Hossa trades places, Avery a Star

July 2, 2008   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Apparently, Slovakian right wing Marian Hossa has traded places. If you can’t beat them, then join them must apply in his household. With all the rumors about being offered big money and more years from teams such as Edmonton and Boston, the 29 year-old forward decided instead to join the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings stunningly agreeing to a one-year deal worth a reported $7.4 million.

For once, it wasn’t really about the money even though the payment by the Original Six franchise for one year is market value. It looks instead like Hossa prioritized winning. So much for going to the highest bidder.

I can’t say I blame him for joining Detroit given what they have there in Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Brian Rafalski and Chris Osgood. However, it is a little shocking that he continued to turn down great offers from the runner-up Penguins to stay put. It’s not as if playing with Sidney Crosby was chopped liver. Wow.

The Pens should contend even without Hossa and probably Brooks Orpik assuming he leaves for bigger bucks. Do they now turn their attention to a reunion with No.68 as has been whispered? Stranger things have happened.

Meanwhile, the Rangers got trashed by Larry Brooks in today’s Post due to the uncertainty up front. While the re-signing of Michal Rozsival and addition of Wade Redden were good, the easily agitated Ranger columnist can’t comprehend Glen Sather’s logic because he has approximately only $10 million of cap space left for upgrading forwards. Does Jaromir Jagr return or is there another option?

As I concluded weeks ago, Sean Avery is as good as gone. Perhaps Aaron Voros is being asked to replace him in a bigger role than he had with the Wild? That’s a bit steep.

The Blueshirts also added 25 year-old Swedish forward Andreas Jamtin. In 51 games last season for HV71 of the Swedish Elite League, he tallied 30 points (17 goals, 13 assists) along with 167 penalty minutes. Bringing in basically a polished pro from Europe probably means they expect him to compete for a roster spot. I don’t know much about him. So we’ll see.

Backup Stephen Valiquette also re-signed yesterday.

Breaking News: Avery has landed with Dallas. The terms are four years, $15.5 million. Best of luck Sean with your new team.