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.