7/3/07 UFA SIGNINGS

ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?
Please e-mail me at: afi.ville.49@gmail.com

9:20 PM- Kings re-sign G Jason LaBarbera:
2 years


8:50 PM- Top 5 Free Agents:

5) D Brent Sopel
4) LW Slava Kozlov
3) LW Brendan Shanahan
2) C Peter Forsberg
1) D Sheldon Souray

Note: There is no Dominik Hasek on the list, since he has indicated that if he does not re-sign with the Red Wings, he will retire, thus making him not "that" unrestricted.

8:45 PM- Sheldon Souray's options (In order of likelyness):

1) San Jose Sharks
2) Dallas Stars
3) New York Rangers

7:55 PM- Kings sign D Brad Stuart:
1 year at US$3.5 million


7:50 PM- Lightning sign D Brad Lukowich:
3 years


7:25 PM- Oilers sign F Raffi Torres:
3 years at US$6.75 million (US$2.25 annually)


7:20 PM- Oilers speak about the Nylander Case:
Per Oilers.com, ex-UFA Michael Nylander's agent had agreed (in principle) to a contract with the Oilers concerning the veteran center, hours before agreeing to one with the Washington Capitals, with whom he will play with during the 2007/08 season.

7:10 PM- Beliveau, not enough to convince Briere:
According to Michael Whalen of TSN, the Montreal Canadiens had HOF Jean Beliveau call and try to convince Daniel Briere to come to Montreal. The attempt was unsuccessful.

6:30 PM- Canucks sign G Curtis Sandford:
1 year at US$600 thousand


6:20 PM- Wild sign F Wes Walz
5:50 PM- Wild sign G Nolan Schaefer


5:25 PM- Islanders re-sign UFA LW Andy Hilbert:
2 years at US$1.35 million (US$675 thousand annually)


Note: Special thanks to "Drew".

5:00 PM- Ducks sign W Brad May:
2 years


5:00 PM- Oilers sign G Mathieu Garon:
2 years


Note: With this signing, the Oilers will let UFA Jussi Markkanen go.

4:40 PM- Wild signs C Eric Belanger:
3 years at US$5.2 million (US$1.73 annually)


3:30 PM- Devils sign C Dainius Zubrus:
6 years at US$ 20.4 million (US$3.4 annually)


3:00 PM- Blue Jackets sign C Jiri Novotni:
2 years


2:15 PM- Devils sign D Karel Rachunek:
1 year at US$1.5 million


1:45 PM- Canucks sign F Byron Ritchie
1:05 PM- Canucks sign G Cory Schneider
1:00 PM- Canucks sign F Brad Isbister

1:20 PM- Predators re-sign G Chris Mason:
2 years at US$6 million (US$3 million annually)


7:45 AM- Rumor Central (Teams Interested):

C Mike Comrie (ATL, BUF, LAK, NYI)
F Bill Guerin (CBJ, OTT, VAN)
G Jamie McLennan (VAN)
D Nolan Pratt (TB)
D Ossi Vaananen (Not COL)

7:45 AM-Top 5 Free Agents:

5) LW Brendan Shanahan: Plays a great two-way game.
4) D Brad Stuart: Very gifted skater.
3) C Peter Forsberg: Outstanding playmaker.
2) G Dominik Hasek: Immune to age.
1) D Sheldon Souray: Fantastic slapshot.

7:40 AM-Rumor Central (Teams Interested):

G Dominik Hasek (Wants to stay in DET)
D Sean Hill (MIN)
LW Slava Kozlov (ATL, DAL)
C Alexei Yashin (ATL, MTL)

Kings of the free agent market

LOS ANGELES-- The Kings are one of the major players in this year's free agent market.

After a disappointing season despite the great ones of youngsters Alexander Frolov, Mike Cammalleri and Anze Kopitars, Kings' GM Dean Lombardi was poised to make a splash and improve his club.

He did so, by adding veteran forwards Michal Handzus, Ladislav Nagy and Kyle Calder and defencemen Tom Preissing and Brad Stuart.

These signings tranform this club, as so many others have been this offseason, into a playoff team...

These 5 veterans add skill, size, experience, finesse, grit, power, speed, intelligence... to the Kings' roster.

Here are the Kings' expected lines, with these signings:

Frolov -- Kopitar -- Cammalleri
Nagy -- Handzus -- Brown
Thornton -- Armstrong -- Calder
Ivaanans -- O'Sullivan -- Willsie

Blake -- Johnson
Stuart -- Visnovski
Preissing -- Modry

Cloutier
LaBarbera

This is definately a team to be excited about, and to follow during the 2007/08 season.