Hockey Free Agency Heating Up
 

A LOT of movement today with the free agent market opening at noon. Some real disappointments for my team. Long time Ottawa Senator Daniel Alfredsson signing with Detroit after 17 seasons in Ottawa and acting as captain for most of those years, was the longest serving captain in the NHL but no more. He's gone to Detroit, no doubt to try and win a cup. (had Detroit lost in round 1 like they should have to Anaheim, Alfie would be a Bruin I think... or stayed in Ottawa).

Why even bother have a lock out? Seriously? When teams sign players to 7 and 8 year deals anyway. Look at Pittsburg and Letang signing, 8 years, 7+ million a year. Guaranteed in 3-4 they will REGRET that signing. Just look at the compliance buyouts this year, have you not learned anything? David Clarkson signs for 7 years in Toronto? Seriously, hahahaha... good luck with that after 2-3 years. The price is ok at 5 million a year but 7 years for a 30 year old is a LOT.

Some good deals too out there. Ray Emery at 1.7 million is great. Nabokov resigning for the Islanders. McArthur in Ottawa, not bad at 3 million.

Greenie, at least Buffalo is making a big splash |nahnah|

My Sabres SUCK! Not one move thus far today :(

But I do have to say that Alfredsson leaving Ottawa is a HUGE surprise! It's comparable to if Perreault left Buffalo in 85 or so - and I know no one around here could have even fathomed that!

...and you enjoy MacArthur. Remember, he was a Sabres for a couple years til we dumped him on Toronto :D

Almost forgot: Sabres fired Lindy Ruff mid season last year. He get hired by Dallas, they make a couple trades, sign a couple of guys, and now they look like a f'ing powerhouse!

Impressive! The swedish colony in DET is growing. I'm tempted to bet on them on visitors ice rinks...

WOW!

Iginla to Boston, Khabibulin back to Chicago, Cooke to Minnesota, Setoguchi (traded) to Winnipeg! Those are the shockers I woke up to.

And what did my beloved Sabres do? Here's the list:
















|couch|

Khabibulin? I remember him as a 2nd GK in some team in NHL96 (SEGA) |thumb

Khabibulin? I remember him as a 2nd GK in some team in NHL96 (SEGA) |greenguy| He surely wants to be ready to the Olympic games.

Yea some HUGE things happened. Iginla to Boston? WTF... how uncomfortable will that be when he's in the dressing room for the first time with Chara and the boys? LOL

I agree Greenie, Dallas with Ruff as coach will be tough to play next year!

Alfredsson choosing to go to Detroit BLOWS MY MIND! In reality it doesn't make much sense. Detroit isn't exactly a powerhouse. Had he gone to Boston, ok I could see that but Detroit? They finished 7th in the west last year, same as Ottawa, and went no farther in the playoffs than Ottawa. And quite frankly, with the moves Ottawa made I think we're a better team than Detroit!

Ottawa/Detroit comparison:
-First Line:
Ottawa: Jason Spezza, Bobby Ryan, Milan Michalek - Advantage Ottawa
Detroit: Pavel Datsuk, Zetterberg, Johan Franson
-Second Line:
Ottawa: Kyle Turris, Cory Conacher, Clarke MacArthur
Detroit: Stephen Weiss, Dan Cleary, Alfredsson - Advantage Detroit
-Third and Fourth Lines are pretty close

Defence - Advantage Ottawa
Ottawa: Erik Karlson, Chris Phillips, Mark Method, Jared Cowen, Joe Corvo, Patrick Weirkoch, Eric Gryba
Detroit: Niklas Kromwell, Johnathan Ericcson, Jakob Kindl, Brendan Smith, Kyle Quincey, Ian White

Goalies - Advantage Ottawa (2nd est GAA in the league behind Chicago last year)
Ottawa: Craig Anderson, backup Robin Lehner
Detroit: Jimmy Howard, backup Jonus Gustavsson

Ramster: Remember, Chicago beat Detroit in OT of Game 7. They are VERY closely matched with Chicago.

Disagree... no one is very closely matched with Chicago! Well maybe now after their loss of players since their cup win LOL

Playoffs wins and loses can be deceiving. Boston beat Pitt in 4 straight, does that mean they are that much better? No. The Islanders beating Pittsburg in the 1993 playoffs in 7... were they better than Mario, Jagr and that crew? Not even close, but they did win the series.