The Ducks have made the big move by acquiring Oilers trade-bait, Chris Pronger for Joffrey Lupul, a prospect and high picks. This is huge for the Ducks and quite possibly a slight impact on the pool from Anaheim. The pressure will be lessened on Scott Niedermayer, equally for Pronger, both being key d-men, which may make for more relaxed offense from the blueline. The Ducks powerplay should be huge... Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, Andy McDonald, Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer all have had stock go up.
Additions of Steve Rucchin, Glen Metropolit (from Finland) and Johan Hedberg has given the Thrashers a little bit of depth, but they have lost Marc Savard, so they'll still be looking for someone who can centre Ilya Kovalchuk in the coming season.
The Bruins have been big spenders in the first few days of Free Agency, signing huge defenseman, Zdeno Chara, playmaker Marc Savard and then grinder Shean Donovan. The rebuilding process in Beantown has started with great efficiency. They haven't given up anything in their young core to make a difference and these additions may make the Northeast Division a little stronger.
The Flames dipped into the defenseman market signing Andrei Zyuzin, who played with the Wild last season. Zyuzin isn't quite the defenseman that anyone would have thought to be a good fit in a Sutter system, being a minus-player for Jacques Lemaire's defensive Wild. He doesn't bring a lot of offensive upside either, only scoring a career-high 8 goals two seasons ago. He does figure into the Top 6, but not for a lot of ice-time.
Cup champs, Carolina, added a back-up goalie for Cam Ward in John Grahame, after they let go of Martin Gerber to free-agency. Grahame will try and challenge for the number one spot, but Conn Smythe winner, Ward, should be the number one guy going into camp.
Continuing on the goaltending trend, the Blackhawks decided to pony up for a little more help in the crease. Patrick Lalime was signed by the Hawks to give Nikolai Khabibulin some competition in the crease. Lalime is going to be a cheap alternative, as his game has slipped dearly over the last little while. The Blackhawks probably need to sort out a few more players up front before they're considered playoff contenders.
Colorado has been awfully quiet in this free-agent season. They did sign Tyler Arnason from Ottawa, but he certainly won't replace the offensive talent of Alex Tanguay who went to Calgary at the draft. The Avalanche haven't improved in comparison to their Northwest Division rivals, nor have they improved their players for the hockey pool next season. All Avalanche players have sort of lost stock in one way or the other so far this summer.
Dallas re-acquired defenseman Darryl Sydor from the Lightning for a pick in '08. Sydor has seen a decline in his production, especially hockey-pool wise and unless you've been in deep pools, you've probably haven't needed to pick a guy like Sydor. If you have, it's probably because his name was so good in his 40+ point seasons. The last time he did that was in Dallas, so I'm sure the Stars are hoping that they can get that sort of production again from the aging defender.
The Panthers made a move or two, replacing Sean Hill (buying out his contract) for Ruslan Salei (free-agent from Anaheim) early on in this market season. Salei was an important part of the Ducks run to the Conference Finals, but doesn't really add the needed talent Florida is looking for to improve on their position from last season. Salei brings size, but not many more points. Don't rush to pick him up this pool season.
The Kings are a team who are splashing around in the pool this summer. The party highlighted by the return of Rob Blake to the blueline from Colorado, with the inclusion of Scott Thornton and Alyn McCauley (from San Jose). The big, hulking defenseman should be an energetic boost to the Kings backline and the two role-playing forwards should add a little more depth to a team that was in desperate need of it last season.
More great strides have been taken in Minnesota this summer, all in an effort to keep Restricted Free Agent, Marian Gaborik, in the fold. The Wild's commitment to this season is evident in their acquisitions, especially at the market opening. Wild stock is rising after Kim Johnsson, Mark Parrish and Keith Carney were all added in the depth department. The Wild want to improve over their last place in the Northwest position and I think they're goin' about it the right way.Technorati Tags
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