Devils Re-Sign Palmieri

New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri was part of a fairly large group that filed for arbitration, as per their rights as restricted free agents, but the player and team got the job done, avoiding that nasty process and signing a 5-year contract, reportedly worth $23.25 million.  His cap hit over the duration of the deal will work out to be $4.65 million, which is a very reasonable number for his services.

In the 2016 season, the 25-year old winger was quite productive on a fairly poor team, scoring 30 goals and 57 points in all 82 games, which had him ranked 74th overall in pool scoring and with the changes that have been occurring in the swamp, his hockey pool stock should be on the rise.

The Devils have certainly been making some strides on trying to be more competitive in the 2017 season and that really begins with the acquisition of Taylor Hall in the early part of this off-season.  Adding a former 1st overall pick to this lineup gives the Devils a lot more scoring depth and another potential player for a guy like Palmieri to possibly play with in the coming season.  Adding more pieces like Vernon Fiddler and Beau Bennett up front and Ben Lovejoy on the blueline is really rounding out this roster and they are building some real potential for the 2017 season.

All of these additions and their salary cap dumps they have on the books have the Devils in a pretty safe spot between the ceiling and the floor, as the 25 coloured names below are coming in at roughly $61.9 million, leaving them $11.1 million worth of space below the ceiling.

Forwards	Cap	Defense	Cap	Goalies	Cap
Taylor Hall	6.000	John Moore	1.667	Cory Schneider	6.000
Travis Zajac	5.750	Damon Severson	0.606	Keith Kinkaid	0.725
Michael Cammalleri	5.000
Kyle Palmieri	4.650
Adam Henrique	4.000
Devante Smith-Pelly	1.300	Andy Greene	5.000
Vernon Fiddler	1.250	Ben Lovejoy	2.667
Jacob Josefson	1.100	Jon Merrill	1.138
Sergey Kalinin	0.800
Beau Bennett	0.725
Joseph Blandisi	0.650
Pavel Zacha	0.894	Steven Santini	0.925
Blake Coleman	0.680	Seth Helgeson	0.588
Blake Pietila	0.663
Ryane Clowe	4.850
Marc Savard	4.021
Miles Wood	0.925	Yohann Auvitu	0.793	Ken Appleby	0.635
Nick Lappin	0.843	Joshua Jacobs	0.726	Scott Wedgewood	0.588
John Quenneville	0.812	Vojtech Mozik	0.680	Mackenzie Blackwood	0.678
Luke Gazdic	0.700	Andrew MacWilliam	0.575
Ryan Kujawinski	0.693	Karl Stollery	0.575
Brandon Baddock	0.673
Ben Thomson	0.627
Ben Johnson	0.617
Carter Camper	0.575

Pool worthy, non-pool roster players, assumed roster fill-ins,  injured/retired cap hits, in the system

Morning Fringe Signings (Jul 6)

The Colorado Avalanche re-signed goaltender Calvin Pickard to a 2-year, $2 million deal on Tuesday and he should have first crack at the full-time back-up job behind Semyon Varlamov in the 2017 season.

Last season, the 24-year old keeper made 20 appearances for the Avalanche, registering 7 wins and 17 points, just falling outside of the pool worthy window.  This season, he should be able to make those extra appearances and give himself a better chance of being in the conversation or on a pool team in October.

The back-up goalie job is far from locked up in Minnesota this Summer, as it could be a good battle between Alex Stalock and the newly re-signed Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper signed a new deal on Tuesday, getting a 1-year deal, worth $1.55 million.

Kuemper may have the leg up on the competition, being part of the organization previously and his numbers were marginally better, having 6 wins and 16 points in 21 appearances for the Wild last year. The Wild will do well to have a good competition for the job, which would hopefully propel one of them into pool worthy status.

Top Prospect Signing (Jul 3)

I don't think there is much doubt that we'll see Patrik Laine in a Winnipeg Jets uniform at the start of the 2017 season and bot the player and team got some of that important paperwork done on Sunday, signing the entry-level deal that would see him qualify for suiting up next season.

Laine will have most of the rookie bonuses available to him after his $925,000 salary, but it will be just the salary that counts against the cap to start, as all bonuses will be worried about after the regular season is over.

The Jets have some space in their projected lineup for the talented Finn and it would take something drastic to change their minds, one would assume.  It will be a question about how far you think he can go, when it comes to scoring in the NHL.

Contract Extensions (Jul 3)

The Florida Panthers are not taking any days off, as Sunday afternoon's news was that they signed forward Reilly Smith to a 5-year contract extension, starting in the 2018 season, worth a cool $25 million.

Smith's hockey pool stock has been on the rise, especially since his move to Florida from Boston, and his 2016 season was pretty exceptional.  In 82 games, he finished with 25 goals and 50 points, ranking 113th overall in pool scoring, 83rd among all forwards.

With this contract extension, the Panthers have identified Smith as one of their core players moving forward, with Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle and the goaltending tandem of Roberto Luongo & James Reimer.

Panthers Lock Down Trocheck

On Saturday afternoon, the Florida Panthers announced that they have agreed to terms with restricted free agent forward Vincent Trocheck, extending his stay with the club for at least another six seasons with his new deal.  The deal will be worth $28.5 million in total, which will work out to be a $4.75 million cap hit per season.

It was an excellent 2016 season for the 22-year old American, scoring 25 goals and 53 points in 76 games, establishing himself as one of the go-to guys for the team, when it comes to offense.  He finished in the top 100 in overall scoring (91st) and was 64th among all forwards as well.

The Panthers have not been shy in this off-season making moves, which should be good for guys like Trocheck, as some improvements to the team's blueline will help get the puck up to the forwards a bit quicker and the transition offense should come more naturally to these guys.  I get the feeling that there is still another level that some of these Panthers players will be able to reach, assuming all goes well in the year.  A very exciting time, indeed.

As for their spending, they have been quite responsible for the most part and there will likely be some excess cap space when the season gets started.  I have 21 players penciled in for their roster, which currently includes three goalies, coming in at $67.6 million, leaving about $5.4 million to play with.

Forwards	Cap	Defense	Cap	Goalies	Cap
Aleksander Barkov	5.900	Keith Yandle	6.350	Roberto Luongo	5.333
Vincent Trocheck	4.750	Jason Demers	4.500	James Reimer	3.400
Nick Bjugstad	4.100	Alex Petrovic	1.050
Jaromir Jagr	4.000	Aaron Ekblad	0.925
Jussi Jokinen	4.000
Reilly Smith	3.425
Jonathan Huberdeau	3.250
Dave Bolland	5.500	Jakub Kindl	2.400	Reto Berra	1.450
Derek MacKenzie	1.300	Mark Pysyk	1.125
Jonathan Marchessault	0.750	Michael Matheson	0.925
Colton Sceviour	0.950
Jayce Hawryluk	0.925	Ian McCoshen	0.925	Sam Brittain	0.750
Lawson Crouse	0.894	Michael Downing	0.820	Samuel Montembeault	0.726
Jared McCann	0.894	Linus Hultstrom	0.793	Colin Stevens	0.710
Kyle Rau	0.859	Mackenzie Weegar	0.680	Mike McKenna	0.575
Dryden Hunt	0.809	Josh Brown	0.658
Shawn Thornton	0.750	Steven Kampfer	0.613
Juho Lammikko	0.718	Brent Regner	0.600
Greg McKegg	0.700
Steven Hodges	0.685
Shane Harper	0.650
Graham Black	0.650
Connor Brickley	0.650
Chase Balisy	0.635
Paul Thompson	0.575

Pool worthy, non-pool roster players, injured/retired cap hits, in the system

Fringe Signings (Jul 3)

The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to a 1-year deal on Saturday, as the restricted free agent keeper just came out of his entry-level deal on Friday.  The cap hit had yet to be confirmed by CapFriendly, as of Sunday morning, but it isn't expected to break the bank.

The Latvian keeper would step into the back-up role, if and when the Lightning were to move Ben Bishop, a move that may or may not happen at some point this season.  The club has said that they would certainly be comfortable with Gudlevskis as their everyday back-up, but they would have to get something decent in return for their current number one goalie.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have defenseman Roman Polak returning to them this Summer, as he was dealt away to the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline for a couple of picks, the 30-year old Czech comes back as an unrestricted free agent.  Polak signed a 1-year deal on Saturday afternoon, salary and cap hit were not disclosed right away.

Between the two teams, he finished with 1 goal and 16 points in 79 games, ranking 114th among all defensemen.  He doesn't scream at you as a pool worthy defender, nor does he really play like one, but he is durable and plays, so that usually works in his favour.

Sabres Acquire & Sign NIlsson

On Saturday, the Buffalo Sabres acquired the restricted free agent rights for goaltender Anders Nilsson from the St. Louis Blues, sending a 5th round pick in next year's draft for his rights.  Shortly thereafter, Nilsson and the Sabres agreed upon a 1-year, $1 million deal and he now becomes the front-runner for the back-up job in 2017.

The most remarkable note about this move was that Nilsson finished the 2016 season with more hockey pool points than the other two goalies that Buffalo has on their roster, starter Robin Lehner and prospect Linus Ullmark.  That means the depth chart, as it is produced below, will have Nilsson as the guy on top of the depth chart, for now, up until the point projection posts come around.

Between Edmonton and St. Louis, the 26-year old Swede finished with 10 wins and 21 points in 29 appearances, good enough for 50th overall in the goalie rankings.  Potentially, this job in Buffalo could mean that many appearances at the very least and with the way the Sabres have been putting their lineup together, he could have a very solid 2017 season.

As for the team's cap situation, after two days of free agency, the Sabres have made some additions, but they haven't broken the bank just yet.  The 17 players in colour below are coming in at $58.8 million, leaving about $14.2 million in space before the ceiling.

Forwards	Cap	Defense	Cap	Goalies	Cap
Ryan O'Reilly	7.500	Zach Bogosian	5.143	Anders Nilsson	1.000
Kyle Okposo	6.000	Dmitry Kulikov	4.333
Evander Kane	5.250	Cody Franson	3.325
Brian Gionta	4.250
Jack Eichel	0.925
Sam Reinhart	0.894
Matt Moulson	5.000	Josh Gorges	3.900	Robin Lehner	2.225
Tyler Ennis	4.600	Jake McCabe	1.600	Linus Ullmark	0.776
Cody McCormick	1.500
Johan Larsson	0.950	Brendan Guhle	0.703
Hudson Fasching	0.925	Brycen Martin	0.685
Evan Rodrigues	0.843	Justin Falk	0.650
Nicolas Deslauriers	0.775	Brady Austin	0.627
Eric Cornel	0.718	Taylor Fedun	0.600
Nicholas Baptiste	0.710
Vaclav Karabacek	0.695
William Carrier	0.680
Justin Bailey	0.662
Jean Dupuy	0.653
Justin Kea	0.647
Cole Schneider	0.600

Pool worthy, non-pool roster players, injured/retired cap hits, in the system

Parenteau Lands in Brooklyn

The New York Islanders continued to address their need for some more of a veteran presence, signing forward P-A Parenteau to a new 1-year, $1.25 million contract on Saturday afternoon.

Parenteau joins newcomers Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera on a team that has lots of younger talent in their ranks, but may have lacked a little direction, especially when it came down to playoff time.

The 33-year old Parenteau was a productive member of the Maple Leafs last season, finishing the year with 20 goals and 41 points in 77 games, but he wasn't going to lift that team out of the last place hole that they were aiming for.

There are a few new faces on this Islanders team, which means that there will be some shuffling around, when it comes to training camp and line combinations, but at first glance, it would appear that the Islanders are prepared to move forward and a guy like Parenteau should be able to contribute his 20 goals again, no problem.

Forwards	Cap	Defense	Cap	Goalies	Cap
John Tavares	5.500	Johnny Boychuk	6.000	Jaroslav Halak	4.500
Andrew Ladd	5.500	Nick Leddy	5.500	Thomas Greiss	1.500
Anders Lee	3.750	Travis Hamonic	3.857
Casey Cizikas	3.350	Thomas Hickey	2.200
Josh Bailey	3.300
Brock Nelson	2.500
Jason Chimera	2.250
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau	1.250
Mikhail Grabovski	5.000	Calvin de Haan	1.967
Nikolay Kulemin	4.188	Adam Pelech	0.854
Cal Clutterbuck	2.750
Shane Prince	0.800
Matthew Barzal	0.894	Kyle Burroughs	0.925	Eamon McAdam	0.925
Anthony Beauvillier	0.894	Devon Toews	0.925	Stephon Williams	0.925
Michael Dal Colle	0.863	Ryan Pulock	0.863
Joshua Ho-Sang	0.863	Matthew Finn	0.858
Bracken Kearns	0.800	Parker Wotherspoon	0.736
Ben Holmstrom	0.800	Loic Leduc	0.615
Carter Verhaeghe	0.778	Jesse Graham	0.605
Kyle Schempp	0.705
Ross Johnston	0.667

Pool worthy, non-pool roster players, injured/retired cap hits, in the system

Top Prospect Signing (Jul 2)

The Montreal Canadiens were the second team to put a pen to paper with their top 2016 draft pick, the 9th overall pick, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.  Sergachev will have a $925,000 cap hit for the coming season, assuming he plays in the NHL, and will have a good deal of bonuses as well.

Unless the depth is really tested at training camp, it doesn't seem very likely that the 18-year old will make the jump up to the NHL, but he will certainly get a long look.  Given his age, the entry-level slide rule will certainly come into play here.

Fringe Signings (Jul 2)

Continuing on the theme of outstanding signings from Friday, the New Jersey Devils added some more help on their blueline, signing Ben Lovejoy to a 3-year deal, worth $8 million.

The 32-year old had a tough year in Pittsburgh, only playing in 66 games, scoring 4 goals and picking up 10 points, which was well outside the pool worthy numbers.

If the Devils don't round out their blueline with more NHL-calibre talent, Lovejoy could find himself playing a few more minutes in New Jersey and that could translate into a few more points.

The Carolina Hurricanes aren't quite finished with their rebuilding process, it would seem. The push to make it up to the salary cap floor continued on Friday afternoon, signing forward Viktor Stalberg to a 1-year, $1.5 million deal.

Stalberg was a bit player on the Rangers, playing in 75 games and scoring 9 goals and 20 points in the year.  He was 253rd in forwards scoring, but with the questionable depth of the Hurricanes in the coming season, his minutes could improve, which could make him into a sleeper pick or a dark horse in the Waiver Draft.

The goaltending situation in Pittsburgh didn't work out in Jeff Zatkoff's favour, so it was time to find somewhere new to hang his hat and it was just his luck that the Los Angeles Kings were in need of a new back-up for the coming season.

Zatkoff signed a 2-year deal, which will carry a $900,000 cap hit for each season and he will get the pleasure of playing behind Jonathan Quick, assuming he gets the best of Peter Budaj for the job.

Last season, the 29-year old appeared in 14 games for the Penguins, winning 4 times and picking up 8 points.

An expensive experiment in Montreal, as the Canadiens have agreed to give Alexander Radulov yet another crack at the NHL and at some very attractive terms. The Russian enigma got a 1-year deal, reportedly worth $5.75 million, but failed to include any no-trade clauses, which were thought to be some stipulations of coming back.

Radulov last appeared in the NHL in the 2012 season with Nashville and had more than his fair share of issues, before going back home to play in the KHL again.  His scoring record over in Russia has been exceptional, but his personality and attitude are keeping him down as only a fringe player, at best.

Another game of wait and see here.

It was a pretty poor year for Dan Hamhuis in Vancouver, falling out of the pool worthy conversation, but the Dallas Stars are paying him like he should be able to return to some kind of form. On Friday, the two sides came together for a 2-year pact, reportedly worth $7.5 million in total.

The 33-year old defender had 3 goals and 13 points in 58 games and was a target for the Stars at last season's trade deadline, but they couldn't pull off the deal.  The agreement is made and Hamhuis will now skate for Dallas.

The speedy Michael Grabner will get a chance to fly again in the New York area, as the Rangers have signed him to a 2-year deal, worth $3.2 million.  It wasn't too long ago that the Dane was playing for the crosstown rivals on the island, but this time, he takes a bit of a pay cut and will be looked upon to provide some flashy depth.

In Toronto last season, the 28-year old played in 80 games, scoring 9 goals and 18 points.

Let's add defenseman Kevin Connauton to this list, as he re-signed with the Arizona Coyotes, receiving a 2-year, $2 million deal from the club.

The 26-year old has seen some good streaks of scoring in his limited NHL career, but hasn't quite put a lot of consistency together quite yet.  The Coyotes got 5 goals and 17 points out of him last season, but they have also added a big minute guy in Alex Goligoski, so we're yet to see how the minutes will be spread around there.

Contract Extensions (Jul 2)

There was so much going on in the beginning hours of Saturday, it was hard to keep up. So we'll continue on here.

The St. Louis Blues announced that they had extended their number one goalie, Jake Allen, signing him to a new 4-year extension, which will start in the 2018 season, carrying a cap hit of $4.35 million over those four seasons.

With Brian Elliott shipped off to Calgary this off-season, the Blues are fully Allen's team and now he will be taken care of as such.

There is a full expectation that his numbers will certainly improve, given more responsibility in the net this coming season.

There's no harm in taking names off the board for next year's free agency period, right? The Tampa Bay Lightning don't think so, as they removed defenseman Victor Hedman from any sort of conversation next Summer.

The 2nd overall pick in the 2009 is now locked up for the CBA maximum of eight more seasons, starting in the the 2018 season and his cap hit will be of the franchise player variety, $7.875 million per year.

Last season, Hedman was 15th among all blueliners with 10 goals and 47 points in 78 games.

But wait! That's not all. The Tampa Bay Lightning also took goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy off the potential restricted free agency market, signing him to a new contract extension as well, 3 years, $10.5 million.

The 21-year old netminder from Russia still has another year left on his entry-level deal, but there has been many suggestions that the Lightning would be very comfortable moving Ben Bishop and his large contract out as soon as this season, giving the reins to Vasilevskiy.  Of course, there is no rush to do that, but when the expansion draft rolls around next Summer, there will be lots of conversation, if both goalies are still there.

Last season, Vasilevskiy picked up 24 points in 24 appearances with the Bolts, making him into a very decent back-up solution, as a worst-case scenario.

Demers Chooses Florida

It doesn't look like the Florida Panthers are ready to slow down on their build to a better playoff team, as they jumped on free agent defenseman Jason Demers on Saturday.  Demers and the Panthers came to a 5-year agreement, reportedly worth $22 million.

The 28-year old defender was one of the higher profile defenders on the open market, but weighed his options carefully and took an extra night to make his decision and the Panthers obviously gave him what he wanted.

In 62 games with the Dallas Stars last season, Demers had 7 goals and 23 points, making him the 69th ranked defender on the scoring list.  He is a pretty good minute eater and plays a decent two-way game, so he should be able to fit right in and compliment some of the more offensive talent that he could possibly partner up with.

Given his scoring rate, Demers should be able to eclipse his point total from the 2016, assuming he can stay healthy and play more games.  I would give him a little boost, trying to find a bargain projection and get him a little bit later in the draft, if possible.

Kings Sign Purcell

One of the free agents that slipped through the cracks on me was Teddy Purcell, who completed a 3-year contract extension that he signed with the Lightning in 2013, but finished with the Panthers. He went to unrestricted free agency on Friday and was gobbled up by the Los Angeles Kings, signing him to a 1-year, $1.6 million deal, adding depth to their forward lines.

The 30-year old forward didn't have a bad year between Edmonton and Florida, but quietly went about his business and didn't get a lot of fan fare in the process.  In 76 games, he scored 14 goals and 43 points, good enough to be 118th among all forwards, putting him in the middle of the pack for scoring.

Purcell has certainly made the rounds in the NHL, but they have come full circle, back to Los Angeles, where he first signed as an undrafted free agent in 2007.

I wouldn't expect a huge jump in production, moving to Los Angeles, as they haven't quite been known for their regular season or playoff offense, but he should be able to contribute at a worthy pace, regardless.  Initially, I am thinking the 35-point range for the veteran forward.

Boedker Jumps in the Tank

The San Jose Sharks are not messing about in this off-season, as their taste of playoff success (or falling just short of the ultimate success) has them hungry for what they missed out on this past Spring.

The Sharks added even more offense to the lineup by signing free agent forward Mikkel Boedker to a new 4-year, $16 million deal on Friday.

The 26-year old hit unrestricted free agency after he split the 2016 season between Arizona and Colorado, playing in 80 games, scoring 17 goals and 51 points in the process.  He was the 80th ranked forward last season, which gives the Sharks even more fire power than what they had that took them to the Cup Finals in June.

If the lineup pans out for Boedker, he could see an increase in scoring production, which would make him into a very attractive pick-up at the draft in September/October.  The Sharks are going to be a popular team again, no doubt, and this kid will be right in the thick of things.

Colborne Joins the Avalanche

The Calgary Flames didn't qualify restricted free agent Joe Colborne and it turned out to be to the advantage of the Colorado Avalanche, who signed the lanky pivot to a 2-year, $5 million deal on Friday.

The Avalanche get a very big bodied centre, who has a tendency to play a weaker game, given his size, but still has some offensive upside left, but time is running out on him to realize potential at age 26.

Last season with the Flames, Colborne scored 19 goals and 44 points in 73 games, jumping up the ranks to 109th among all forwards, which will have him comfortably among the pool worthy for next season's draft.

Colorado is a team that is in flux and if you were to believe all of the rumours that are floating around out there, the team still has plenty of moves left to make.  One would have thought that they were close to becoming a playoff regular team with a great core of young players, but that notion has all but fizzled out and the winds of change are blowing for this side.  Colborne will certainly be looking to be part of the solution here.

Red Wings Add More with Vanek

The Detroit Red Wings are making a good go of free agency, as they used a little bit more of that extra cap space they acquired at the draft by signing forward Thomas Vanek to a 1-year, $2.6 million deal.

Vanek was bought out of his last deal in Minnesota, one that carried a cap hit of $6.5 million, where he wasn't able to produce the sort of numbers that would justify that price tag.  In 2016, he finished with 18 goals and 41 points in 74 games, not quite what the Wild were expecting out of him.

His new price tag could end up being quite the bargain for Detroit, since they are putting together an interesting lineup after the departure of Pavel Datsyuk to Russia.  Vanek's addition gives them seven pool worthy forwards from last season and could feature in any one of many combinations that would see some talented players line up with each other.

Now the focus for the Red Wings will be to get Petr Mrazek signed on and add some depth to their blueline, but it's still early in the Summer, so there shouldn't be a huge rush to do it.

Campbell Returns to Chicago

When you're an organization that has a certain pedigree for winning, you can certainly accomplish a lot, convincing players to take a little bit less for a great chance at winning.  The Chicago Blackhawks did more than that, bringing a former member of one of their Stanley Cup teams back, signing Brian Campbell to a 1-year, $1.5 million deal on Friday.

The 37-year old defender just finished a very high price tagged deal, which had him with a $7.1 million cap hit in Florida, to bring him down below $2 million for another shot at a championship.  A very shrewd move by both player and team with this deal.

Last season, Campbell was able to play in all 82 games for the Panthers, scoring 6 goals and 31 points, which certainly isn't big money numbers, but he was still a big part of the rise in the standings for those Panthers.

It will be a lesser role for Campbell in Chicago, since he's now going to be lining up as the fourth or fifth guy in the depth chart, but it is the right team to be on to do that.  Some power play time and his ability to move the puck should at least keep him at the 30-point mark for next season, so I would expect him to be a key pick in the draft next season.

Carolina Adds Stempniak

I am not sure I would have had Carolina pegged as a team that would have gone out to get a top 10 pool worthy unrestricted free agent, but they were able to snag Lee Stempniak from the open market, likely because they had a bit more cap space to play with and a whole bunch of roster spots that could translate into minutes.

Stempniak, 33, signed a 2-year, $5 million deal with the lowly Hurricanes on Friday, bringing his grit and talent to a team that needed to spend more money, just to make the cap floor.

Carolina is curiously putting together quite the blue collar team, which should have a bit of offensive flair for flavouring mixed in.  Jordan Staal, Jay McClement and Bryan Bickell will really be your lunch pail guys on this team, while the Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm and Teuvo Teravainen type players will try and give this team a lift.  Let's not forget, the Hurricanes have put together a very impressive blueline so far as well, so they could still end up being a bit of an ugly duckling in the Atlantic Division next season.

Stempniak scored 19 goals and 51 points last season, playing in all 82 games for the Devils and I would say that this Carolina team may be put together a little bit better than New Jersey of last season, so his numbers could improve, if not just stay the same.  I don't see any decrease here for next season.

Jets Do the Matthias, a Simple Addition

Adding another big body must have been paramount for the Winnipeg Jets, who are trying to bully their way into a few more wins, by the look of things.  The signing of 6'4" Shawn Matthias is a good indication of that, as they gave him a 2-year deal worth $4.25 million in the end.

Matthias may carry a bit of a big frame, but the knock on his game is that he doesn't really use it to his advantage all of the time.  There is little doubt that he will have to use it in practice, if he is going up against guys like Dustin Byfuglien or Tyler Myers, which for the Jets' sake, will translate into something better in game action during the next two years.

Last season was productive, splitting time between Toronto and Colorado, finishing the year with 12 goals and 28 points in 71 games, making him into a bottom-level pool player in the rankings.  At age 28, he may have hit his ceiling for overall production, but the Jets will try their best to squeeze out every last drop they can, but I don't think I would be too optimistic about how much they're going to get.

Montoya Makes for Busy Montreal Crease

It did seem a little odd that when Al Montoya left Florida for unrestricted free agency, that he would try and look for a new home that would give him a greater chance at being a number one goalie.  Instead, he signed with the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, who gave him a 1-year, $950,000 deal, to try and fill into the 2A or 2B spot, behind Carey Price.

Montoya is certainly no stranger to playing behind some of the best goaltending in the league, as he spent his time in Florida behind Roberto Luongo, but his numbers were starting to suggest he could use more responsibility.  In 25 games, he was able to put together 12 wins and 24 points, which was good enough for 44th among all goalie in pool scoring.

With the Canadiens, Montoya will not only be behind Price, but he will go up against Mike Condon, who had a very good year in Price's absence and the Habs are also quite high on some more of their prospects that are in the pipe.  On the plus side, it is only a 1-year deal, so he could very well become a trade-able asset at any point in the year and could help another team, while helping the Habs later on.

Unless Montoya does get moved in the 2017 season, I don't think I would be in too much of a hurry to pick him up for the upcoming hockey pool.