Comrie Lands in Edmonton

The Oilers have announced on Thursday that they will be welcoming back Mike Comrie to the fold this season. Comrie signed a 1-year deal with the club, financial terms still to be announced.

Comrie split the 2009 season between the Islanders and the Senators, playing in 63 games, scoring 10 goals and 17 assists.

This will be Comrie's second stint in Edmonton, the first being his entrance into the NHL, back in the 2000-'01 season. Comrie scored 61 goals and 72 assists in 192 games with the club over two and a half seasons.

Before this deal was signed, the Oilers had 22 players signed on at an approximate cap hit of $55.7 million, leaving little room for Comrie to maneuver in. If the deal is to be worth about $1 million for the season, he should fit nicely into the mix with the club. Otherwise, there may need to be a cut or two to weave around this new cap issue. See below for the 23 players now forming the Oilers theoretical roster.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Ales Hemsky	Sheldon Souray	Nikolai Khabibulin
Shawn Horcoff	Tom Gilbert	Jeff Deslauriers
Patrick O'Sullivan	Denis Grebeshkov
Sam Gagner	Lubomir Visnovsky
Andrew Cogliano	Steve Staios
Dustin Penner	Ladislav Smid
Robert Nilsson	Jason Strudwick
Mike Comrie
Ethan Moreau
Marc Pouliot
Fernando Pisani
Liam Reddox
Zach Stortini
Steve MacIntyre

Adding Comrie to an already small-ish Oilers team does seem to be a bit of a lateral move, if not a step backwards. Comrie's value as a key centreman has taken many blows and is left in shambles for the most part. This isn't to say he can't rebuild his career where it got started, but it hardly seems likely. He's been fairly injury-prone over the past few season, missing games here and there, so he won't be anywhere on my drafting list. This signing may even drop Nikolai Khabibulin's value down a little bit as well.

Pitkanen Undergoes Surgery

The Hurricanes will not have Joni Pitkanen at training camp and may miss the first week of the season, as he has undergone knee surgery on Thursday and will now miss 2-to-4 weeks worth of training.

The surgery was to repair some torn cartilage in his knee and he should be back to 100% for the remainder of the season. Pitkanen injured his knee in off-season training and an MRI found the damage in his knee.

This shouldn't have a major impact on his year. I won't be messing with my projection for his season and would likely take him if his name comes up on my list when it comes time for my pick.

Ducks & Sharks Rookie Series

The Ducks and Sharks had their rookies take part in a three game series over the last week, in which the Sharks prospects took all three games.

Of the rookies that took part, I was looking for more of the blue chip names to see how well they did. Logan Couture, a first rounder in 2007, played in two of the games and failed to register a point. His reviews were not very good, so I wouldn't be expecting him anytime soon. Nick Petrecki, a first rounder also in 2007, played on the blueline in only one game for the Sharks and scored a goal and added an assist. The big defender has a good shot at the team, especially with the lack of veteran depth in that position.

There wasn't a great deal of Ducks blue chip players that stood out on the scoresheet at all. Nicolas Deschamps, a second rounder in 2008, had a game-tying goal to send the first rookie game to a shootout, but that was all he could muster in all three games. Luca Sbisa played in two of the games for the Ducks, failing to register a point, but was able to show off his stuff for the Ducks' brass. He'll likely be in the Ducks line-up this year.

There didn't seem to be much to take from this trio of games, hopefully the scouting and management staff took more that I did.

Blues Sign Armstrong

The Blues added a little bit more of a veteran presence for their training camp by signing Derek Armstrong to a new deal. Armstrong, 36, signed a 1-year, two-way deal with the Blues on Tuesday, which should provide the Blues not only the veteran leadership, but also the flexibility to keep a roster spot open for some young talent that may also emerge during the season.

In Los Angeles in 2009, Armstrong played in 56 games, scoring 5 goals and 4 assists. He missed 13 games during the year to an upper body injury.

The Blues filled up their theoretical roster with this signing today and despite no financial figures being disclosed today, the Blues are still in great shape when it comes to the salary cap situation. Before this signing, the Blues had 22 players signed on for $47.9 million. A two-way deal like this could range anywhere between $550,000 to $750,000, which hardly leaves any issue for the Blues this year, if Armstrong was to stay in the line-up all year.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Brad Boyes	Carlo Colaiacovo	Chris Mason
David Backes	Brendan Bell	Ty Conklin
David Perron	Barret Jackman
Keith Tkachuk	Roman Polak
Patrik Berglund	Mike Weaver
Andy McDonald	Eric Brewer
T.J. Oshie	Erik Johnson
Jay McClement
Alex Steen
B.J. Crombeen
Brad Winchester
Paul Kariya
Derek Armstrong
Cam Janssen

The Blues have an awfully full roster at the moment, but you also have to consider that Eric Brewer likely won't be ready to go at the start of the season, likely making room for Alex Pietrangelo. The Blues will likely have a lot of sorting out to do in training camp, including where Armstrong will fit in during the regular season.

Demitra Injury Update

As the Canucks prepare to open up camp for their veterans next week, it appears that one veteran player will not be ready to go come the start of camp and is likely to miss the first couple weeks of the season. Pavol Demitra is reportedly still another six weeks away from returning to the Canucks' line-up, as he is waiting for his surgically repaired shoulder to be cleared by doctors.

Demitra, 34, played in 69 games for the Canucks in 2009, scoring 20 goals and adding 33 assists.

This is the kind of injury which is going to shy me away from having Demitra on my draft list this year. I would imagine that he will be taken at some point in the draft, as someone will likely gamble on him going forward. It is tough when he'll likely miss the first two or three weeks of the season. I would recommend shying away from him as well and pick up a forward who is healthy to start the season.

Schremp Gets Another Shot in Edmonton

With a new coaching staff comes a new opportunity for Rob Schremp, as he signed a 1-year, two-way deal on Friday. The 23-year old forward had his troubles breaking through the system that former coach Craig MacTavish setup for him, but now that he's gone, Schremp will get one more chance to impress the Oilers' brass and earn himself a spot on the team.

In three separate attempts, Schremp has played in 7 career NHL games, registering only 3 assists with the club.

Without a doubt, Schremp has a lot of talent, including some pretty sweet hands. It will be interesting to see if new head coach, Pat Quinn, will loosen the leash on Schremp and not worry about his backcheck quite as much and let him play in the offensive end. Schremp has 171 points in 216 games in the AHL, so he should be able to translate some of that talent into the big leagues. If he can, he would be a pretty good sleeper pick for the year.

Ducks Sign Eminger

Playing a little catch-up this morning. The Ducks added some blueline help on Friday, by signing 25-year old defender, Steve Eminger, to a 2-year deal. The deal is reportedly worth $1.125 million against the cap for each season, making it a grand total of $2.25 million over the two seasons.

In 2009, Eminger split time between Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Florida, playing in 71 games, scoring 5 goals and adding 21 assists. He ranked 65th among NHL defensemen in pool scoring, so he should be considered a pool-worthy defenseman.

Eminger is a former first rounder, taken 12th in 2002, but has failed to really live up to those standards as a top-end defenseman in the league. In Anaheim, he'll join a group of blueliners that should lessen the load on him and he may be able to bring his game up a notch or two.

The Ducks have done a pretty good job this off-season managing their cap space, as they now have 22 players on their team roster at a very reasonable hit of approximately $52.6 million, which also includes Eminger's new deal. Of course, the trading away of Chris Pronger did a huge favour for the Ducks in that regard.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Ryan Getzlaf	Scott Niedermayer	Jonas Hiller
Corey Perry	Steve Eminger	J-S Giguere
Bobby Ryan	James Wisniewski
Teemu Selanne	Ryan Whitney
Joffrey Lupul	Nick Boynton
Saku Koivu	Luca Sbisa
Andrew Ebbett
Erik Christensen
Todd Marchant
Evgeni Artyukhin
George Parros
Petteri Nokelainen
Ryan Carter
Mike Brown

It's hard to argue with the Ducks team you see above, especially with some top level forwards in Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and company. The top six defenders have a lot to prove, but they have all the talent to do that and a little bit more. In goal, the Ducks have a pair of capable goalies, so it will be interesting to see if one really outshines the other in training camp. This team has a good shot at contending for the Pacific Division title and should be a good source of some fantasy players as well.

Jackets Extend Brassard

The Blue Jackets took a big step towards ensuring their future seasons have some flair to them, as they extended the contract of Derrick Brassard on Friday, who is entering his final year of his entry-level deal. Brassard signed a 4-year contract extension, reportedly worth $13 million in total. At $13 million, his annual cap hit will be $3.25 million per season, but that won't kick in until the 2010/'11 season.

Brassard has had a hard time fully breaking into the NHL, playing only 17 games in 2008, in an up-and-down role from the minors, and playing only 31 games in 2009, largely due to a major shoulder injury suffered in January. Brassard's 2009 numbers were not bad, despite the injury, scoring 10 goals and 15 assists in his time with the club. He raised a lot of eyebrows and earned a lot of praise during the year, so it will be interesting how he bounces back from the injury.

Like it was mentioned before, this new deal will not affect the cap number for this season. Brassard's entry-level deal has some minimal bonuses, so his cap number for this season is still rather low. The Blue Jackets overall are still in great shape, having 22 players ready for their roster at an approximate cap hit of $47.4 million. Of course, looking ahead to the 2010/'11 season, the Blue Jackets currently have 15 players signed on for an approximate cap hit of $40 million, including Brassard's new deal. They remain in good shape through the season.

I'm not 100% sure what to think about Brassard, but he did impress me in his near-half of a season last year. The Jackets are moving towards being a very offensively gifted team, with the likes of Rick Nash, Nikita Filatov, Jakub Voracek, Kristian Huselius and R.J. Umberger all signed on and ready to go. Since there is a shoulder injury to recover from, I'm not going to go all out with a prediction for his season. I'll say he'll be due for a good year, but maybe not a great year.

Boucher Retires

Free agent defenseman, Phillipe Boucher, has decided to call it a career after 16 seasons in the NHL on Thursday. Boucher, 36, split the 2009 season with the Stars and Penguins, winning the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in the Spring.

Boucher played in 41 games in 2009 after battling injuries, including a foot surgery, scoring 3 goals and 6 assists in the campaign. In the playoffs, Boucher had 4 points in 9 games played.

He was a veteran on 748 games in the NHL between Buffalo, Los Angeles, Dallas and Pittsburgh, scoring 94 goals and 206 assists.

Coyotes Sign Pyatt

The Coyotes have been in the middle of some court proceedings on Wednesday, but their club management was not sitting down to watch, as they signed Taylor Pyatt to a 1-year deal. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In 2009, Pyatt compiled 10 goals and 9 assists in 69 games with the Canucks. Pyatt was considered a bit of an underachiever in 2009 and a move to an uncertain team in Phoenix may not help his production too much.

Although the financial terms were not disclosed, we can be certain that the number given to Pyatt will not make too much of a difference to the Coyotes' overall picture. Before Pyatt signed, the Coyotes had 20 players signed onto their roster for an approximate cap hit of $42.4 million.

The Coyotes have done well to make sure they're a bigger team in 2010 and adding a guy like Pyatt has helped their overall team size. He still may not be much of a fantasy player, but he could help the overall picture in Phoenix that extra little bit. Pyatt won't lift the team into the playoffs, but he shouldn't hold them back any. This is a savvy move by the Coyotes management.

Perrin Signs in Russia

A disappointing year came after a career year for Eric Perrin and he was not able to find a new home in the NHL, so he took an offer to play a season in Russia. Perrin signed a 1-year deal with Avangard Omsk in the KHL on Wednesday.

In 2009, Perrin finished with only 23 points in 78 games with the Thrashers.

Luongo Extends

The Canucks announced on Wednesday that they have signed their franchise goaltender, Roberto Luongo, to a new 12-year contract extension, which will see him play in Vancouver through the 2021/'22 season. The deal is reportedly worth $64 million over the duration of the contract, which equates to an annual cap hit of $5.333 million per season.

The deal had been in the works for the better part of the summer and there was the threat of Luongo testing free agency next summer, when he was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent.

In 2009, Luongo was slowed down by a groin injury, which kept him out of the line-up for 24 games, but that didn't keep him from still having a pretty good season in the crease for the Canucks. Luongo finished the season with 33 wins, 9 shutouts and an assist for 85 pool points, ranking him 17th in the league among all players, 6th among all goalies.

Since arriving in Vancouver, Luongo has enjoyed a lot of success in the regular season, which included a 47-win season in his first year with the Canucks.

Now, this signing will not affect the salary cap hit for the coming season, as he'll still be sitting with his current $6.75 million hit, but looking forward, his long-term deal will be much more beneficial to the Canucks cap situation, helping the team build around him and the Sedin twins. An early calculation of the team signed on for next season shows a cap hit of $42.7 million for 13 players, including Luongo, the Sedin twins and Cody Hodgson.

The long-term superstar deals that are front-loaded are becoming much more frequent these days in the NHL. Luongo joins a list of players including Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Zetterberg, Marian Hossa, Rick DiPietro, Mike Richards, Vincent Lecavalier and Johan Franzen, who all have deals that have more than 10 seasons left on it. When the deals are front-loaded, it definitely benefits both the player (who gets the bulk of his money right away) and the team (who gets a lessened cap hit throughout). Teams will certainly get a chance to build around these players with more money underneath the cap ceiling available, which has to also be quite appealing to both parties as well. This should be considered a great signing for the Canucks for the long-term.

Jason Smith Retires

The Ottawa Senators and Jason Smith have called a news conference on Wednesday to announce that the veteran defenseman will hang up his skates this summer. Smith battled a knee injury at the end of last season, causing him to miss the last 18 games of the regular season.

Smith, 35, played in 15 NHL seasons with five clubs, including Edmonton, Philadelphia, Ottawa, New Jersey and Toronto. He had played in 1,008 career games, scoring 41 goals and 128 assists. By no means was he considered a good offensive defenseman, nor one for the fantasy pools either. Smith was a pretty solid defender, who in some cases, could have given you plenty of PIM for those kinds of pools.

In 2009, Smith played in 63 games and scored one goal.

Smith also left the Senators with one year remaining on his deal, which would have been a cap hit of $2.6 million, which will now lessen the load for the Sens going forward. The retirement will now bring their team numbers down to 20 players at an approximate cap hit of $53.4 million.

Sharks Re-Sign Mitchell

On Monday, CapGeek.com listed that the Sharks re-signed one of their key restricted free agents in Torrey Mitchell. Mitchell signed a new 3-year deal, which is reportedly worth $4.1 million in total, a $1.37 million cap hit per season.

In 2009, Mitchell was not able to play in any regular season games, as he was still recovering from a badly broken leg, which he suffered in the pre-season. Mitchell was able to get back into shape with the team for 4 games in the playoffs against the Ducks, where he was unable to register any points. In the 2008 season, Mitchell had 10 goals and 10 assists iin all 82 games for the Sharks.

Also on Monday night, it was confirmed that Brad Staubitz was re-signed by the Sharks to a 1-year deal. Staubitz played in 35 games for San Jose, picking up a goal and 2 assists. Not really pool worthy, but since I'm updating the Sharks, it's good to know.

The Sharks cap troubles do seem to be continuing into the new week/month, despite their salary dump trade on Friday. With the addition of Torrey Mitchell and also adding Thomas Greiss as the back-up to Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks now have 17 players on their line-up sheet for next season at a cap hit of $53.5 million. It is no wonder that the Sharks remain in the rumour mill, as they have some salary still to move before they can insert players into that line-up for the beginning of October.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Joe Thornton	Dan Boyle	Evgeni Nabokov
Patrick Marleau	Rob Blake	Thomas Greiss
Devin Setoguchi	Marc-Eduoard Vlasic
Joe Pavelski	Doug Murray
Milan Michalek	Kent Huskins
Ryane Clowe
Jonathan Cheechoo
Scott Nichol
Jody Shelley
Torrey Mitchell

It's still really hard to gauge where the Sharks are going to go this season, especially with the rumour mill turning at the frantic pace that it has been lately. With players rumoured to be on the way out and the way in, it won't be until the middle of training camp before we can actually sit down and decide how the team should fare in 2010. If the team was to go in with the partial roster we have now and a few of their young players to fill in some gaps, you could argue that their current scoring depth should outweigh some of the defensive lapses they'll likely have with a young blueliner not fit for the job. It's hard to say though, but it will be interesting to see how September will play out for San Jose.