The free-agent frenzy got off to a fast start on Wednesday, July 1, but there was also some movement the day before. The Montreal Canadiens made a big trade with the New York Rangers that sent center Scott Gomez to the Habs and winger Christopher Higgins to the Blueshirts. A few other players were involved in the deal, most notably prospect Ryan McDonagh, who also ended up in New York. Gomez is a proven setup man; He has had 40-plus assists in all but one of his seasons, and has posted 50-plus four times. Higgins has reached the 20-goal plateau in three of his four seasons, and probably would have hit 20 last season if he hadn’t missed 25 games with groin and hand injuries. In other news, on Tuesday, the Calgary Flames signed defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to a five-year deal after trading him with the Florida Panthers on draft day, giving them one of the best defensive corps in the league.
Wednesday came, and the Montreal Canadiens were even busier. They signed Brian Gionta who played well with Scott Gomez in New Jersey, winning a Stanley Cup together in 2002/03. It will be interesting, to say the least, to see what they can do together in Montreal. The Habs also signed another high-scoring forward, Mike Cammalleri, and signed him to a five-year deal worth $30 million. But they didn’t stop there; GM Bob Gainey also picked defensemen Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill. The Canadians have offered qualified return offers to Tomas Plekanec, Matt D’Agostini, Kyle Chipchura and Guillaume Latendresse, but it looks like Alexei Kovalev, Alex Tanguay, Saku Koivu and Matthieu Schneider are about to leave.
The Chicago Blackhawks also made big news by signing prolific goal scorer Marian Hossa to a huge 12-year deal. Some have raised concerns that the Hawks will be in trouble next year when they have to sign Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, especially with the salary cap about to drop, but it looks like Chicago is in it to try and win the Stanley Cup. . this season, regardless of the obstacles. With the roster they have now, they seem to be in a position to do just that. If the Blackhawks want to keep Hossa, Kane and Toews for 2010/11, I guess the player who will have to go is defenseman Brain Campbell and his $7 million salary… The Hawks also took forwards Tomas Kopecky and John Madden , each of which is capable of scoring 20 goals.
The Atlanta Thrashers signed forward Nik Antropov to a four-year deal and also picked up another ex-Leaf, Pavel Kubina, in a trade that sent Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart to Toronto. Antropov should fit in well with star winger Ilya Kovalchuk. With Brian Little, Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosian and this year’s pick Evander Kane, Atlanta also has plenty of up-and-coming youngsters to work with. However, whether or not it will be enough to turn around last year’s disappointing season remains to be seen.
The New York Rangers signed flashy winger Marian Gaborik to a five-year deal, hoping he stays healthier than he was in Minnesota. For their part, the Wild signed another injury-prone player in Martin Havlat, signing a six-year deal. Havlat played in 81 games last season with the Blackhawks, his longest season yet, hopefully he stays healthy too!
The Washington Capitals signed Mike Knuble, a perennial 20-goal scorer over the past seven years who also hit 30 twice. Knuble is tough on the corners and should be a great playmaker for two-time league MVP Alexander Ovechkin.
The Tampa Bay Lightning picked up defenseman Mattias Ohlund, the Phoenix Coyotes got defenseman Adrian Aucoin and the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Mike Komisarek from rival Montreal Canadiens.
The Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche tried to fix their goalkeeping problems and went with Nikolai Khabibulin and Craig Anderson, respectively.
This afternoon, the Vancouver Canucks signed Mikael Samuelsson from the Red Wings. It’s also worth noting that the Sedins twins will stay in Vancouver, having signed five-year contracts worth $30.5 million each.
Other notable players who stayed with the same teams included Tim Thomas (Boston), Doug Weight (Islanders), Johan Franzen (Detroit), Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis), Bill Guerin (Pittsburgh), Rob Blake (San Jose), David Booth (Florida), Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim), Erik Cole (Carolina), and Mikhail Grabovski (Toronto).
-Josh Lind