contract is up D:

It's a strange transition going from being a kid admiring athletes who are much older than you, to being in your early 20s and seeing young athletes your own age making tons of money, to being in your late 20s-early 30s and seeing people younger than you signing these huge contracts.

I've been thinking of this 17 year contract in terms of Ilya's age - he'll be 44 when it ends. It wasn't until you said you'd be 46 that I realized that I'll also be 46, and then I realized Ilya is younger than me.

 

[Firsttime]

17 years is absolutely insane. That backloading loophole needs to be closed. There really should be a 10 year max length on contracts, especially on people 27 years old.

Edit: Anyone else see the Gagne trade? IF he's healthy Tampa has a solid team. Big if, but Tampa's top 2 lines are as solid as any in the league.

 

[sjwaste]

17 years is absolutely insane. That backloading loophole needs to be closed. There really should be a 10 year max length on contracts, especially on people 27 years old.

Edit: Anyone else see the Gagne trade? IF he's healthy Tampa has a solid team. Big if, but Tampa's top 2 lines are as solid as any in the league.

Yep, I did see that the Flyers dumped Gagne for a bag of pucks. What a load of bullshit. 10 years, the guy wears an "A", and you salary dump him for a #8 d-man and a 4th?

I wasn't before, but I'm on the "fire homer" bandwagon. This guy can't manage the cap one bit and the team and the fans pay the price. Yeah Gagne wasn't in his prime anymore, but he had a great postseason on a broken foot and is still one of the best 2-way wingers in the game. And a total class act. Tampa got a top 6 guy, an upgrade at wing, an upgrade on the PK, and an upgrade in the locker room. Philly got Matt Walker. Sweet.

Absolute fucking bullshit, handcuffed by signing Shelley and Carcillo. It doesn't even clear enough cap room to improve the goalie situation. Should have traded Carter, he's walking in a year anyway, and is an absolute dud in the playoffs.

 

[Blackjack200]

Yep, I did see that the Flyers dumped Gagne for a bag of pucks. What a load of bullshit. 10 years, the guy wears an "A", and you salary dump him for a #8 d-man and a 4th?

I wasn't before, but I'm on the "fire homer" bandwagon. This guy can't manage the cap one bit and the team and the fans pay the price. Yeah Gagne wasn't in his prime anymore, but he had a great postseason on a broken foot and is still one of the best 2-way wingers in the game. And a total class act. Tampa got a top 6 guy, an upgrade at wing, an upgrade on the PK, and an upgrade in the locker room. Philly got Matt Walker. Sweet.

Absolute fucking bullshit, handcuffed by signing Shelley and Carcillo. It doesn't even clear enough cap room to improve the goalie situation. Should have traded Carter, he's walking in a year anyway, and is an absolute dud in the playoffs.

It's a damn shame. I love Gagne and wanted to see him finish his career in Philly. Like you said, class act. I'll always think of him as a Flyer

 

[Blackjack200]

It's a strange transition going from being a kid admiring athletes who are much older than you, to being in your early 20s and seeing young athletes your own age making tons of money, to being in your late 20s-early 30s and seeing people younger than you signing these huge contracts.

I've been thinking of this 17 year contract in terms of Ilya's age - he'll be 44 when it ends. It wasn't until you said you'd be 46 that I realized that I'll also be 46, and then I realized Ilya is younger than me.

Yeah, for me the weirdest moment was when I realized that kids 2 to 3 years younger than me could absolutely throttle me in a sport. (I was like 18-19 years old) since then it's only gotten worse.

 

[jman19]

That Gagne trade is awful.

 

[oogabooga]

That Gagne trade is awful.

my reaction at work: AHAHAHaHahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahaha.... oh shit this is on espn and not a joke blog?

 

[slayer202]

17 years? wtf

 

[FallenHero]

17 years? wtf

Blame the crappy salary cap rules that are in place. A bunch of teams will do this to get around the salary cap issues. I expect the hawks to sign seakbrook after next year to something like this, some massive 10 year contract that pays 10 million a year for the first couple then drops it off for the last couple so that the salary cap hit isn't nearly as bad.

 

[Blackjack200]

Blame the crappy salary cap rules that are in place. A bunch of teams will do this to get around the salary cap issues. I expect the hawks to sign seakbrook after next year to something like this, some massive 10 year contract that pays 10 million a year for the first couple then drops it off for the last couple so that the salary cap hit isn't nearly as bad.

I doubt it Seabrook is still young. For this to work the end of the contract (when it tails down to 1/2 million per year) has to coincide with the player reaching retirement age. The idea is that the player will just retire when the salary gets that low. Seabrook will be 35 years old when he hits the tenth year, and won't want to be making $500,000. If the Hawks want to take advantage (like they've already done with Hossa) they would likely need to sign him to a 17ish year deal. More likely you'll see Seabrook sign one more short term 3-5 year deal (I think he'll still be an RFA so it shouldn't be too much) and then sign a cap-bending contract when that's up.