DiPenta Paper

On Tuesday, Joe DiPenta signed a 1-year deal with the Ducks, extending his stay for yet another season. DiPenta played in 76 games last season with the Ducks registering 2 goals and 6 assists in the process, but when you think of Ducks defensemen, you don't exactly immediately think DiPenta. Especially, not now. DiPenta signs on as quite possibly the seventh defenseman, unless Scott Niedermayer does retire. Then he'll actually make the team update board as the sixth defenseman... still, he's probably not exactly pool worthy.

Chris Kunitz	Andy McDonald	Corey Perry
Samuel Pahlsson	Ryan Getzlaf	Todd Bertuzzi
Travis Moen	Rob Niedermayer	Bobby Ryan
Brad May	Todd Marchant	George Parros

Scott Niedermayer	Chris Pronger
Mathieu Schneider	Francois Beauchemin
Sean O'Donnell	Shane Hnidy

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Ilya Bryzgalov

It kind of shocked me when I looked down the line of team updates and not having seen an Anaheim one yet, so I had to build a new one. The first quote that comes to mind when I look at this team at the moment... "the only thing harder than winning a championship in sports is repeating." Well, Brian Burke and his Ducks will have a whale of a time trying to win a second Cup as they are haunted by the giant question mark that hangs over their locker room.

Who is gonna be dressed come opening night? Teemu Selanne doesn't have a contract and will possibly retire. Scott Niedermayer has two years left on his deal and could possibly retire. J-S Giguere had hernia surgery and should be ready to go. Todd Bertuzzi's back still ranks as a top concern going into camp. Who is going to take the spot of Dustin Penner? There is probably a lot of concern running rampant in the GM's office these days. With the big three on defense signed, the cap room has dwindled as these 20 guys listed are worth (approx.) $47 million.

If you were to look at the team right now, you would probably come to the conclusion that they'll be the strongest defending team in the league and that defense could win you a championship. But with the punch of Selanne's 40+ goals and Penner's 29 goals missing from the line-up, where are they going to get that one or two goals to win a game?

Now, don't take the line-up above as actual line combos... it's more of a general idea of who's worth more in their position for the pool. I'm sure Getzlaf and Perry will still be together, but it's anyone's guess who their linemate could be. I did insert Bobby Ryan into the line-up above, as he's probably the next best candidate for a big time job this season. They might even be able to snake 20 goals out of the kid this season. A great coup for a dwindling offense.

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Auld Signs in Phoenix

The Coyotes did a little bit more to make their crease a bit more competitive both with themselves and in league play. Alex Auld signed a 1-year deal with the Coyotes and now they have three solid goaltenders who will compete for that number one job. The Coyotes remain underneath the salary cap minimum, even with the signing of Auld, they should still be well under the $34 million minimum, (currently sitting at around $31 million).

Shane Doan	Steve Reinprecht	Radim Vrbata
Mike York	Mike Zigomanis	Niko Kapanen
Bill Thomas	Mikael Tjarnqvist	Fredrik Sjostrom
Patrick Fischer	Josh Gratton	David Carcillo

Ed Jovanovski	Zbynek Michalek
Keith Ballard *	Derek Morris
Nick Boynton	Brendan Bell

David Aebischer

Mikael Tellqvist

Alex Auld

Keith Ballard is still to sign with the Desert Dogs, still trying to hammer out a deal as a Restricted Free Agent and should get the Coyotes a bit closer, but it's more likely that they'll need all 23 possible active players to stretch their budget right to the minimum.

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Sutton Secures Blueline

The New York Islanders became a bit bigger on the blueline on the weekend, signing Andy Sutton to a 3-year deal on Saturday. The 6'6" defenseman was good enough for 16 points in 55 games for the Atlanta Thrashers last season and will bring some size to an already formidable defense team. According to the NHLPA website, he should be earning roughly $2.5 million a season for the 3 years he'll be employed on the Island, so that brings up the team salary to $36.7 million for the 20 players listed. There's a good chance that the team will carry the maximum 23-player roster, as they have quite a few defensemen worthy of playing time, but only a certain number of spots can be taken at any one time.

Bill Guerin	Mike Sillinger	Miroslav Satan
Ruslan Fedotenko	Mike Comrie	Trent Hunter
Richard Park	Jon Sim	Shawn Bates
Jeremy Collition	Steve Tambellini	Chris Simon

Marc-Andre Bergeron	Radek Martinek
Andy Sutton	Chris Campoli
Brendan Witt	Aaron Johnson

Rick DiPietro

Wade Dubielewicz

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Hawks and Coyotes Deal

On Saturday, a deal went down between the Blackhawks and the Coyotes. Chicago sent forward Radim Vrbata to the desert for forward Kevyn Adams.

Vrbata, 26, joins the Coyotes as, quite possibly, the number two forward on the team. Vrbata's 41 points last season was only topped by Doan on the current roster, but Steven Reinprecht only played in 33 games last season. Vrbata was Chicago's number two scoring forward last season and should fit in as a Coyote calibre winger. Look for him to put in some solid minutes for Phoenix, but the stock doesn't really seem to be going up as it is a lateral move between teams.

Adams, 32, comes to the Hawks as an experienced pivot that will handle the third or fourth line centre duties, along with a lot of the penalty killing. With the youth movement occupying a lot of the Blackhawk expectation up front, it's no surprise that they took someone off the top lines to insert someone onto the checking lines. With Adams only playing 68 games last season, his production did drop off... so much so that he probably won't be in consideration for many pool teams. He ranked 342nd among forwards with 12 points and probably won't go up any lists after this move.


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Blues Finish Their 20

The St. Louis Blues signed eight players on Thursday to help round out their starting 20 and fill their roster out in Worcester for their AHL club. The Blues signed defenseman Jeff Woywitka to a 1-year deal, worth $690,000, who rounds out the defense roster below. Woywitka played in only 34 games last season, but should have himself a good chance for a full-time job come October.

Paul Kariya	Doug Weight	Keith Tkachuk
Lee Stempniak	Brad Boyes	Martin Rucinsky
Petr Cajanek	Jay McClement	David Backes
Jamal Mayers	Dan Hinote	Ryan Johnson

Eric Brewer	Barrett Jackman
Christian Backman	Bryce Salvador
Jay McKee	Jeff Woywitka

Manny Legace

Hannu Toivonen

Jason Bacashihua was also signed to a deal on Thursday, who will give Toivonen a good run for his money to back-up Manny Legace. Both Bacashihua and Toivonen won 3 games last season in under 20 games, so it might be a really tight race.

Also signed by the Blues: Yan Statsny (F), Charles Linglet (F), D.J. King (F), Mike Glumac (D), Alex Brooks (D) and Matt Walker (D).

The Blues have their salary number up to $41.5 million with the signing of Woywitka. It shouldn't be much of a difference if some of these guys are replaced by others in the system.

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Red Wings Stay the Course

The Detroit faithful can be relieved that their simple style will not be tampered with the new RBK Edge jersey. Yesterday, the link was posted to pre-order the new jerseys on the Red Wings website and you could immediately see, there was no major change to the overall esthetic of the Red Wings brand. The logo didn't change and the design of the jersey only really changed by the form-fitting style of the RBK jerseys. Click on this link to see the ad that was posted.

Not a lot has changed in the Motor City since the last team update, but I thought I would refresh some memories with what the Red Wings will have to offer around training camp.

Henrik Zetterberg	Pavel Datsyuk	Tomas Holmstrom
Mikael Samuelsson	Daniel Cleary	Johan Franzen
Jiri Hudler	Kris Draper	Kirk Maltby
Valtteri Filppula	Igor Grigorenko	Tomas Kopecky

Nicklas Lidstrom	Brian Rafalski
Niklas Kronvall	Brett Lebda
Chris Chelios	Andreas Lilja

Dominik Hasek

Chris Osgood

The Red Wings haven't made a signing in almost a month, but with this line-up, they don't really need to. In the crazy summer that was, the Red Wings only really shelled out cash to those who were already in the organization. I've done a bit more research into their salary numbers and found a few more figures and now the Wings 20-men line-up posted above is worth only $40.9 million (approx.). They have plenty of breathing space come deadline day and you know the Wings love to shop on deadline day, so when the puck drops... you'll know the Wings will not only be competitive, but they'll be cost efficient too.

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Reeling Them Back

The Thrashers pulled a couple of players back from Europe on Wednesday, signing defenseman Karel Pilar and forward Milan Bartovic. Both players will be given a good look in camp, where the Thrashers may need some fresh blood to help a shallow team out.

Pilar, most notably, had finished last season in Toronto with the AHL Marlies, recording 7 points in the final 10 games of the season.

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Montador on Monday

On Monday, to little fanfare, Steve Montador's arbitration hearing finished off with him being awarded a 1-year deal, worth $800,000. Montador should be eligible for Unrestricted Free Agency next season after this deal and should do his best to earn himself a bigger paycheck through those negotiations. Last season, Montador only recorded 1 goal and 8 assists in 72 games, which left him 166th among defensemen. If he improves him offensive output, he may be able to jump quite a few places in the rankings, but for right now, it doesn't seem likely that he'll be picked on many teams in the pools this year.

Ville Peltonen	Olli Jokinen	Nathan Horton
Brett McLean	Jozef Stumpel	Radek Dvorak
Rostislav Olesz	Stephen Weiss *	Richard Zednik
David Booth	Gregory Campbell	Drew Larman

Jay Bouwmeester	Ruslan Salei
Bryan Allen	Mike Van Ryn
Steve Montador	Branislav Mezei

Tomas Vokoun

Craig Anderson

The Panthers line-up shown above is only worth $38.2 million (approx.) and they still find themselves quite a ways apart from centre Stephen Weiss. The only logical concern left would be that the Panthers ownership/management has slapped a team budget on that isn't near the cap maximum and Weiss' demands are too high for their restraints. By Weiss' numbers, 48 points in 74 games, appeal and value to the club, I wouldn't push a salary larger than $2 million on the 24 year-old centre. If I was abritrating this case, his best comparison would be to Calgary's Matthew Lombardi for age, position and points... Lombardi will only earn $1.55 million this year and next... with a boost to $2.35 in 2009/10. That would probably be the benchmark I would use and I would imagine Florida is using at the bargaining table now. This process could take a while, but fortunately for GM Jacques Martin, Weiss is the only real building block left to put in place.

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Richardson Goes to Ottawa

Sportsnet.ca is reporting on their Free Agent Tracker that Luke Richardson has joined the Senators on a 1-year deal, worth $500,000. Richardson, 38, only played in 27 games last season, registering 3 assists, so in no way, shape or form, will he be in consideration for anyone's pool team, but it is worth noting that his leadership may be quite convincing down the stretch... saying that he plays in more than 27 games, of course.

The Senators are already quite deep in the blueline position, so the acquisition of Richardson is somewhat questionable. He'll more than likely fill in as the seventh defenseman for when injuries or healthy scratches come about. GM Bryan Murray must see some sort of value having the long-time veteran in the squad and at practice or else he'd just be throwing money away. Maybe it is one of those intangibles that the Sens were missing against Anaheim is what he sees in Richardson.

Daniel Alfredsson	Jason Spezza	Dany Heatley
Dean McAmmond	Mike Fisher	Antoine Vermette
Shean Donovan	Chris Kelly	Patrick Eaves
Brian McGratton	Niko Dimitrakos	Chris Neil

Joe Corvo	Wade Redden
Andrej Meszaros	Chris Phillips
Christoph Schubert	Anton Volchenkov

Ray Emery

Martin Gerber

With Oleg Saprykin signing on in Europe this summer, that opens the door for one of the young Sens players to jump in or the newly acquired Niko Dimitrakos to jump into the NHL again. The Sens have some depth in their farm system and will probably play around with it a great deal. With the 20 players shown above, their salary cap number is only sitting at $48 million, which does leave them with plenty of space for a move at the deadline, if a rental player is needed.


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Cammalleri Awarded

Mike Cammalleri was going into his arbitration hearing looking to join the big money club in the NHL, since he finished the season 36th in pool rankings with 34 goals and 80 points. Fortunately for the Kings, the arbitrator preciding over the case didn't unload a large deal on Cammalleri, rather a closer to market value price of $3.1 million for this coming season and $3.6 million for the season after. Cammalleri wil then become an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this deal, which should significantly raise the bar of his salary, especially if he keeps his improvement on the upward swing.

Alexander Frolov	Anze Kopitar	Mike Cammalleri
Ladislav Nagy	Michal Handzus	Dustin Brown
Scott Thornton	Derek Armstrong	Kyle Calder
Raitis Ivanans	Patrick O'Sullivan	Brian Willsie
		Alyn McCauley

Lubomir Visnovsky	Tom Preissing
Rob Blake	Brad Stuart
Jaroslav Modry	Jack Johnson

Dan Cloutier

Jason Labarbera

Cammalleri takes his spot on the top line in the chart, moving down a few guys, that maybe considered a tad suspect on the right side, down a slot in the order. The Kings should be a very competitive club when it comes to the open-ice situations, but the goaltending is still a big question mark. With the space the Kings have with the cap (21 players listed worth $44.2 million), they should be able to snag one of the top goaltenders available via trade or possibly another ex-Canuck in Alex Auld or Sean Burke.




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Taking a Blue Jacket to the Beech

The Columbus Blue Jackets added yet another centre to their line-up in Kris Beech, who I thought was one of the better Free Agents left, for depth. Beech jumps into the chart as the third centre, where his point production was better than Malhotra's and Svitov's and he could actually be a good fit for Gilbert Brule and/or Jason Chimera. Beech signed a 1-year deal on Tuesday, for one, depth and two, more salary to count towards the minimum.

Rick Nash	Sergei Fedorov	David Vyborny
Fredrik Modin	Dan Fritsche	Nikolai Zherdev
Jason Chimera	Kris Beech	Gilbert Brule
Jiri Novotny	Manny Malhotra	Jody Shelley
	Alexander Svitov

Ron Hainsey	Rostislav Klesla
Adam Foote	Duvie Westcott
Jan Hejda	Ole-Kristian Tollefsen

Fredrik Norrena

Pascal Leclaire

It's unknown how much Beech will make, but it should be in the $1 million range, which solidifies their position above the minimum amount for the salary cap. It should be rounded up to around $38 million, which is pretty safe. Beech should be a good fit for the Blue Jackets, certainly not making them playoff worthy right away, but I would imagine he'll get a good look at the end of the year for re-signing.

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Philly to Unload?

The Flyers got a little bit greedy this summer. So much so, that they might have to shave off some salary before they go to camp in September. The Flyers signed Daniel Briere to a huge front-loaded contract and Kimmo Timonen got the same sort of treatment after being acquired from Nashville. As my calculations stand, the Flyers are sitting at a top-heavy $52.9 million payroll. The cap is supposed to be $50.3 milllion. I mean, c'mon, this isn't even close. The allowable salary level for any NHL team in the offseason right now is $55.3 million (10% above season level) for housekeeping reasons. The 20 players shown below are worth roughly $52.9 million and there are still a couple players sitting on the books who will have to be compensated, so this job gets even harder for the Flyers.

Mike Knuble	Daniel Briere	Simon Gagne
Scott Hartnell	Jeff Carter	Mike Richards
Sami Kapanen	R.J. Umberger	Joffrey Lupul
Stefan Ruzicka	Scottie Upshall	Ben Eager

Kimmo Timonen	Randy Jones
Jason Smith	Lasse Kukkonen
Derian Hatcher	Denis Gauthier

Martin Biron

Antero Niitymaki

It doesn't take long to see where all the money went when you look at this roster. I mean, only Randy Jones and Lasse Kukkonen of the six defensemen are earning less than $2 million this season. Technically, Jason Smith is too... but it's $1.976 million... so forgive me if I round up.

The questions remain... who goes? I can only imagine how difficult it is going to be for a team to offload some of this salary, especially since Jason Smith and potentially Randy Jones are going to be the only two going to Unrestricted Free Agency next season. Derian Hatcher and Denis Gauthier still have 2 full seasons left on their contract and you would think that they would be great rental players... if their contract status was a little more flexible. There could be a few teams that could use some slower skating, hardly offensive defensemen. Take Columbus, for instance, they could compliment Adam Foote with Derian Hatcher. A team like the Coyotes might have to take them, just to get their salary past the basement level. Both of them. Washington could also do the same thing... they're struggling for salary.

It's hard to even gauge how well the team and/or individuals are going to do pool-wise on the Flyers, because you have no idea who's really staying or who's really going.

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A Lightning Strike

If there was ever a team that has really enjoyed the salary cap figure going up, it would be the Tampa Bay Lightning. A couple years past putting all their eggs into only a few baskets, the cap has allowed them to spend even more money to make their team more competitive.

Vaclav Prospal	Vincent Lecavalier	Martin St. Louis
Ryan Craig *	Brad Richards	Michel Ouellet
Andreas Karlsson	Chris Gratton	Jason Ward
Andre Roy	Tim Taylor	Nick Tarnasky

Dan Boyle	Filip Kuba
Paul Ranger	Shane O'Brien
Brad Lukowich	Doug Janik

Johan Holmqvist

Marc Denis

You'll see the depth charts online look a little bit different, but as it stands through the pool rankings, this is what I've come up with. A name to look at, according to a depth chart, is Jan Hlavac. He'll make his return after a couple seasons in Europe, much like Johan Holmqvist last season and will hope for the same kind of season.

When the Pittsburgh Penguins let go of Michel Ouellet, it was kind of a surprise... a surprise that Lightning GM Jay Feaster gladly opened up his wallet for. Ouellet should insert into the line-up at a spot where one of the big two centres will take faceoffs for him. Even if it isn't Lecavalier or Richards, he may even figure in well with the re-acquired centre, Chris Gratton. The Lightning have added quite a bit of firepower since the end of the year. More depth offensively was really what the Lightning were needing, as quite a few teams could contain Lecavalier (despite his 50-goal season), and the Lightning didn't have a lot past him.

The blueline hasn't changed a great deal from last season. At the trade deadline, they sacrificed their first-rounder for defenseman, Shane O'Brien, who re-signed with them already this summer. Boyle and Kuba are generally considered pool defensemen... while Ranger and O'Brien are slowly blossoming into pool considerations. A breakout year could be in order for the Lightning defense and if so, it'll take the team quite a ways into the playoffs.

In goal, Denis didn't quite be the guy that the Lightning paid the big money for. Rather, it was Holmqvist that stepped in on a smaller contract and did the business. Holmqvist won 27 games out of his 48 appearances and should get the bulk of the load to start the season. His new experience back in the NHL should be a big benefit to his numbers and to Tampa's numbers this season and they could find themselves winning the Southeast Division title again and give a good run to the Cup.

As for the cap, since I led off the post with the idea that they're much better... with only Ryan Craig to sign this summer, they are sitting at almost $42 million. Plenty of space, when you think that you're shelling out a ton of dough to players like Lecavalier, Richards, St. Louis, Boyle and Denis. There probably isn't going to be a lot more movement from the Lightning this summer, so be prepared to watch this line-up come October.

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The Beantown Bears

Welcome to Boston. The new stylized "B" makes it on the jersey along with the patch with the bear on it. The Bruins acquired a bit more stability in net. There's a few new wingers for the talent down the middle to play with. It should be a year of renewal for the Bruins and possibly a playoff spot is in the cards as well.

Peter Schaefer	Marc Savard	Glen Murray
Marco Sturm	Patrice Bergeron	Brandon Bochenski
P.J. Axelsson	Phil Kessel	Chuck Kobasew
Shawn Thornton	Mark Mowers	Stanislav Chistov

Zdeno Chara	Dennis Wideman
Aaron Ward	Andrew Ference
Andrew Alberts	Matt Lashoff

Manny Fernandez

Tim Thomas

Let's start from the net and go out, shall we? When the Free Agent market opened up on July 1, the Bruins decided to make a trade, rather than make a splash with a signing. That was when they acquired Manny Fernandez from Minnesota to take the reigns as the number one goalie. For me, I don't know if Fernandez is the guy to be number one in Boston... Fernandez wasn't a great goalie when the Wild were poor defensively and well, Boston isn't terribly great in their own end. Saying that though, they will be better with some new faces, but I think Tim Thomas should end up being the main man before it's all said and done in Boston. Pool-wise, there is always a situation or two in the crease for teams that has some expectations of a goalie sticking around all season and ends up losing his job within 15 games. Boston could be one of them this year.

New faces from the trade deadline last February have transformed the Bruins blueline into something a little more formidable than the years previous. The acquisitions of Wideman, Ward and Ference at the deadline made for very little headlines last season, but if the Bruins are going to contend for a playoff spot, they'll be key pieces to that puzzle. Zdeno Chara obviously leads the charge for the blueline and still should have something in the tank that improves on his already back-to-back career years of 43 points. If Chara could hit the 60-point plateau, he would be very close to earning Norris Trophy honours and the Bruins could really push.

Up front, they've added some speed and grit. Schaefer and Thornton being added to the roster should make the Bruins a little harder to keep up with and a little harder a long the boards to play with. Already beaming with Savard, Bergeron and Kessel down the middle, the Bruins are not suffering for playmaking talent... they just need to find the perfect fits for each of them to put the biscuit in the basket. They have a great crop of wingers to play with the three pivots and it will be Claude Julien's job to find the perfect fits. I don't think it will be an overnight transformation, but Julien could put together a good program for this team that incorporates their speed in a transition game with a very responsible defensive program, which should help everyone succeed and notch a few more wins.

Cap-wise, they're a healthy $43.75 million (approx.) against the ceiling, which leaves them plenty of room to upgrade down the line. I don't think you should expect any more signings, unless it's within the system. The signing of Milan Lucic this past week should give them another winger that could jump into the main system soon or have a year or two worth of seasoning in the minors.

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NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool, Boston Bruins, Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel

Is it the Penguins Time Yet?

It is a bit surprising that one of the most popular teams in the NHL has waited until August to get it's team update. In my defense, they really haven't made many waves in the Free Agent Market or made any blockbuster trades, so actual news has been few and far between. On a relaxing Sunday morning though, I thought I would outline the young phenom team and we'll see what they've added or kept the same.

Gary Roberts	Sidney Crosby	Mark Recchi
Erik Christensen	Evgeni Malkin	Petr Sykora
Ryan Malone	Jordan Staal	Colby Armstrong
Jarkko Ruutu	Maxime Talbot	Georges Laraque

Sergei Gonchar	Ryan Whitney
Darryl Sydor	Rob Scuderi
Brooks Orpik	Mark Eaton

Marc-Andre Fleury

Dany Sabourin

Well, it's pretty obvious what the Penguins still have from last season, so let's maybe start with the new additions. Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor are the immediate new faces, while Dany Sabourin makes his return from a small stint in Vancouver, as he was in the Penguins system for quite a few years. Sykora has really struggled in the past couple seasons to return to his best form, but he did manage to pot 22 goals for the Oilers last season and with the possibility of skating with either one of the dynamic centres on the team, he could have found himself in paradise. The stock has risen on Sykora, much like it would on anyone who has the potential of Crosby or Malkin as their linemate. Sydor will come to the team as the experienced 3rd defenseman. Sydor really hasn't been the major offensive contributor he once was either, but a fresh start in Pittsburgh will the tonic to what ails him. 2005/06 AHL Goaltender of the Year, Dany Sabourin, will back-up Marc-Andre Fleury this coming season, much like he did with Roberto Luongo in Vancouver. This time, however, he'll probably see a few more games and get his game legs underneath him a little faster. All in all, it looks like three good acquisitions made by the Pens.

It's really difficult to say much more than what is really obvious with the Penguins. You can highlight the fact that they had 3 players in the Top 25 of the pool ranks (Fleury being the 3rd, in 24th) and that their talents are only going to get better as 8 of these 20 guys are under 25, at the start of this season.

I suppose if you really wanted to ask some questions, it would be what the contribution levels will be of the veteran presence. Will Recchi still produce some offense? Is Roberts still good for 20 goals? What kind of wheels does Sydor have coming back into his own end? A lot of these questions will more or less effect the number of wins that Fleury may get, but how much of the slack will be taken care of by the abundance of offense from the kids?

With bonuses this season, the Penguins should easily hit the bottom level of the salary cap this season, but with just base salaries alone, the Penguins are sitting at roughly $32 million, $2.4 million less than the salary cap minimum. Whether or not they decide to make another signing before the season starts, just to make a better salary number, will be up to them. If they don't you'd have to believe that they are confident that bonuses will be met.

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NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin

Hunter Locked In

Trent Hunter had his arbitration hearing this week and he managed to snake a 1-year, $1.55 million deal out of the process and will remain in the organization for at least one more year. He should qualify for Unrestricted Free Agency next summer.

Hunter, is at best, a borderline pool player. He finished with 35 points last season, ranking 172nd among all forwards. He might be a guy that loses out to some of the younger talent coming into the pool this Fall, which may get him overlooked. For the Islanders, he'll prove to be a third line player who does manage to provide some secondary scoring every once and a while. He did notch 20 goals for the Islanders, which is pretty clutch.


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Penner Pens with Oil

Well, if you could believe it... Kevin Lowe actually got his man yesterday. Dustin Penner ended up signing with the Oilers yesterday as the Ducks would not match the (overpriced) offer sheet for the young winger. Penner, 24, scored 29 goals in all 82 games with the Ducks last season and brings a big frame for in front of the net to the Oilers attack. His 45 points ranked him 169th in the pool rankings last season (121st among forwards) and should have a large responsibility increase coming to a team where he should fit onto the first line. With a guy like Penner in front of the net, Souray and Pitkanen should have a great time launching pucks from the blueline. You may just see another big year from Souray and Pitkanen could have himself a career year with a big body like Penner in front.

Dustin Penner	Shawn Horcoff	Ales Hemsky
Raffi Torres	Jarret Stoll	Fernando Pisani
Geoff Sanderson	Marty Reasoner	Marc Pouliot
Patrick Thoreson	Rob Schremp	Robert Nilsson

Sheldon Souray	Joni Pitkanen
Steve Staios	Ladislav Smid
Matt Greene	Dick Tarnstrom

Dwayne Roloson

Mathieu Garon

The Oilers sure made a big upgrade up front with Penner. Well, size-wise anyways. It will be interesting to see what kind of line match-ups Craig MacTavish may employ at the start of the season. If the four lines above are something close, the Oilers may have a better shot at the playoffs this season. I'm not terribly sure if Penner is really going to make any of his linemates better, although he could be the guy available for the backdoor pass from a guy like Hemsky or Stoll.

We all know how much better the blueline became when Souray and Pitkanen came to town. Now that they are both under contract for the coming year, Oiler fans can rest easy when it comes to offense from the point. A few big shots gives a lot of options, especially on the powerplay.

In goal, Dwayne Roloson will return as the number one guy, but he'll get a bit of a push with the acquistion of Mathieu Garon. Garon couldn't quite fit in with the Canadiens or the Kings, but if Roloson can get along in the Oiler crease, you would think just about anyone could.

The $4.25 million that Penner will make brings their salary level up to around $46 million, which should keep them somewhat competitive in the West. It does leave them some space for a rental player, should they need one, and it won't break the bank of the ownership.


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Avery Gets His Dues

I suppose if there was a reason why that a lot of players didn't go to arbitration this summer, it would be the fear of getting the "Sean Avery treatment" from their club. Avery was reportedly chewed out in his hearing and the arbitrator split the difference between what the Rangers offered and what Avery wanted. Avery ended up with a 1-year, $1.9 million deal, which the Rangers gladly accepted and Avery signed off on.

This finishes the starting line-up for the Rangers, barring any really big surprises in camp. This Rangers line-up is somewhat uncomfortable when it comes to cap space, sitting at a rounded $49.5 million, only $800,000 away from the limit. When you spend the big bucks to attract Gomez and Drury, not to mention the monster deal for Jagr, the new deal for Lundqvist has and Shanahan not being shy at the bank machine... this isn't a really big surprise.

Martin Straka	Scott Gomez	Jaromir Jagr
Brendan Shanahan	Chris Drury	Sean Avery
Marcel Hossa	Blair Betts	Petr Prucha
Ryan Callahan	Nigel Dawes	Ryan Hollweg

Michal Rozsival	Paul Mara
Marek Malik	Andrew Hutchinson
Fedor Tyutin	Thomas Pock

Henrik Lundqvist

Steve Valliquette

Up front, the Rangers could be one of the most dangerous teams in the league. There's goal scoring galore in the top two lines of the squad. The top six combined for 156 goals, but they weren't a unit yet. With Gomez and Drury inserted into the line-up, there could be a dramatic increase in goals and assists from these six guys.

On defense, it's tough to say. Rozsival comes into camp as the top rated pool defenseman on the team, as he finished the season with 40 points in 80 games. He isn't really known for a great offensive prowess, but at half a point-per-game, it isn't anything to sniffle at. Mara and Malik were subject to injury for a portion of last season, while Hutchinson, Tyutin and Pock saw some time on the bus with minor league clubs. It's far from the best six in the league, but it might be able to do the trick... in the regular season.

In goal, Henrik Lundqvist is turning heads all around the league. Finishing 8th among goaltenders in the pool rankings, he was hardly a factor is games that the Rangers lost, rather he was quite stellar. He had a sparkling .917 save percentage through the year. There are a lot of pundits claiming he's in the Top 5 of all goalies in the league, which I don't think is too far from the truth. He is a pretty safe pick in the first round, if you so desire.

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Parise Settles

You have to believe that there is a lot of concern that was relieved when the pen was put to paper on this deal. Zach Parise signed a 4-year, $12.5 million deal on Wednesday and now the Devils have their brightest young star for the long-term. Parise's stock really rose in the playoffs as he scored 7 goals for the club, but it wasn't enough to lead them deeper into the playoffs.

For all you poolies, Parise finished the season in the Top 100 in only his second season. His 31 goals and 31 assists was good enough for 85th place on the list, 63rd amongst forwards. In a large draft, he could easily be a third rounder or a big gamble in the second round.

Patrik Elias	Dainius Zubrus	Zach Parise
Jamie Langenbrunner	Brian Gionta	Tomas Zajac
Jay Pandolfo	John Madden	Sergei Brylin
Cam Janssen	Mike Rupp	David Clarkson

Karel Rachunek	Paul Martin *
Vitali Vishnevski	Colin White
Andy Greene	Richard Matvichuk

Martin Brodeur

Kevin Weekes

The Devils are much different looking after losing Scott Gomez to free agency, but they still have a lot of defensive prowess that makes Martin Brodeur one of the best players to pick in a pool. Brodeur finished 1st overall in last season's pool rankings, despite the big push by the youngster in Pittsburgh. It was the third time in four seasons that Brodeur was the best player in my pool, so he's a pretty safe bet, if there were any. Behind him is now Kevin Weekes, who should see a little more action than Scott Clemmensen did last season (4 games), in order to be more fresh for the playoffs.

Up front, the replacement for Gomez is Dainius Zubrus... not exactly tit for tat, but he will end up being a solid centre for the Devils this season. Brian Gionta should start the season as the number one centre, but for the pool rankings, Zubrus had 15 more points in 17 more games. Elias had himself a bit of an off season with only 21 goals, but his potential is so much higher that you could think of him as a 1st round pick, if you knew he was going to have a healthy year with a good centre setting him up.

On defense, Paul Martin, still a Restricted Free Agent, will probably take over the role left behind by Brian Rafalski (gone to Detroit). Once he signs, you can be comfortable in thinking that his numbers will go up. Karel Rachunek and Vitali Vishnevski joined the blueline and should make for an immediate effect. Both of their responsibility levels have gone up, which should leave you to believe that some more points could be tacked on to their previous season's totals.

The Devils were guilty of touching the ceiling in previous years when it came to the salary cap, but now that Alexander Mogilny and Vladimir Malakhov are off the books, the Devils have quite a bit of breathing space. With only Paul Martin to sign, the Devils sit comfortably at $43.3 million to payout this season. A clear $7 million short of the cap, a figure that Martin will not earn this season. Don't be terribly surprised if the Devils sured up their defense before the start of camp.

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An Arbitrator Decides!

Antti Miettinen was only the second player in the arbitration season to have his new deal ironed out by a third party this week. He won a 1-year deal worth $885,000, which will keep the forward in Dallas this season, before becoming an Unrestricted Free Agent next summer. Miettinen scored 11 goals and 25 points in 74 games last season (ranking him 343rd, 243rd among forwards).

Jere Lehtinen	Mike Ribeiro	Jussi Jokinen *
Brendan Morrow	Mike Modano	Niklas Hagman
Antti Miettinen	Stu Barnes	Loui Eriksson
Todd Fedoruk	Jeff Halpern	Joel Lundqvist

Sergei Zubov	Phillipe Boucher
Stephane Robidas	Trevor Daley
Mattias Norstrom	Nolan Baumgartner

Marty Turco

Mike Smith

The Dallas Stars are looking more like a motley crew going into next season. It may look a tad strange to not see Mike Modano up there on the top line, but Ribeiro's game was not marred by injuries like Modano's was and with the same points-per-game, Ribeiro took the number one spot (in the pool ranking) by virtue of points. You should believe that Modano is the number one centre in Dallas, but he probably won't be taken higher than Ribeiro in many pools... although maybe he should be.

The Stars will not lack in defensive presence, especially with Marty Turco manning the crease. Turco has been a Top 20 player for the last 4 seasons, including being the 2nd best player in 2003/04. He was the 6th best goaltender last season and will give the Stars that confidence only a top level keeper can give.

On the blueline, the acquistions of Mattias Norstrom and Nolan Baumgartner last season were key to being a better defensive unit behind Sergei Zubov and Phillipe Boucher. Zubov and Boucher are relied upon to move the puck and shoot it into a crowd. If the roles are executed, the Stars should have at least two solid pairings, while Daley and Robidas will do their best as minute eating defensemen.

Up front, the only signing remaining is Jussi Jokinen. He will not be going to arbitration this summer, rather waiting to see what the Stars can afford for him. The roster posted currently stands at $42.6 million, which is still a far cry from the max, so the Stars have some room to wiggle as well come the trade deadline.


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