Summer House-Cleaning (Part 2)

Danton's Gone

Starting off with the local news, Mike Danton is officially playing professional hockey again. In Sweden. And NOT in the SEL. He's with IFK Ore, a Third Division team. We wish him all the best (and thank him for opening up a spot on the SMU team...not that I'd have much of a chance making it).

Yashin Returns...Maybe...

It has been reported that Alexei Yashin might be returning to the NHL (and to the Islanders no less). There are two different sides to this though. One side suggest that Yashin is just using the Islander's contract offer to up the offers from KHL teams. The other side is that Yashin is actually going to

...And Modano's Retired....Maybe

Mike Modano was on the Bob and Dan Radio Show a few days ago and when asked about retirement, responded by saying “I think that [last season] was the swan song”. While last year wasn't a good year for Modano, it does seem weird that he would be retiring a Red Wing. He should have a proper swan song back in Dallas (and by proper, I mean just playing one more game for the franchise he spent 99% of his career with).

But Draper Retires

While Modano is in decision mode over his playing career, Kris Draper decided to hang up the skates. Even though he was a big part of Red Wings organization, and part of the "Grind Line", he'll only ever be worth a dollar. Right Winnipeg? And speaking of the Jets... (and ending a lame attempt of a segue)

Winnipeg's New Logo



The Winnipeg Jets FINALLY released their new logo. An military-inspired Don Cherry-endorsed logo that does have a good look to it. Most of the back-lash from the logo though is that full-fledged nostalgia has hit fans hard, so anything outside of the original Jets look is going to get a negative reaction. It is reported that the Jets will be able to wear the old jersey for a few games this season, which will make any Coyotes-Jets vintage-night game awkward.

Richards, Carter and the Adventures of Dry Island

As reported by Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News, the partying of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter may have been what prompted Richards and Carter to leave town. Apparently, since Peter Laviolette became coach of the Flyers, the concept of the "Dry Island" (in which players pledge to not drink for a month) has been used six times. All six times, Richards' and Carter's numbers were not on the board. Between their excessive partying and and an apparent locker room divide,  it's easy to see why they got shipped out (even though that isn't exactly the case says Paul Holmgren). Looking at the trades from the drinking perspective, it's like they sent Richards to party town and Carter to rehab.

Kovalev Prophecy Still Not Happening

Yes, he is enigmatic. Yes, his points and skills are going down. And now the Kovalev hype is going to the KHL. Ah, what could have been...

Summer House-Cleaning (Part 1)

Sooo...What did I miss?

Ok, a lot I haven't talked about, so I'll see what happened over the past few weeks regarding trades and free agency.

Trades

There were quite a few trades done around the draft, so I'm gonna start from there and just focus on the more notable deals.

Philadelphia: Jakub Voracek, 1st round pick 2011 (Sean Couturier), 3rd round pick 2011 (Nick Cousins)
Columbus: Jeff Carter
and
Philadelphia: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn
Los Angeles: Mike Richards, 2nd round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: Almost with everyone, Carter or Richards were expected to move to make room for Ilya Bryzgalov's new contract. But moving BOTH nearly an hour apart was totally unexpected. There were rumours about a locker dicide between Richards and Pronger, so that trade made sense. Carter was left with a sour taste in his mouth because of how the Flyers organization handled him with the trade.

Toronto: John-Michael Liles
Colorado: 2nd round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: Another American goes to the Leafs?!?! How surprising.

San Jose: Brent Burns, 2nd round pick 2012
Minnesota: Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, 1st round pick 2011 (Zack Phillips)
Trade Analysis: First off, question to the Sharks - why did you trade Setoguchi essentially right after you sign him to a extension? Anyway, I think San Jose overpaid a bit, but it's a good trade to shore up their defense.

Florida: Brian Campbell
Chicago: Rostislav Olesz
Trade Analysis: Well, Florida did need to get closer to the cap.

Buffalo: Robyn Regehr, Ales Kotalik, 2nd round pick 2012
Calgary: Chris Butler, Paul Byron
Trade Analysis: So...I'm guessing the Flames want to re-build now? And nice to see the Sabres scam the Flames of a 2nd round pick for taking on the salary.

Ottawa: Nikita Filatov
Columbus: 3rd round pick 2011 (Thomas Tynan)
Trade Analysis: Fills the enigmatic Russian void the Sens had since they traded Kovalev (says everyone)

Edmonton: Ryan Smyth
Los Angeles: Gilbert Brule Colin Fraser, 7th round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: The prodical son returns! After health concerns about Gilbert "Bono's Hero" Brule, Colin Fraser was put in the deal to replace him. Now it appears the Fraser has an injury, which Kings GM Dean Lombardi isn't fond about.

Florida: Tomas Kopecky
Chicago: 7th round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: Really only notable because of the contract Kopecky signed after the trade ($12M/4 years)

New York I: Christian Ehrhoff
Vancouver: 4th round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: If the Canucks can't sign him, might as well see if the Islanders can. Good luck on the Island.

Buffalo: Christian Ehrhoff
New York I: 4th round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: Well those negoatiations went well. Ehrhoff moves again one day after getting traded. Probably the good news is that he ddin't have to leave the state. The greater news (for Ehrhoff atleast) is his new contract was $40M/10 years ($4M cap hit, although the cap circumvention is friggen obvious in this one).

Chicago: Steve Montador
Buffalo: 7th round pick (2012 or 2013)
Trade Analysis: Well...someone had to move in order to make room for Ehrhoff's shiny new contract.

Columbus: James Wisniewski
Montreal: 7th round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: Another defenseman moves and gets a big pay-day ($33M/6 years). I was hoping that the Habs could re-sign Wisniewski just incase a certain Russian defenseman needs a new knee over the next season.

Colorado: Semyon Varlamov
Washington: 1st round pick 2012, conditional 2nd round pick 2012
Trade Analysis: By far the dumbest trade of the offseason by far. The thought is that if Colorado had just tried to sign him to an offer sheet, they would only give up a 2nd rounder. And others thought that the Avs should just go after Vokoun. The worst part about this is that they overpaid for a goalie that seemed KHL-bound and will have to make him their permanent starter.

Florida: Kris Versteeg
Philadelphia: 3rd round pick 2012, conditional pick
Trade Analysis: The Versteeg experiment ends in Philly, and Florida gets closer to the cap floor.

San Jose: Martin Havlat
Minnesota: Dany Heatley
Trade Analysis: Well, if this wasn't about playoff performance, then I don't know what this is about. Seriously, Wilson's man-crush on Havlat wasn't more evident than during his comments about this trade.

Toronto: Matthew Lombardi, Cody Franson
Nashville: Brett Lebda, Robert Slaney
Trade Analysis: I should just replace what Nashville got with "bag of pucks". Thats literally what they got. Fun fact about Lebda - during the Leafs 9-3 win over the Thrashers, Lebda finished with a plus/minus of -3.

Columbus: Ryan Russell
Montreal: Michael Blunden
Trade Analysis: Not really notable, only wanted to point out that the Blue Jackets get Kris Russell's twin brother.

Free Agent Frenzy

Again, tons of signings, but focus on the noticable ones (and no re-signings).

Buffalo Sabres Pegulas: Outside of Ehrhoff (which was before the 1st), their big signing was Ville Leino. At $27M/6 years can you say overpaid? Next season will be interesting for them.

Carolina Hurricanes Leafs: Signed Tim Brent ($1.5M/2 years), Alexei Ponikarovsky ($1.5M/ 1 year), and Tomas Kaberle ($12.75M/3 years). Any more ex-Leafs wanna join the party down south? Also signed Brian Boucher ($1.9M/2 years) which is good since he will help lighten the load for Cam Ward.

Chicago Blackhawks: Only mentioning them for 2 reasons. 1) Why the hell did they sign Dan Carcillo ($775K/1 year)? Not even the Flyers wanted Carcillo back and their an annoying team. 2) the Andrew Brunette ($2M/1 year) signing is a good one, but I'm diasppointed the Wild didn't retain him. Also Jamal Mayers ($550K/1 year) and Sean O'Donnell ($850K/1 year) signed.

Colorado Avalanche: I guess threr big move was the Varlamov debacle trade. There actual signing were justifyable though. J-S Giguere ($2.5M/2 years) provides a good back-up, Jan Hedja ($13M/4 years) boost their defense, and Chuck Kobasew ($2.5M/2 years) is...uh...Chuck Kobasew?

Dallas Stars Spenders: Jeez, allow one guy to go and you start spending like crazy. Adam Pardy ($4M/2 years), Radek Dvorak ($1.5M/1 year), Vernon Fiddler ($5.4M/3 years), Michael Ryder ($7M/2 years), and Sheldon Souray ($1.65M/1 year) were all signed after they let Brad Richards walk.

Detroit Red Wings: Mike Commodore ($1M/1 year) and Ian White ($5.75M/2 years) were the only signings. Why is this mentioned? Commodore might be wearing #64 next season. Get it?

Edmonton Oilers: Just like Dallas (somewhat) and bought quite a few players. Ben Eager($3.3M/3 years), Darcy Hordichuk ($800K/1 year), Cam Barker ($2.25M/1 year), Eric Belanger ($5.25M/3 years), Corey Porter ($525K/1 year), and Josh Green ($575K/1 year).

Florida Panthers Completely New Team: And speaking of spenders...Just to get to the salary floor, they signed Jose Theodore ($3M/2 years), Scottie Upshall ($14M/4 years), Marcel Goc ($5.1M/3 years), Tomas Fleischmann ($18M/4 years), Sean Bergenheim ($11M/4 years), and (most ridiculously) Ed Jovanovski ($16.5M/4 years).

Los Angeles Kings: After missing out on the Brad Richards Sweepstakes, went out and got Simon Gagne ($7M/2 years)...and that's it so far.

Montreal Canadiens: Signed Peter Budaj ($2.3M/2 years) to back-up Carey Price. Nathan Lawson (550K/1 year) and Brian Willsie ($600K/1 year) were also signed. Oh, and for some god-forsaken reason, Erik Cole ($18M/4 years).

New York Rangers: And your winner of the Brad Richards Sweepstakes. Paying him a whopping $60M/9 years. They also signed Michael Rupp ($4.5M/3 years).

Philadelphia Flyers: If Penguins fans didn't hate them enough, the Flyers gave them new reasons. Philly signed Jaromir Jagr ($3.3M/1 year) and Maxime Talbot ($9M/5 years). Now, Jagr and his agent kind of jerked around the Pens, even after all the hype about him signing with them. The Flyers also signed Andreas Lilja ($750K/1 year).

Phoenix Coyotes:  The 'Yotes are banking on Mike Smith ($4M/2 years) to be their starter, Raffi Torres ($3.5M/2 years) to be the head-hunter, and Boyd Gordon ($2.65M/2 years) to be Boyd Gordon. Other signings include Alex Bolduc ($575K/1 year), Curtis McElhinney ($625K/1 year), Dean Arsene (???/1 year), and Nathan Oystrick ($600K/1 year).

St. Louis Blues: Their first couple signings weren't too bad - Brian Elliot ($1.2M/2 years), Kent Huskins ($1M/1 year), Brett Sterling ($600K/1 year), and Scott Nichol ($600K/1 year). The later additions of Jamie Langenbrunner ($2.8M/1 year) and Jason Arnott ($2.8M/1 year) were good signings since it'll bring the vetern presence that was absent from the Blues last year.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Philippe Dupuis ($650K/1 year) aside, all they did was sign Tim Connolly ($9.5M/2 years). Why is this notable? Quote from my dad - "The CRTC shouldn't allow the CBC to show Leafs games anymore since there is too much American content." The sad part, sports are exempted from that rule.

Vancouver Canucks: Marco Sturm ($2.25M/1 year)...and Alexander Sulzer ($700K/1 year)...and a ton of minor leaguers - Mark Mancari ($525K/1 year), Andrew Ebbett ($525K/1 year), Steve Pinizzotto ($600K/1 year), Matt Climie ($525K/1 year).

Washington Capitals: The first two days were big for the Caps, signing Jeff Halpern ($825K/1 year), Roman Hamrlik ($7M/2 years), Joel Ward ($12M/4 years), and Tomas Vokoun ($1.5M/1 year). Other signings were Ryan Potulny ($1.05M/2 years), Chris Bourque ($525K/1 year) and Danny Richmond ($525K/1 year).

Winnipeg Jets: So, instead of going out and trying to make a splash in free agency, they go out and sign either guys from the Canucks organization because they had ties to the city - Tanner Glass ($750K/1 year) and Rick "Fan Beater" Rypien ($700K/1 year) - or are from Winnipeg - Derek Meech ($700K/1 year) and Jason Gregoire ($1.85M/2 years). The ONLY exception is Randy Jones ($1.15M/1 year). Ugh.

Awards, Drafts, and the HOF Class

Damn, did I ever miss a lot. Here is a quick house-cleaning session of the major events that happened over the past week before free agency starts (checks watch) IN 2 HOURS?!?!:

Awards

Norris : Nicklas Lidstrom
Probably got the "he's probably retiring, give him one more" vote even though he recently said he would return.

Frank J. Selke: Ryan Kesler
He blew out Toews and Datsyuk in the voting. It helped the Datsyuk missed quite a few games.

Jack Adams: Dan Bylsma
He edged out Alain Vigneault, HBO's 24/7 had to helped him in the voting.

Calder Trophy: Jeff Skinner
Was there any doubt he would lose? Had a good season for an 18 year old.

GM Award: Mike Gillis
You can tell the refs don't vote for this award. Vancouver did have a good year though.

Lady Byng: Martin St. Louis
Martin St. "Lewis" easily beat out Lidstrom and Loui "EIGHT friggen penalty minutes" Eriksson.

Vezina: Tim Thomas
Again, was there any doubt we would lose this one? No word though if he was willing to pump Luongo's tires afterwards.

Hart Trophy: Corey Perry
Getting hot during the voting period definitely helped. Kind of disappointed that Daniel Sedin didn't follow in his twin's footsteps.

Ted Lindsay: Daniel Sedin
Well, if the press wasn't kind to Daniel, the players were.

Bill Masterton: Ian Lapierrere
He DIDN'T play this year! I thought that was a requirement for this award.

Mark Messier Leadership: Zdeno Chara
He led Boston to a cup, can't argue with that.

Draft

Just as expected, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was picked first overall by the Oilers. Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado), Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida), Adam Larsson (New Jersey...wait what?!?!), and Ryan Strome (New York Islanders) round out the top 5. Some "new" team called the Winnipeg Jets* picked Mark Scheifele, who was ranked in the teens. Now ranking won't matter too much in a few years, but there were better players ahead of him that should have been pick, especially if your re-building the team. Other Canadian teams first round picks:

Ottawa: Mika Zibanejad (6th), Stefan Noeson (21st), Matt Puempel (24th)
Calgary: Sven Bartschi (13th)
Montreal: Nathan Beaulieu (17th)
Edmonton: Oscar Klefbom (19th)
Toronto: Tyler Biggs (22nd), Stuart Percy (25th)
Vancouver: Nicklas Jensen (29th)

I got to say one thing about the Habs: 5 Defensemen? Really? Ugh...

*DON'T get me started on the return of hockey to Winnipeg, I'll do that myself sometime before the season.

Hall of Fame

Doug Gilmour, Mark Howe, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Eddie "Billion Dollar" Belfour were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. They are all obviously deserving of this honour.

As usual with any HHoF class is that the snubs tend to get more attention. Pavel Bure, Adam Oates, Eric Lindros, and Dave Andreychuk were among the the players getting snubbed this year. Pat Burns (for the SECOND straight year) gets snubbed as a builder.

The big question (outside of the Burns snub) is why did Mark Howe get in this year and not last year. Last year was Dino Ciccerelli ALONE. Now that there quite a few snubs this year, and even more star power eligible for next year's class, wouldn't the time to induct guys who were overlooked for so long be last year?

Stay tuned for tomorrow. I'll attempt (and most likely be lazy and forget) about the headlines and free agent signings.