Monthly Archives: June 2011

Why Tomas Vokoun is likely to become an Avs goalie

If I were walking into a Vegas sports book right now and they had a list of NHL free agents and their likelihood to sign with certain teams, I would probably empty out whatever meager amount was in my wallet and put most or all of it on “Tomas Vokoun to the Avalanche.”

Agent: Jagr decision to come today

The agent for Jaromir Jagr said his client is in New York and said today he expects a decision about Jagr’s NHL future by the end of today.

Petr Svoboda said he was scheduled to speak with Penguins general manager Ray Shero shortly. This was around 9:20 a.m.

“We are going to exchange some things,” Svoboda said, adding that he would also speak with Detroit and Montreal about Jagr.

Montreal Canadiens: Pierre Gauthier will have money to spend on free agents

Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier has some extra cash to spend when the National Hockey League’s free agency market opens at noon Friday.

The Canadiens’ situation became clearer Wednesday when (a) Roman Hamrlik rejected the Canadiens’ offer of a one-year contract; (b) Montreal traded the rights for impending unrestricted free agent James Wisniewski to Columbus for a draft pick; and (c) Yannick Weber was signed to a two-year deal worth $1.7 million.

Calling Flames back-end blitz 1

Top-four blueliner tops wish list heading into UFA free-for-all

Jay Feaster has referred to the Calgary Flames’ salary cap status as “jail.”

Some would see the team’s situation more as the looney bin. After all, the Flames were in a straight jacket last season at crunch time, and it proved costly when they couldn’t add any form of an impact player to make a playoff push.

Islanders can't reach a deal for Ehrhoff

General manager Garth Snow took a risk in hopes of improving the Islanders before the start of free agency, but it did not work out.

Less than 24 hours after acquiring the rights to Christian Ehrhoff , talks between the Islanders and the 28-year-old defenseman broke down and Snow shipped those rights to the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday for a fourth-round pick, just what he gave the Vancouver Canucks for the shot at Ehrhoff to begin with.

Defenceman that the Canucks may go after on July 1st.

Things start shaking out Friday, however, and there are some useful free-agent defencemen scheduled to come on the market. Is there a fit for the Canucks? Here’s a list of some possibilities:

Bruins seeking assets for Kaberle's negotiating rights

There remains a possibility that Tomas Kaberle could re-sign with the Bruins after July 1. But with the Bruins putting Kaberle’s negotiating rights up for grabs, it’s clear the two sides do not agree on a term and number for a Black-and-Gold extension.

If they succeed in trading Kaberle’s negotiating rights, the Bruins could land a low-level pick. Yesterday, Vancouver acquired the Islanders’ 2012 fourth-rounder for Christian Ehrhoff’s rights.

Garrioch: Which free agents do Sens want?

The Senators likely won’t be big spenders when the free-agent sweepstakes begin July 1.

After being first out of the gate last July 1 by signing defenceman Sergei Gonchar to a three-year, $16.5-million deal, the Senators could take a wait-and-see attitude.

While the Senators have only $43 million committed in salary to 15 players, they’ll be working harder to get to the $48.3-million floor than even coming close to the $64.3-million cap that’s been set for the final year of the CBA.

Canucks look to rebuild bottom six forwards once again

Here are five forwards — assuming they reach July 1 — who might intrigue the Canucks as they look to become more abrasiveness and add more scoring punch to their bottom-six group:

1. Right-winger Joel Ward (Nashville, age 30, cap hit $1.5 million in 2010-11): An outstanding checker and penalty killer, Ward also exhibited his scoring touch during the second playoff round against the Canucks.

Drury's Rangers career ends today

The buyout ending Chris Drury’s career as a Ranger will become official today, The Post has learned.

The 34-year-old who played four seasons on Broadway, the last three of them as team captain, will become an unrestricted free agent after deciding against applying for a medical exception due to a left knee condition.

CANUCKS TRADE EHRHOFF'S NEGOTIATING RIGHTS TO ISLANDERS

The Vancouver Canucks have traded defenceman Christian Ehrhoff’s negotiating rights to the New York Islanders in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Ehrhoff is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on Friday. The Islanders will have exclusive negotiation rights with the German veteran until then.

Flyers look as if they're ready to go after Stamkos

LAST THURSDAY, Jeff Carter was sent packing as a salary-cap casualty.

Best friend and captain Mike Richards went only 30 minutes after him, in a move that also – at least temporarily – cleared valuable cap space.

Yesterday, the Flyers dealt the rights to restricted free-agent center Darroll Powe to Minnesota in exchange for a 2013 third-round pick. Powe, a heart-and-soul-type player whom Paul Holmgren called “one of the most underrated players in the league” in May, wasn’t asking for an exorbitant sum of money.

Will Ehrhoff stay or go?

The Christian Ehrhoff storyline has not changed much, but with the Canucks getting pending unrestricted free agent Kevin Bieksa locked up in a new contract the picture gets all that much clearer.

Bieksa’s five-year deal, which averages $4.6 million, reinforces the notion the Canucks want to use top defenceman Dan Hamhuis and his $4.5-million cap hit as the standard for the team’s blue line.


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