NHL and Hockey Rumors for July 9, 2009

I should be caught up by tomorrow, I still have to post my analysis of the Pronger extension, and the Sakic retirement. There's a few more signings I have to catch up to as well.

The Anaheim Ducks have signed forward Saku Koivu to a 1-year, $3.25 million contract. Brochu's take: And not with a bang but a whimper, the captain of the Montreal Canadiens for the past decade or so leaves the Habs. It's a bit sad that the organization decided for a new direction, but I think Koivu will have a bit of a career revival playing with his buddy Selanne in Orange County.

The Ducks also signed forward Todd Marchant to a 2-year, $2.25 million million contract.

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed forward Kris Versteeg to a 3-year, $9.2 million contract. Brochu's take: So the last major RFA on Chicago's roster has signed, which pretty much negates that whole "misfiling" issue. The investigation into that matter is still ongoing.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed defenseman Brent Regner to a 3-year, entry-level contract.

The New York Islanders have signed forward Matt Moulson to one-year, two-way contract. They have also signed forwards Greg Moore and Greg Mauldin, and defenseman Mark Flood to one-year, two-way contracts.

The Boston Bruins have signed defenseman Drew Fata to a contract. They have also signed goalie Dany Sabourin to a one-year contract.

The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Michael Funk to a contract.

The Detroit Red Wings have signed defenseman Doug Janik to a contract. They have also signed defenseman Travis Erhardt to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Sedins re-signed, Bolts sign Ohlund

The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed Daniel and Henrik Sedin to 5-year, $30.5 million contracts. Brochu's take: Not a bad deal at all. For comparable scorers, it's quite a bargain.

Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman Mattias Ohlund to a seven-year contract worth $24.5 million. Brochu's take: It's front loaded, so he will earn significantly less in the later years.

Just to wrap up what happend yesterday...

The Montreal Canadiens acquired centre Scott Gomez, winger Tom Pyatt and defenceman Mike Busto from the New York Rangers in exchange for winger Chris Higgins and defencemen Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko.

The Calgary Flames have signed defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to a 5-year contract worth $6.68 million per year. Brochu's take: So the Flames essentially got Bouwmeester for a third rounder. Great move by GM Darryl Sutter, who managed to sign the blueliner at slightly less than market value.

The New York Islanders have traded forward Ben Walter and future considerations to the New Jersey Devils for the rights to forward Tony Romano.

Canucks claim Vaananen, Habs claim Metropolit

The Vancouver Canucks have claimed defenseman Ossi Vaananen off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers. Brochu's take: A depth move, or a prelude to a trade of a Canucks defenseman?

The Montreal Canadiens have claimed forward Glen Metropolit off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers.

TSN is reporting that the Dallas Stars will place Sean Avery on re-entry waivers on Monday. It's expected the New York Rangers will pick him up. Brochu's take: Unless someone else picks him up before the Rangers can, which might happen.

The Montreal Canadiens have placed defenseman Doug Janik on waivers.

Begin for Janik, Whitney for Kunitz, Tangradi

The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded defenseman Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Chris Kunitz and prospect Eric Tangradi. Brochu's take: Very curious trade. This means that one of Pronger of Niedermayer won't be back next season. Tangradi was just signed to an entry level contract, and Kunitz still has several years left on his contract.

The Montreal Canadiens have traded forward Steve Begin to the Dallas Stars for defenseman Doug Janik. Brochu's take: GM Bob Gainey is hooking up with his old buddies in Dallas once again. But the only positive I see in this trade is that it clears cap space for the Habs...perhaps a bigger trade in the works? Janik is currently in the AHL.

According to TSN, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mathieu Dandenault has requested a trade, and an NHL source is saying that GM Bob Gainey has agreed to help him out. Brochu's take: Whoa. What is going on in Montreal? That's three Habs veterans that want/are out. Another cap clearing move?

The Ottawa Senators have placed goalie Martin Gerber on re-entry waivers. Brochu's take: Rumors are flying that the Calgary Flames and Buffalo Sabres are interested.

The Philadelphia Flyers have placed forward Glen Metropolit and defenseman Ossi Vaananen on waivers. Brochu's take: Look for a rumor report late tonight or earlier tomorrow, I have more on this cap clearing move.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed forward Chris Minard on waivers.

NHL signings and waiver transactions for Oct 8, 2008

The Chicago Blackhawks have claimed defenseman Doug Janik on waivers from the Dallas Stars and have traded him back to the Stars in exchange for a conditional draft pick.

The San Jose Sharks have re-signed forward Tomas Plihal and Alexei Semenov to one-year contracts.

The New York Islanders have claimed center Nate Thompson off waivers from the Boston Bruins.

Stay tuned for a big rumour update tonight!

NHL signings and waiver transactions for Oct 3, 2008

The Detroit Red Wings have agreed to terms with goaltender Thomas McCollum on a three-year contract.

The Minnesota Wild have signed defenseman Justin Falk.

The Los Angeles Kings have signed goaltender Martin Jones to a three-year contract.

The New York Islanders have signed center Josh Bailey to a three-year, entry-level contract.

The Chicago Blackhawks have claimed forward Joakim Lindstrom off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.

The Dallas Stars have claimed defenseman Doug Janik off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Ducks have also assigned forward Bobby Ryan to the Iowa Chops in the AHL. Ryan did not need to clear waivers, which will help alleviate Anaheim's salary cap problems.

NHL and hockey rumors for July 16, 2008

Here's an actual rumor report, as opposed to a list of signings. A post about that will be posted tonight.

According to Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun, there are rumors of a three way trade between the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators. According to "insiders", Ottawa would trade goalie Martin Gerber and defenceman Andrej Meszaros to Los Angeles, the Kings would move forward Anze Kopitar to Chicago and the Blackhawks would send goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and either of defenseman Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker to the Senators. Brochu's take: A rumor that came from the Ottawa Sun and it's not from Bruce Garrioch? It's GOTTA be true! But seriously, this won't happen. Kopitar is part of the youth movement in LA, and Ottawa really doesn't get any better. The likelihood of the Hawks shopping one of their young D-men is well known. Source

There's also a rumor going in Vancouver circles that the Canucks would trade Kevin Bieksa to the Kings for Michal Handzus and a 3rd round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Brochu's take: Bieksa's been speculated to be"on the block" recently, but this doesn't really make sense from the Canucks part.

The Carolina Hurricanes are rumored to be interested in signing Jeff O'Neill to a two-way contract. It's believed that O'Neill is holding out for a one-way deal.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded winger Joakim Lindstrom to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional pick in the 2009 draft.

The Blackhawks have also signed defensemen Aaron Johnson and Doug Janik to one-year contracts, and re-signed center Colin Fraser to a one-year contract.