The San Jose Sharks managed to cut a potential contract issue off at the pass. Top-line winger, Milan Michalek, signed a 6-year, $26 million contract on Friday. He had one more year remaining on his entry-level deal and after his 26 goals and 66 points last season, he has earned himself a full-time contract with the Sharks and will try to increase his production along side centre Joe Thornton.| Milan Michalek | Joe Thornton | Jonathon Cheechoo |
| Ryan Clowe | Patrick Marleau | Matt Carle |
| Marcel Goc | Joe Pavelski | Steve Bernier |
| Patrick Rissmiller | Curtis Brown | Mike Grier |
| Christian Ehrhoff | Marc-Edouard Vlasic |
| Craig Rivet | Kyle McLaren |
| Doug Murray | Rob Davison |
| Evgeni Nabokov |
| Dimitri Patzold |
Now, Michalek's salary boost will not apply to this season's cap space, but it wasn't like it was a big concern for the Sharks. The Top 20 players going into camp (as listed above) is still only reaching up to $36 million. I would have to assume that any rumours surrounding Patrick Marleau being traded should necessarily be a salary cap issue.
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NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool, Signing, San Jose Sharks, Milan Michalek
In a few cases, there are still a few teams who have been without a team update on this page. I thought I've posted most of them, but I thought I would catch up on at least one or two more today. Don't want any team to feel left out... even if they are divisional rivals to my Canucks. Ha ha. This morning, it's a quick look at the new look Colorado Avalanche.
Sidney Crosby - 128 points: There's no denying that Sid the Kid is going to have yet another stellar season, but maybe THN his somewhat overshooting the mark here. Sure, it's possible that Crosby is going to dance around everyone this season, but a 128-point effort should lead us all to believe that the Pens are going places this season and they could the THN pick to win the Cup this year.
Dany Heatley - 106 points: Last season's 50-goal campaign and eventual Cup Finals berth was enough to sway THN towards Heatley in the two spot of the draft. There's no question in my mind, Heatley is a high first-rounder, but I could think of a couple guys I might want before him.
Martin Brodeur - 104 points (2 for a win, 2 for a shutout): After a record-breaking season with the Devils, it does seem to be a bit of a long shot that Brodeur can repeat his 120-point season from a year ago, but even long shots come to fruition. To me, Brodeur is a safer pick, because of his long history of being healthy.
Jaromir Jagr - 100 points: The Rangers will be a team to be reckoned with in 2007/08 and Jagr will have to lead that charge. They acquired some new help for the Czech winger and he could very well do the best with what he's going to get and 100 points might be a bit of a sleeper amount. Even the 7th spot might be a steal for Jagr.
Marc Savard - 100 points: Over the last two seasons, Marc Savard has been in and around the Top 10 in pool rankings. Even a step down in winger skill from Atlanta to Boston didn't hinder his totals as some might have speculated. With the Bruins finding more depth this offseason, there's no reason why Savard couldn't do it again.
Miikka Kiprusoff - 100 points: A safe pick here in 9th is Kiprusoff. With the ability to steal games for the Flames, he does what every pool team owner wants (or fan for that matter) and that's win games despite a lack of production from other players. Even when key guys on the team are injured, Kipper seems to keep the wins rolling in, but he does like to make it close sometimes.
Alexander Ovechkin - 100 points: In this 100-point bracket, you could simply re-arrange the names and you might find yourself a little happier with your selection. Amazingly, Ovechkin finished 3rd in rankings in his rookie season, but fell down to 16th this past season. Slotting him here in 10th does seem to be a good fit for him, but he's also a pretty good gamble if you wanted to take him higher as well.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere - 100 points: Having Giguere in 11th suggests that he'll get this great confidence boost from finally winning the Cup and receiving a big fat paycheque. His highest rank previous was 13th in his Finals year and he was only 35th last season (of winning the Cup). Somehow, I don't see Giguere being 
Ilya Kovalchuk - 100 points: Only 76 points last season doesn't suggest that Kovalchuk is ready to hit triple-figures again this season, but it's certainly not out of the question. With teams possibly checking Hossa a little bit harder, it may open some ice for Kovalchuk this season. He does have the skills, but he does have some question marks. How high will he go?
Pavel Datsyuk - 95 points: There was a marvelous display put on by Datsyuk and the Red Wings down the stretch and into the playoffs and it really seemed like Datysuk had really found his footing in the NHL. There is just something about only 95 points, which seems awfully low, but they do have him scoring 32 goals, which sounds like a pretty reasonable number. If Datsyuk can have a healthy 82-game season, there isn't any reason why he couldn't hit 100 points either.
Ryan Miller - 94 points: A 43-win season is what THN suggest for the American keeper for the Sabres. Miller won 40 for Buffalo last season and really did prove himself among some of the best. Miller missed 4 games due to injury last season, which isn't much, but was battling with Martin Biron for the number one job for a little while as well. Now Miller is the big dog in Buffalo and should see about 10 more starts, which should equate into a few more wins. Maybe 43 is too few?
Vincent Lecavalier - 93 points: Finishing 4th last season, Lecavalier is predicted to have a sudden drop in production... from 108 points to 93. Vinny took the Rocket Richard Trophy last season while carrying the load with Martin St. Louis. It isn't like the two have been separated, so that's where the surprise in drop has come from. Lecavalier may have just been outclassed by some guys above him on this list (when it comes to potential), but 93 points does seem a tad low.
Daniel Briere - 92 points: The $10 million man may have himself a little bit of a short-coming season. Finishing with 95 points in Buffalo last season, he sees a small drop as well. Briere will be a part of a brand new Flyers team, which cannot be compared to the team of 2006/07 at all. The prospect of playing with Gagne and Knuble should keep the minute warrior in the spotlight. 92 points is nothing to sneeze at, but we'll see about that in camp.
Mike Cammalleri - 90 points: Cammalleri went to arbitration with good intent. To get market value for his services and to a certain degree got that. It wasn't his idea of market value, but it was close. He did get a 2-year deal with the Kings, so this season could be one of two things: 1) the first of a running total before Unrestricted Free Agency or 2) a year to lament his loss with a less-than-expected point total. 90 points is 10 higher than last season, which suggests that THN believes he is that guy to be better as the years go on, rather than a "contract year" player.
Marian Gaborik - 90 points: Gaborik has been damned by injuries in the last few years of his career, which has kept his numbers way down. He is a potential 50-goal scorer and THN predicts he'll score 44 in 72 games. This seems to be a reasonable total as Gaborik is a potential mid-first round player... he just needs to adjust his body to the new rigors of the league. When everyone realizes that he has got his body in awesome shape... look out. He'll be a premier player in everyone's pools.
This week also saw the unveiling of the club's new uniforms. They join the Buffalo Sabres with having the players' number on the front of the uniform, which I have heard will be a standard among all clubs in the coming years. The Islanders home jersey will have many of the same colours as it normally does doesn't look too bad. Since there is no third jerseys this season, the Islanders will not have their all-orange jerseys, which haven't been overly popular in some circles.