NHL Free Agency - Semi-live blog - Day 2 - 07-02-12
We'll run another live blog today for day 2 of free agency. If the Penguins have any sort of media availability this afternoon, we will not be able to continue posting updates however.
9:18 p.m.: A late signing on Monday night. The Jets have signed former Flames forward Olli Jokinen to a two-year contract worth a total of $9 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $4.5 million. Jokinen, 33, played in 82 games last season and scored 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists).
-EN Says: What a coup for the Jets. Winnipeg has a reputation as being a location free agents don't want to venture to. But the Jets went and signed the best center on the market. The Jets have quite a few centers with Bryan Little, Alexander Burmistov and Nik Antropov but finding a spot for someone like Jokinen is a good problem to have.
Jokinen is prone tone to inconsistent play, but he makes the Jets a better team.
5:56 p.m.: The Sabres have traded forward Derek Roy to the Stars in exchange for forward/antagonist Steve Ott and defenseman Adam Pardy. Roy has one year left on a contract with a salary cap hit of $4 million. In 80 games last season, Roy, 29, scored 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists). Ott has two years left on a contract with a salary cap hit of $2.95 million. In 74 games last season, Ott, 29, scored 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) and recorded 156 penalty minutes. Pardy has one-year left on a contact with a salary cap hit of $2 million. In 36 games last season, he recorded four assists.
-EN Says: The names of Roy and Ott have been floating around in rumors for a few weeks. The Stars needed another No. 2 center after dealing away Mike Ribeiro last weekend. Roy might be past hsi prime, but he can still be a reliable option on the second line. The Sabres get a little tougher with Ott, one of the games best antagonists and a strong checker. Plus, he has a little skill. Pardy appears to be a throw-in.
5:29 p.m. The Canadiens have re-signed restricted free agent goaltender Carey Price to a six-year contract worth $39 million. He will have a salary cap hit for $6.5 million. That salary cap hit is the third-highest in the NHL for a goaltender trailing only the Predators' Pekka Rinne ($7.0 million) and the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist ($6.857 million). Price, 24, appeared in 65 games last season, had a 26-28-11 record, a 2.43 goals against average, .916 save percentage and four shutouts.
-EN Says: Price is the Canadiens' franchise player and he's very talented, but that's a large price tag for a player with little on his resume in terms of postseason success.
4:58 p.m.: In a media gathering outside his agent's office in suburban Toronto, free agent winger Zach Parise has said he has not made a decision yet.
3:56 p.m. A couple of minor league signings involving former Penguins.
The Coyotes have signed former Penguins forward Chris Conner to a one-year two-way contract. Conner, 28, apepared in eight NHL games last season with the Red Wings and scored three points (one goal, two assists).
The Stars re-signed former Penguins forward Toby Petersen (above) to a two-year two-way contract. Petersen, 33, appeared in 39 NHL games last season and scored five points (two goals, three assists).
3:35 p.m.: The Flames have signed former Red Wings forward Jiri Hudler to a four-year contract worth a total of $16 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $4 million. Hudler, 28, appeared in 81 games last season and scored 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists).
EN Says: This just seems like another typical signing for the Flames. Hudler just seems like an ill-fitting spare part to the Flames. He's extremely skilled, but he's also very inconsistent.
1:34 p.m. Things are mov...i....n...g.... s...l...o...w...l...y.... so we'll post some suspension news.
The NHL has reduced the suspension of Coyotes forward Raffi Torres from 25 games to 21 games. Torres was initially suspended after a hit to the head against Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa in Games 3 of a Western Conference quarterfinal semifinal series last postseason.
The hit:
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Torres has already served 13 games of the suspension during Phoenix's postseason. He will have to serve the final eight at the start of the next regular season.
Hossa did not return to the postseason as a result of a concussion.
Torres appealed the length of the suspension in May.
-EN Says: What a weak move by the NHL. Torres has been suspended repeatedly with the 1-2 game popcorn variety of suspensions and obviously didn't learn his lesson.
With negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement ongoing, perhaps the NHL felt a need to give something up a bargaining chip. Either way, it undercuts the authority of NHL discipline czar Brendan Shanahan.
11:03 a.m.: The Devils have re-signed former Penguins goaltender Johan Hedberg to a two-year contract worth $2.8 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $1.4 million. Hedberg, 39, appeared in 27 games last season and had a 17-7-2 record along with a 2.23 goals against average, .918 save percentage and four shutouts.
-EN Says: With Brodeur re-signing earlier today, the Devils bring back a tandem which helped them return to the Stanley Cup Final. "The Moose" had a heavy workload for a backup goaltender took some weight off Brodeur's shoulders in the regular season and allowed Brodeur to look fresh for the postseason for the first time in half a decade. Even if they're a little older (Hedberg is 39, Brodeur is 40), this is one of the best goaltending tandems in the NHL.
10:34 a.m.: The Islanders signed former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forwards Brandon DeFazio and Colin McDonald (above) to one-year two-way contract. In 66 AHL games last season, DeFazio, 24, had 16 points (11 goals, five assists). McDonald, 28, appeared in five NHL games last season and scored no points. In 68 AHL games last season, McDonald scored 49 points (14 goals, 35 assists).
-EN Says: Both players will have better chances to crack an NHL roster with the Islanders.
(Photos: Hedberg-Al Bello/Getty Images; McDonald-Chrisitan Petersen/Getty Images; Torres and Hudler-Gregory Shamus/Getty Images; Petersen-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Parise and Roy-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Price-Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images; Jokinen-Dale MacMillan/Getty Images)