Saturday, July 04, 2009

NHL and Hockey Rumors for July 4, 2009

Happy July 4th to my American readers! I'm going to wrap up some of the trades that have gone down, I haven't had time to include them here.

The Colorado Avalanche have traded forward Ryan Smyth to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenseman Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing and a 5th round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Brochu's take: With Gomez, Kubina and now Smyth, this is the official "Summer of the Salary Dump". Smyth will be a good veteran addition to the young Kings lineup, but earns $6 million per for 3 more years. Quincey is a good young blueliner, but the rest is filler.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded defenseman Pavel Kubina and the rights to forward Tim Stapleton to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for defenseman Garnet Exelby and forward Colin Stuart. Brochu's take: Another salary dump, but Burke didn't even get draft picks back.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed forward Rick Nash to a 8-year, $62.4 million contract extension. Brochu's take: At a yearly salary cap hit of $7.8 million, Nash is slightly overpaid, but he is the Jackets one franchise star. It will also solidify Columbus as a solid hockey city.

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