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Friday, July 3, 2009 04:44 PM
Gustavsson still wrestling with choices
Tim Wharnsby
We talked today with Joe Resnick, the agent for Swedish free-agent goalie Jonas Gustavsson. The sough-after netminder initially hoped to decide which NHL team he would play with next season earlier this week, and then delayed his verdict until later this week.
Resnick, however, indicated on Friday that his client is still wrestling with his choice as to which of the four teams – the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs – he will begin his NHL career with in the fall.
All four clubs remain in the mix, but there is no timeline for a decision from Gustavsson. It could come on the weekend or stretch into next week.
Link to this postThursday, July 2, 2009 10:46 PM
Breakdown of Leafs $50.5-million payroll
Tim Wharnsby
With the Leafs re-signing centre Mikhail Grabovski on Thursday to a three-year, $8.7-million pact (2009-10 -- $2.75-million; 2010-11 -- $2.85-million; 2011-12 -- $3.1-million), the Leafs now have 23 players under contract for a $50.5-million payroll. Below is the breakdown.
Mike Komisarek $4,500,000
Tomas Kaberle $4,250,000
Vesa Toskala $4,000,000
Jason Blake $4,000,000
Jeff Finger $3,500,000
Niklas Hagman $3,000,000
Luke Schenn $2,975,000
Mikhail Grabovski $2,900,000
Mike Van Ryn $2,900,000
Lee Stempniak $2,500,000
Alexei Ponikarovsky $2,105,000
Matt Stajan $1,750,000
Nikolai Kulemin $1,487,500
Garnet Exelby $1,391,700
Jamal Mayers $1,333,300
Jonas Frogren $1,065,000
Colton Orr $1,000,000
Tyler Bozak $875,000
Christian Hanson $875,000
Ian White $850,000
Viktor Stalberg $750,000
John Mitchell $487,500
Colin Stuart $483,300
Tucker buyout $1,000,000
Raycroft buyout $533,333
Total payroll $50,511,633
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 06:26 PM
Leafs still have plenty of cap space
Tim Wharnsby
With the signing of UFA defenceman Mike Komisarek, the Leafs now have a payroll of $47.6-million (all currency U.S.), still under the $56.8-million ceiling for the 2009-10 NHL season.
Mike Komisarek $4,500,000
Tomas Kaberle $4,250,000
Vesa Toskala $4,000,000
Jason Blake $4,000,000
Jeff Finger $3,500,000
Niklas Hagman $3,000,000
Luke Schenn $2,975,000
Mike Van Ryn $2,900,000
Lee Stempniak $2,500,000
Alexei Ponikarovsky $2,105,000
Matt Stajan $1,750,000
Nikolai Kulemin $1,487,500
Garnet Exelby $1,391,700
Jamal Mayers $1,333,300
Jonas Frogren $1,065,000
Colton Orr $1,000,000
Tyler Bozak $875,000
Christian Hanson $875,000
Ian White $850,000
Viktor Stalberg $750,000
John Mitchell $487,500
Colin Stuart $483,300
Tucker buyout $1,000,000
Raycroft buyout $533,333
$47,611,633
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 04:36 PM
Bulin Wall going to Alberta
Eric Duhatschek
It only took a few hours, but the Edmonton Oilers turned a negative into a positive by signing goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin to a four-year, $15-million deal, something I suggested could happen two days ago if Dwayne Roloson didn’t take the one-year contract that the Oilers had on the table.
And that’s how it fell out – Roloson went to the Islanders on a two-year deal and in exchange, the Oilers replace him with a former Stanley Cup champion, who had a bounce-back season on behalf of the Chicago Blackhawks last year.
Oh and how about this for a cute back story – no one plays better against the Oilers’ provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames, than does Khabibulin, who knocked them out of the playoffs in ’04 and in ’09 and has a spectacular regular-season record against them.
You wonder too if Khabibulin’s presence in Edmonton might coax Dany Heatley into accepting a trade there after all. Presumably, winning is also important to Heatley and a goaltender of Khabibulin’s stature might make the decision to come back west a little easier for Heatley to make.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 03:49 PM
What's next for Ducks?
Eric Duhatschek
Don’t think anyone was surprised that the Anaheim Ducks signed Scott Niedermayer to a one-year, $6-million contract extension. When Niedermayer told the Ducks he was coming back last Friday, it essentially gave them the green light to trade Chris Pronger to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The larger issue is how the Ducks will fill in their defence around Niedermayer.
Ryan Whitney will be the de facto No. 2, after coming over from Pittsburgh in the Chris Kunitz trade; and is signed for the next four years at $4-million per season. They’ll be young after that.
James Wisniewski played well after joining them from the Chicago Blackhawks as well; he too needs to be re-signed as a restricted free agent; while Francois Beauchemin is unrestricted and is testing the market.
Otherwise, Luca Sbisa, Brendan Mikkelson and Sheldon Brookbank, signed for a combined cap hit of about $2-million for three players, all figure to be on the roster; because of the Ducks’ budget restrictions. They’ll try to operate at around $46-million, or about $10-million less than the teams spending to the cap.
Niedermayer to TSN: “There wasn’t a lot (of thought about moving elsewhere). My kids are getting older and they’re fairly comfortable where they’re at.”
From GM Bob Murray: “Keeping Scott Niedermayer was paramount for our club. We’re extremely pleased he’s chosen to remain with us and look forward to another great season from a Hall Of Fame-bound player.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 03:30 PM
Kudos to McPhee in D.C.
Eric Duhatschek
Smart, if subtle, move by Washington Capitals’ general manager George McPhee, who let tough guy Donald Brashear go to the New York Rangers (who ridiculously paid him $2.8-million over two years) and replaced him on his roster with Mike Knuble, a 27-goal scorer with Philadelphia last season, for $5.6-million over two years. So for a few dollars more, McPhee gets what he needs – someone other than Brooks Laich to go to the front of the net on the Capitals power play – and provide a little grit for a highly skilled Washington team. Knuble was third on the Flyers last year, with 11 power-play goals and is just the sort of tweak the Capitals need to move their group forward next year.
In Philadelphia, meanwhile, the expectation is that both Claude Giroux and Darroll Powe will play far greater roles next year, with Knuble and Joffrey Lupul (sent to Anaheim in the Chris Pronger deal) no longer in the organization. Lupul was a 25-goal scorer last year, so the Flyers have effectively subtracted 52 goals from the team that lost in the opening playoff round against Pittsburgh.
By the way, there was a thought in some quarters that the Flames would not offer Jay Bouwmeester more money than Dion Phaneuf in their negotiations with the unrestricted free agent this week.
In fact, they did just that. Bouwmeester’s contract breaks down this way: five years, $33.4-million, with $7-million in the first year and then four years at $6.6-million. Officially, Bouwmeester’s salary-cap charge is $6.68-million, which is No. 2 on the Flames’ list behind team captain Jarome Iginla at $7-million.
Altogether, the Flames’ cap charge for their top eight players (Iginla, Bouwmeester, Phaneuf, Miikka Kiprusoff, Olli Jokinen, Daymond Langkow, Robyn Regehr and Cory Sarich) is $43.43-million, leaving about $13-million for however many players they want to carry next year.
Shifting their farm team to Abbotsford, B.C. suggests the Flames may play with 20 or 21 players next year, two down from the minimum of 23.
If they run into injury issues – especially of the short-term variety – the Flames may find themselves in a salary-cap bind, same as last year, although Darryl Sutter continues to deride everyone who raises that as a possibility.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 03:27 PM
Niedermayer to stay with Ducks
Matthew Sekeres
TSN is reporting that Scott Niedermayer has signed a one-year contract to remain with the Anaheim Ducks. So much for Vancouver’s chances.
Niedermayer, 35, will make $6-million (U.S.), according to the report. His signing means that the ranks of free-agent defencemen are now quite thin.
Jay Bouwmeester signed with the Calgary Flames last night, and Mike Komisarek has reportedly agreed to join the New York Islanders. Mattias Ohlund is bound for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Anaheim’s Francois Beauchemain and Pittsburgh’s Rob Scuderi are probably the best available defencemen.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 02:57 PM
Oilers switch focus to goaltending?
Eric Duhatschek
The Edmonton Oilers’ major priority may shift away from Dany Heatley and towards finding a No. 1 goalie now that Dwayne Roloson has left to sign a two-year contract with the New York Islanders. Edmonton didn’t want to go two years on a contract extension, fearing that if Roloson – as a player who’ll turn 40 in October – loses some of his edge, they would be stuck for both years of his contract., counting fully against their salary cap. It was a gamble the Oilers weren’t prepared to take.
Internally, they see Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers as a player who can play 20 to 25 games in the NHL next year, but they need someone else to play the majority of games.
Is Nikolai Khabibulin a fit for Edmonton? Or, if the Chicago Blackhawks want to move Cristobal Huet, would Edmonton take him, if the Blackhawks were to take, say, Dustin Penner’s contract, off their hands? The Ducks’ J.S. Giguere is also available, but he too as a no-trade clause in his contract.
At the end of the day, it may be that Edmonton takes the path of least resistance and, on a short-term basis, grabs either ex-Philly goalkeeper Martin Biron, or former Bruin Manny Fernandez as Roloson's replacement. Fernandez would be an interesting case because he established himself in the NHL for Edmonton's divisional rivals, the Minnesota Wild. Roloson, of course, was Fernandez's partner in Minnesota for years before Niklas Backstrom showed up and pushed them both out the door.
One final thought on Chicago's goaltending: They also re-signed a Finnish prospect Antti Niemi, to a contract extension last week, after he spent much of the year in the minors. Niemi likely wouldn't have returned if he hadn't been given some assurance that he would play more than the three games, and 141 minutes and 19 seconds of NHL playing time he received last year. Burying Huet in the minors would save them a bundle against the cap, although it would be a bold move to that, so soon after bringing him to Chicago last year.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 02:33 PM
Hawks in two-for-one situation?
Eric Duhatschek
I don't believe the Blackhawks are in love with the fact that they lifted not one, but two Slovaks from the Detroit Red Wings? Remember, when Marian Hossa signed last year in Detroit, he noted that Tomas Kopecky was one of his best friends in hockey. So when the Blackhawks signed Hossa, they grabbed Kopecky as well. Hossa’s deal is spread over 12 years; Kopecky just two.
From GM Dale Tallon: The signings “reinforce our commitment to try and win the Stanley Cup.”
For Detroit, it means that they'll shift to Plan B and probably re-sign Mikael Samuelsson, who was not coming back if Hossa came to terms on a new deal. It also means they're in a position to give Jiri Hudler the raise he'll get as a restricted free agent. With Hossa under contract, the Red Wings were vulnerable to an offer sheet on Hudler.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 02:29 PM
More thoughts on FA frenzy
More random thoughts as the free-agent frenzy moves into the third hour:
In addition to signing Marian Hossa, the Blackhawks also landed his fellow Slovak from Detroit, Tomas Kopecky, as well.
Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell wants to land an experienced top-four defenceman on a short-term contract because he has a lot of decent young rearguards on multi-year deals (Zach Bogosian, Tobias Enstrom, Ron Hainsey). He inquired after Tomas Kaberle at the entry draft (and pondered moving the No. 4 overall pick in the deal, which Toronto would have used on Brayden Schenn). In the end, they didn’t do the deal, which is why Waddell turned his attention to Pavel Kubina, a guy he saw a lot in Tampa in the 2004 Stanley Cup push, and a player that nicely fits into his team and salary structure, at $5-million on the final year of his contract.
Craig Anderson’s decision to sign with the Colorado Avalanche is a below-the-radar move that could pay some dividends, considering how good a year Anderson had for Florida and how bad Colorado’s goaltending was last year. Anderson will get a chance to be the No. 1 for the first time in his career; if he writes a Tim Thomas sort of success story, it could be one of those quiet, subtle moves that pays big dividends.
Anderson’s save percentage last year was .924. Compare that to the holdovers, Peter Budaj (.899) and Andrew Raycroft (.892), and it looks like a significant upgrade.
Globe On Hockey Contributors
Eric Duhatschek
Eric Duhatschek was the winner of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's Elmer Ferguson award for "distinguished contributions to hockey writing" in 2001. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario's grad school of journalism, he began covering hockey in 1978 and after spending 20 years covering the NHL and the Calgary Flames, joined globeandmail.com in September, 2000, where he writes a five-time-a-week NHL column.
A frequent contributor to Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove segment, he has covered four Winter Olympics, 19 Stanley Cup finals, every Canada Cup and World Cup since 1981, plus two world championships. Most recently, he was appointed as the newest member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's annual Selection Committee.
Tim Wharnsby
Tim Wharnsby was born and raised in Waterloo, Ont. in 1964, grew up following his favourite players Marc Thiel and Mike Yosurack on the Waterloo Jr. B Siskins.
Before joining The Globe and Mail on January 1, 2001, he spent 13 years at the Toronto Sun and 11 months as media relations director for the National Hockey League Players’ Association. He attended the University of Waterloo, studied journalism at Ryerson in Toronto and spent the occasional weekend of his youth caddying for the legendary Canadian golfer Moe Norman.
He has spent most of his time following the Maple Leafs, the NHL and junior hockey, including six Stanley Cup finals, 15 world junior championships, 12 Memorial Cups and the 2002 Olympics. He also has covered golf, auto racing and Canadian university sports.
Allan Maki
Allan Maki joined the Globe in 1997, after spending 19 years as a reporter and columnist at the Calgary Herald. Born in Thunder Bay, Ont., Maki graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 1977.
A past president of the Football Writers of Canada, Maki has covered every Grey Cup since 1980. He's been to seven Olympic Games and covered everything from rodeos to the World Series to the Super Bowl.
A regular commentator on radio and television, Maki hosted a sports program for two years on CBC Newsworld. He has won several awards for his writing and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award in 1995.
David Shoalts
David Shoalts, a native of Wainfleet, Ont., joined The Globe in 1984 as a layout and copy editor in the sports section. He attended the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College. After graduating from Conestoga with a journalism diploma in 1978, Shoalts worked at the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, and later the Toronto Sun.
In 1986, Shoalts went back to the writing side of the business. He was the CFL reporter for The Globe for four years and then switched to hockey. He has covered the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL ever since and became a hockey columnist in 2003. Among the most memorable events Shoalts has covered are the final hockey game at the old Chicago Stadium (between the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks) and the men's and women's gold-medal hockey games at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He is also the author of a book of humour, Tales From The Toronto Maple Leafs, and co-author with retired Globe columnist William Houston of Greed and Glory, The Fall of Hockey Czar Alan Eagleson.