Business picked up yesterday in the NHL, and in a big way. We are starting to see some of the smaller market clubs deal with big name free agents, and I guess that is what the NHL was hoping for.
I'll give you a rundown on the major moves, then talk about the Rangers:
Bobby Holik decided to sign a three-year deal with the Atlanta Thrashers. Good move for all involved. The Thrashers have a lot of good, young players, and Holik adds some toughness and depth to team that already has Ilya Kovalchuck and Dany Heatley.
The Edmonton Oilers completed a trade with the St. Louis Blues to acquire defenseman Chris Pronger. The Blues get Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch, and Jeff Woywitka.
The Calgary Flames added some offense and toughness through the signings of Tony Amonte and Darren McCarty.
The Philadelphia Flyers went big with the signings of defensemen Derrian Hatcher and Mike Rathje.
The L.A. Kings picked up forward Pavol Demitra (it was rumored that the Rangers were targeting him).
The Kings also picked up Hartford Wolf Pack goaltender Jason LaBarbara. I am pretty disappointed with that. Jason played hard and well for the Pack, and I was hoping to see him get a shot with the Rangers. But, with Henrik Lundqvist and Al Montoya coming up, there would have been a big logjam at the netminder position. Hopefully this move will give Jason the chance to play, and we wish him the best of luck.
There were a bunch of other moves, and you can find the completed list here.
As for the Rangers, they added three players yesterday. The Rangers signed goalie Kevin Weekes to a two-year deal. Weekes was supposed to make his debut for the Rangers during the 2004-05 season, but, of course, that was delayed for reasons I don't remember.
The team also signed veteran forward Martin Straka to a one-year, $3 million dollar contract. Straka might be able to take advantage of the rules changes and put up some points on a potential line with Jaromir Jagr and Michael Nylander.
Big defenseman Marek Malik should be able to play a solid blueline. Malik is 6'5, and is a whopping +58 in his last two seasons with the Canucks.
The Rodent put up an interview with Straka from before he became a Ranger, and also has some info on the Rangers salary cap.
So far, the Rangers have stayed out of the big-name free agent market. There are some reports this morning that Markus Naslund will stay in Vancouver. The Rangers had been rumored to be in the hunt for Naslund and Peter Forsberg.
There are still some big names out there, including Forsberg, Scott Niedermayer, Khabibulin, Miro Satan, and several others.
Today should be another busy day. Keep up with all the action on the message boards.
HDH
Posted by Jim at August 03, 2005 08:31 AMeMail this entry!
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