Saturday, August 23, 2014

Fringe Signings (Aug 23)

I don't think I was going to call this post the "2010 Draft Class Signings," but it could have been. On Wednesday, the New York Rangers signed a former 1st round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, centre Kevin Hayes, to a new 2-year entry-level deal. Hayes elected to finish his NCAA schooling and when he completed, decided against signing his ELC with Chicago, taking his talents to unrestricted free agency. There was somewhat of a courtship between a number of teams and this newly-minted UFA and the 22-year old, 6'2", 205-pound pivot decided on the Rangers.  Hayes has a number of scouts buzzing, as he prepares for the 2015 season and it will be interesting to see how he fares, since the Rangers have some spaces up front for him to fit in and a former teammate of his from his Boston College days, Chris Kreider.

On Saturday, the Calgary Flames added some depth to their forward lines, signing Devin Setoguchi to a 1-year deal. The deal has been reported as a cap hit of $750,000, which could come in at a reasonable bargain, if there are points scored by the 27-year old winger.  Last season with the Jets, Setoguchi played in 75 games, scoring 11 goals and 27 points, ranking 312th overall in pool scoring.  The Jets were not exactly an offensive powerhouse in 2014, but the Taber, AB native was far from his 31-goal form in the 2009 season.  He'll add a little bit of veteran leadership and should ease the need for too much youth in the Calgary line-up this season.

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