Star defenseman, Lubomir Visnovsky, extended his contract by five years on Wednesday and the Los Angeles Kings will have his services through 2014. This signing solidifies what looks to be a very competitive blueline for the upcoming season.Visnovsky finished 109th in pool scoring last season (8th among defensemen) with 18 goals and 58 points, which was down from the year before. His drop in production was due to the 13 games he missed due to numerous injuries throughout the year. A healthy Visnovsky would generate close to 70 points a year and would be a good fit to anyone's pool team.
| Alexander Frolov | Anze Kopitar | Dustin Brown |
| Ladislav Nagy | Michal Handzus | Kyle Calder |
| Scott Thornton | Derek Armstrong | Brian Willsie |
| Raitis Ivanans | Patrick O'Sullivan | Alyn McCauley |
| Lubomir Visnovsky | Tom Preissing |
| Rob Blake | Brad Stuart |
| Jaroslav Modry | Jack Johnson |
| Dan Cloutier |
| Jason Labarbera |
The Kings spent a lot of time structuring their approach to the off-season and they have made great strides to become competitive, but they still have a couple more strides to make. The roster shown above is all signed up at roughly $41 million and they still need to sign Mike Cammalleri to a deal, as he is a Restricted Free Agent. Cammalleri will look to go to arbitration and hearings will start in just over a week. The Kings will also look to solidify their goaltending situation as concerns over Dan Cloutier's health and Jason Labarbera's reliability will come into question in the season.
Overall, the team has made some great strides and it will be interesting to see how the new faces will affect the team's overall scoring ability and their ability to win. The Kings could be a good sleeper team to pluck some ripe talent for your pool team. A healthy Michal Handzus could make all the difference in the world for a great second line (or even first line) for the Kings.
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NHL, Hockey Pool, Free Agents, Signing, Hockey, Los Angeles Kings, Lubomir Visnovsky
Teemu Selanne remains on the list, as he hasn't decided whether or not to come back next year. Selanne will more than likely re-sign with the Ducks if he decides to come back, despite the Ducks already starting to fill gaps. It shouldn't be too long before we can tell you what he has decided and I'm sure there are a lot of fans in Anaheim who are eagerly anticipating whether or not the Ducks will see the Finnish Flash or not. At 48 goals and a Stanley Cup ring, it would be a fitting way to finish on top, but there's enough of an argument for him to come back and still be able to produce.
The second player on the original list is Sheldon Souray. Souray was expected to be one of the big splashes in the first couple days, but has deferred signing a new deal somewhere until later. He was probably the subject of many great offers from all over the map. However, the drama of where he'll land is still quite intriguing, because where ever he lands, that power play gets a giant shot in the arm and production from the point will go up. There's a lot of speculation he might make a California team a little bit better, but there is still a chance he could re-sign with the Canadiens. We eagerly anticipate his destination.
Brendan Shanahan is another one of these free-agents that wants to re-sign with his previous team, in this case, the New York Rangers. The Rangers have spent quite a bit of dough already in the first week of the buying period, but still have quite a bit of room to make a spot for Shanahan. If the Rangers decide against re-signing Shanahan, he'll be a very popular guy among other GM's in the league. There probably already has been some offers to the 38 year-old winger, but he has said publicly that he wants to remain in the Big Apple. Shanahan finished last season with 29 goals and 62 points, which put him 86th in the pool rankings. In a deep pool, he should be a comfortable 3rd round pick where ever he ends up.
Off-season troubles with the law in Florida may be very costly to Ed Belfour's career. With Tomas Vokoun arriving in Florida this summer, Belfour has been served notice that even if he re-signed with the Panthers, he would not see many games. Belfour is only on this list because he did finish 119th on the list, but this wouldn't be a big surprise if he retired because of no offers. He will be 42 when the season starts and age should be yet another factor for retirement, but when the word actually comes down, that's when we can all believe it. I don't think it'll be too long before you hear his name in the retirement announcements.
You know, I really should have thought twice about this list as another retirement possibility rears his ugly head. Not saying that Peter Forsberg is ugly, but the possibilty of him returning to Sweden is. Forsberg who has many a health concern, has been contemplating not coming back to the NHL as his numbers dwindled thanks to injuries. His effectiveness in Philly was down considerably and he may not have the same confidence he once had in Colorado. He only managed 13 goals and 55 points for the Flyers last season and would still be somewhat desireable to some GMs... at a discount, of course. Word will slowly trickle down to everyone what he decides.
The New York Islanders bought out 149th place, Alexei Yashin and became an Unrestricted Free Agent. Yashin, had a long-term deal to play out, but the Islanders decided to take on the cap responsibility and cut him loose. He scored 18 goals and 50 points for the Islanders, which is a long way away from some of his better years. Yashin could provide a team with a good second line centre and even some leadership support... if he's in a happy mood. Some team will eventually settle on Yashin to fill a hole, but it may be a while before his price comes down to something reasonable. In the marketplace, his position in the pool rankings is worth anywhere between $2.5 million to $3.6 million. Most GMs will try for something lower, I'd assume.
40 year-old Curtis Joseph is watching all the starting jobs disappear before his very eyes and will also have trouble finding a job for next season, unless the Coyotes want him back for one more season. Joseph played in 55 games last season, only winning 18 games. He finished 175th in pool rankings, which is quite low for a starting goaltender. The Coyotes have a decision to make... whether or not Mikael Tellqvist or David Leneveu can take the number one job going into camp. Leneveu will probably get a long look in camp, as he is the best prospect for the job and could very well take it. That leaves Joseph out in the cold looking for some new work.
Journeyman Martin Gelinas makes the list going into Week Two and could generate some interest later on in the summer when a team or two thinks to themselves, 'All we need is some veteran leadership.' Gelinas played all 82 games last season, scoring 14 goals and registering 44 points to put him 179th on the list, which is up from back-to-back seasons at 204th. When a guy plays every game, you get a good amount of production from him. Gelinas will bring a lot to the table when a team comes calling, it will just be a matter of time before it all happens for him.
Jeff O'Neill makes the list of aging hipsters that are looking for a new job. He still managed to pot 20 goals last season for the Leafs and he finished 191st in pool scoring, which kept him pretty honest. Age-wise, O'Neill is only 31 and should still provide some good minutes for a team in need of a winger. O'Neill was also a plus player for the Leafs, finishing the year +1, and does provide a decent face-off prowess when his centreman is kicked out of the circle. Much like Gelinas before him, he'll be a guy on a GM's list when teams are looking to put the last piece of the puzzle in place. Will he help teams win Cups? It hasn't really been apparent. Should he be considered in your pool selections? I think so... he can be a good late round forward when you're putting the last piece of the puzzle in place.
The Washington Capitals are gaining popularity thanks to their superstar, Alexander Ovechkin, and now they want to gain entry into the playoffs. This off-season, they've made a few signings that will make a big difference to that push.
With the exclusion of the newly-acquired Joni Pitkanen, the Oilers line-up could pretty well be set for the opening face-off in October, but there's still a long way to go for the Oilers. Re-signing Raffi Torres and Matt Greene were steps in the right direction and the acquistion of Mathieu Garon through free-agency was also quite a solid move.
