NHL Free Agent Frenzy

While the Bruins players and staff celebrate their individual “day with Lord Stanley”, the hockey world shifts its focus to the other 29 teams in the league and the many changes that they must go through. Whether it is a non-playoff team, a first-round exit team or even the Vancouver Canucks who lost in the Cup Final, everyone has room for improvement following this past season. This free agent class wasn’t the best in recent years, but it hasn’t been short of suspense and of millions being spent. To go along with all the recent signings, their have been several “shocking” (to say the least) trades in the past few weeks including stars Mike Richards and Jeff Carter being dealt from Philadelphia. The following is a team-by-team list of the free agent signings and players brought in via trade:

Anaheim Ducks: F Andrew Cogliano (via trade EDM), D Kurtis Foster (via trade EDM), G Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, F Jean-Francois Jacques

Boston Bruins: D Joe Corvo (via trade CAR), F Benoit Pouliot

Buffalo Sabres: D Christian Ehrhoff, F Ville Leino, D Robyn Regehr (via trade CGY), F Ales Kotalik (via trade CGY), G Drew MacIntyre

Calgary Flames: D Chris Butler (via trade BUF), Paul Byron (via trade BUF), Jordan Henry (via trade FLA)

Carolina Hurricanes: D Tomas Kaberle, F Tim Brent, G Brian Boucher, F Alexei Ponikarovsky, F Anthony Stewart

Chicago Blackhawks: D Steve Montador (via trade BUF), F Jamal Mayers, F Andrew Brunette, F Daniel Carcillo, D Sean O’Donnell, F Rostislav Olesz (via trade FLA)

Colorado Avalanche: G Semyon Varlamov (via trade WSH), G J.S. Giguere, F Chuck Kobasew, D Jan Hejda

Columbus Blue Jackets: F Jeff Carter (via trade PHI), D James Wisniewski, G Curtis Sanford, F Ryan Russell (via trade MON), D Radek Martinek, D Aaron Johnson

Dallas Stars: D Sheldon Souray, D Adam Pardy, F Michael Ryder, F Radek Dvorak, F Vernon Fiddler

Detroit Red Wings: D Mike Commodore, D Ian White

Edmonon Oilers: Ryan Smyth (via trade LOS), F Ben Eager, D Cam Barker, F Eric Belanger, D Andy Sutton (via trade ANH), F Josh Green, F Darcy Hordichuk

Florida Panthers: D Brian Campbell (via trade CHI), D Ed Jovanovski, F Kris Versteeg, F Sean Bergenheim, F Tomas Fleishmann, F Scotty Upshall, F Marcel Goc, F Tomas Kopecky (via trade CHI), G Jose Theodore, D Nolan Yonkman, D Keith Seabrook (via trade CGY), F Sergei Shirokov (via trade VAN), F Angelo Esposito (via trade JETS)

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Los Angeles Kings: F Mike Richards (via trade PHI), F Simon Gagne, F Colin Fraser (via trade EDM)

Minnesota Wild: F Dany Heatley (via trade SJ), F Devin Setoguchi (via trade SJ), F Charlie Coyle (via trade SJ), F Darroll Powe (via trade PHI)

Montreal Canadiens: F Erik Cole, G Peter Budaj, F Michael Blunden (via trade CLB), F Brian Willsie, G Nathan Lawson

Nashville Predators: F Niclas Bergfors, D Brett Lebda (via trade TOR), F Robert Slaney (via trade TOR)

New Jersey Devils:

New York Islanders: F Marty Reasoner,

New York Rangers: F Brad Richards, F Michael Rupp,

Ottawa Senators: F Nikita Filatov (via trade CLB), F Zenon Konokpa, G Alex Auld, D Tim Conboy, F Mark Parrish

Philadelphia Flyers: G Ilya Bryzgalov, F Jaromir Jagr, F Maxime Talbot, F Jakub Voracek (via trade CLB), F Wayne Simmonds (via trade LOS), F Brayden Schenn (via trade LOS), D Andreas Lilja

Phoenix Coyotes: F Raffi Torres, G Mike Smith, C Alex Bolduc, F Boyd Gordon, D Tyler Eckford, G Curtis McHlhinney, D Nathan Oystrick, F Marc-Antoine Pouliot (via trade TBL)

Pittsburgh Penguins: F Steve Sullivan, D Alexandre Picard

San Jose Sharks: D Brent Burns (via trade MIN), F Martin Havlat (via trade MIN), D Jim Vandermeer, F Michal Handzus

St. Louis Blues: F Jason Arnott, F Jamie Langenbrunner, G Brian Elliot, D Kent Huskins, F Evgeny Grachev (via trade NYR), F Scott Nichol, F Brett Sterling

Tampa Bay Lightning: G Mathieu Garon, D Matt Gilroy, D Bruno Gervais (via trade NYI), F Ryan Shannon, F Tom Pyatt

Toronto Maple Leafs: F Tim Connolly, F Matthew Lombardi (via trade NSH), D Cody Franson (via trade NSH), D John-Michael Liles (via trade COL), F Philippe Dupuis

Vancouver Canucks: F Marco Sturm, F Mark Mancari, F Mike Duco (via trade FLA), D Alexander Sulzer, G Matt Climie, F Andrew Ebbett

Washington Capitals: G Tomas Vokoun, F Joel Ward, D Roman Hamrlik, F Jeff Halpern, F Chris Bourque, Troy Brouwer (via trade CHI), F Christian Hanson, D Danny Richmond, F Ryan Potulny

Winnipeg Jets: D Derek Meech, F Eric Fehr (via trade WSH), F Kenndal McArdle (via trade FLA), F Rick Rypien, D Randy Jones, F Tanner Glass

These players will all get a chance to dress in a new uniform next season, and help their team try and win the Stanley Cup. The pressure will be on big-money free agents such as Brad Richards ( Dallas), Christian Ehrhoff ( Buffalo), and James Wisniewski ( Columbus) to live up to their huge contracts. In conclusion, I think that so far the free agent “frenzy” has been everything and more, several teams have shaken things up potentially for the better (i.e. trades in Philly or many signings in Florida). There is still around 2 months left until training camps begin, and a good amount of free agents are still out there. So much has already happened, but as fans and writers we must stand idly by as teams make their moves. Thank you for reading

By: Joel Forman
ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer
Check out Joel's Blog @ http://formansportstalk.blogspot.com/

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