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.

7/2/07 UFA SIGNINGS

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

8:30 PM Flames re-sign D Robyn Regehr:
5 years at US$20 million (US$4 million annually)


8:30 PM Coyotes buy-out C Dave Scatchard:
Making him an unrestricted free agent.


8:30 PM Flames sign LW Owen Nolan:
1 year at US$2 million (including bonuses)


8:30 PM Kings sign LW Kyle Calder: 2 years at US$5.4 million
4:00 PM Kings sign D Tom Preissing: 4 years at US$11 million


7:35 PM Ducks sign LW Todd Bertuzzi:
2 years at US$8 million (US$4 Annually)


7:30 PM Canadiens sign C Bryan Smolinski:
1 year at US$2 million with a no-trade clause


7:05 PM- Souray's options
After rejecting a contract offer from the Canadiens, here are Sheldon Souray's options (a.k.a. teams who have offered him a contract, per RDS):
Dallas Stars
San Jose Sharks
New York Rangers

6:45 PM Kings sign C Michal Handzus: 4 years at US$16 million
6:43 PM Kings sign LW Ladislav Nagy: 1 year


6:40 PM Predators sign F Radek Bonk and D Greg de Vries:
2 years


6:35 PM Thrashers sign D Ken Klee:
Multiple years


6:00 PM Blackhawks sign C Robert Lang:
2 years
Note: Michal Handzus' re-signing now seems unprobable.

5:25 PM Canadiens sign D Roman Hamrlik:
4 years at US$22 million (View Article Below)


5:20 PM Capitals sign F Michael Nylander:
4 years at US$19.5 million (View Article Below)


5:05 PM Rangers sign D Jason Strudwick:
Terms undisclosed


5:00 PM-Handzus has a deadline
According to blackhawks.nhl.com, the Chicago Blackhawks have told UFA forward Michal Handzus that he has until tonight to accept a Blackhawks' contract offer, unless he wants to hit the open market and explore other options.

4:30 PM-Hamrlik a Target
According to RDS.ca, the Montreal Canadiens have been negotiating a contract with UFA defenceman Roman Hamrlik. Check out my article below this post.

2:25 PM-Preissing to L.A. ?
According to the Ottawa Sun, UFA defenceman Tom Preissing has signed a 4-year contract worth an approximated US$11 million dollars (US$2.75 million per season). No official announcement has been made, of yet.

12:47 PM-Top 5 remaining free agents
5) C Peter Forsberg: Outstanding playmaker
4) D Tom Preissing: Very smart with the puck
3) G Dominik Hasek: Immune to age
2) C Michael Nylander: Great vision
1) D Sheldon Souray: Fantastic slapshot

12:36 PM Canucks re-sign D Lukas Krajicek:
2 years at US$2.2 million (US$1.1 million annually)


11:57 AM Maple Leafs re-sign LW Bates Battaglia:
2 years at US$1.3 million (US$650 thousand annually)


11:26 AM Predators sign F Jed Ortmeyer:
2 years at US$1.5 million (US$750 thousand per season)


11:07 AM-Rumor Central (Teams Interested):
F Brendan Shanahan (NYR)
F Alexei Yashin (WAS)
F Wes Walz (MIN)

Note: The Rangers could sign Shanahan if they offered him a contract of US$2 million with, let's say, US$2 million in performance bonuses. At 37, the bonuses, of a respectable amount, would
not count against the salary cap and would easily satisfy Shanahan. He would basically sign for US$2 million but would end up with US$4.

10:07 AM-Rumor Central (Teams Interested):
F Mike Comrie (LAK, NJ, TOR, WAS)
F Slava Kozlov (ATL, DAL, OTT)
F Michael Nylander (EDM, WAS)
D Tom Preissing (COL, LAK, SJ)
D Karel Rachunek (BOS)

1:18 AM-Penguins sign RW Petr Sykora:
2 years


1:02 AM-Penguins sign D Darryl Sydor:
2 years at US$5 million (US$2.5 million per season)