FA Frenzy Day Two

July 2, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

It’s Day Two of the July FA Frenzy. Thankfully, it hasn’t been as chaotic as yesterday. But there have been several signings. So, let’s do a quick recap:

1.Nik Antropov leaves Broadway for the Thrashers agreeing to 4 yrs, $16 million. At least Borat came down from his five million demand. Best of luck. Dac Vee Daniyah!

2.Rob Scuderi leaves the Pens for the Kings getting 4 yrs, $13.6 million. About right for a guy who should bring a solid vet presence to a young blueline. Kinda surprised. I thought he’d stay closer to home. Never the less, good addition for LA. So, the Cup champs lose Scuderi and Gill. Tough 24 hours in Pitt. Do they find a replacement?

3.Jordan Leopold signs with the Panthers for a year, $1.75 million. So, he stays with the team who got his negotiating rights. Considering they never were gonna bring Jay Bo back, at least they replaced him with a B level guy. Leopold won’t blow anyone away but he’s decent and came cheap.

4.Mikael Grabovski re-signs with the Maple Leafs for 3 yrs, $8.7 million. I like this kid but a 2.9 average is a bit much for a guy who scored 20 goals and 48 points. This doesn’t bode well for the Rangers with Brandon Dubinsky. Just imagine what it does for Travis Zajac. Though knowing Lou, he’ll get Zajac to drink the Kool Aid and take less. Just look what he did with Parise. Enough said.

5.Adrian Aucoin leaves Calgary to sign with Phoenix for a yr, $2.25 million. A decent addition for the ‘Yotes blueline. Price is eh for a guy who’s 36. But he can still contribute. Guess Derek Morris ain’t returning to the Desert.

6.Mark Recchi re-signs with Bruins for a yr, $1 million. Deal includes bonuses. Smart move for all parties as the 41 year-old Recchi can still play. The B’s are real close. So, they keep a player who knows what it takes.

7.Garth Murray and Riley Armstrong sign with Flames. AHL fodder? Hey. That was my old name in the NJDevs league. A far cry for Garth, who was once highly thought of by then assistant Ranger GM Don Maloney. Yep. Really.

8.Karlis Skrastins signs with Stars for 2 yrs, $2.75 million. Decent addition for a team that is thin on back end. He’ll block a lot of shots. Does this hurt the Ranger chances of moving Michal Rozsival?

9.Chris Thorburn re-signs with Atlanta (terms disclosed).  Thrashers keep a gritty player.

Here are some others we missed from yesterday:

10.Jason Strudwick re-signs with Edmonton for a yr, 700 K. Struds stays.

11.Jason LaBarbera signs with Phoenix. Al Montoya’s backup? The ‘Yotes might be moving starter Ilya Bryzgalov. Is the Montoya Era about to begin in Rangers West?

12.Steve Begin signs with Boston for a yr, 850 K. Fourth line energizer/PK specialist.

13.Vernon Fiddler signs with Phoenix for 2 yrs, $2.2 million. ‘Yotes add third liner.

14.Greg Zanon signs with Minnesota for 3 yrs, 5.8 million. Three years for this guy???

14.David Koci signs with Colorado for a yr, 575 K. Toughness.

15.Kent Huskins re-signs with San Jose for 2 yrs, $3.4 million. Probably smart but blah.

16.Adam Pardy re-signs with Calgary (terms disclosed).

17.Lukas Krajicek re-signs with Tampa Bay for 1 yr (NA). Good keep for revamped D.

18.Joel Ward re-signs with Nashville for 2 yrs, $3 million. Played well after coming over from Wild.

19.Aaron Rome signs with Vancity.

20.Jere Lehtinen re-signs with Dallas for a yr, $1.5 million. ‘99 Cup holdover remains loyal.

21.Johnny Oduya re-signs with Devils for 3 yrs, $10.5 million. Only posting cause we didn’t know it was for three years. Johnny 5 gets a nice raise.

UPDATE: Some more signings from tonight.

22.Chad LaRose re-signs with Candy Canes for 2 yrs, $3.4 million. Guess LaRose couldn’t find anyone willing to go four years. He’s a nice player and probably is more valuable to the Canes.

23.Stefan Meyer signs a one-year deal with Coyotes. He was acquired from Florida in the Steve Reinprecht deal.

24.Ryane Clowe re-signs with Sharks for 4 yrs, $14 million. It averages out to $3.5-per-season for the emerging 26 year-old who produced a career best 26 goals and 52 points.

That puts us up to date for now. If anything else happens tonight, I’ll just add it to the list. A couple of noteworthy items:

A.Murray says no progress in Heatley trade

“Certainly I’m disappointed,” he said. “There’s no question that there was a commitment made both ways a couple of years ago that Dany would be here for a long part of his career. He’s a good player, he’s a good guy – my reaction would be that he probably has not had the total advice that he’s need to be a committed guy to Ottawa.“

B.Nash, Blue Jackets far apart

“There were tons of teams throwing some pretty big money around (Wednesday),” Nash said. “If this doesn’t get done, I’m sure I won’t have a problem getting signed by somebody next summer.“

Uh oh. The BJ’s must get him locked up. Nash is the only proven scorer on their roster until Nikita Filatov develops. They just made their first postseason. Getting one of the league’s premier finishers re-signed is a must.

C.Team Canada unveils 46 player list invited to Olympic camp

The list of five goalies includes three-time Olympian Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils), and 2006 Olympian Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks). Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-André Fleury has been invited, as have Steve Mason (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes). Two-time Stanley Cup champion Chris Osgood was not invited, although many had debated his chances during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Here’s the roster by position:

G-Brodeur, Luongo, Ward, Fleury, S. Mason

D-Niedermayer, Pronger, Bouwmeester, Boyle, Regehr, Phaneuf, M. Staal, Weber, Beauchemin, Burns, Doughty, Green, Robidas, Keith, Seabrook, Hamhuis

LW-Nash, Heatley, Morrow, Smyth, Marleau, Lucic, Cleary

C-Crosby, Sakic, Getzlaf, E. Staal, Thornton, Lecavalier, Carter, Richards, Toews, McDonald, Roy, J. Staal

RW-Iginla, Gagne, St. Louis, Doan, Perry, Sharp

Although three-time Olympian Sakic has been injured and missed much of the 2008-09 season, executive director Yzerman said he is a big part of this list.

“He’s been such a great player and an example to the young guys,” said Yzerman. “If he’s playing at the time, I want him at the camp.“

Who Was Left Off: Jason Spezza, Chris Osgood, Marc Savard, Brad Richards, Mike Fisher, Brian Campbell, Dennis Wideman, Chris Phillips, Steven Stamkos, Cam Barker

It’s nice to see Marc Staal included but I wonder if he’ll really make the team. Canada has so much talent that it will be tough for sure. I’m more interested in seeing Staal continue to improve with the Rangers.