EHM The Blue Line

I'm thinking the Bruins are out of the hunt for Hossa after signing Ryder. They wouldn't have the money now even if they did get rid of Murray. Plus, the B's GM has pretty much said he's done with FA shopping. I was hoping he would've picked up a defenseman too. Out of those left, I wouldn't mind seeing them pick up Hainsey.

What's with the gross overpayment of so many of these guys? Jeff Finger making over $3M per season? That's ridiculous!

I was one of those who waited yesterday night that Chia got his press-conference....only that over here it was 4 o'clock in the morning....

....just to hear that we had signed Ryder instead of Hossa

Dont get me wrong, I think the Ryder signing will turn out good in Boston, being Julien his "lifetime" coach (from what I hear he was his coach in the Minors, Minor-Pro and NHL) and Ryder played good in Montreal the first three seasons, except last one.

But having people wait for four hours just to announce that u have signed Ryder is just not right!!!

Oh well, at least I had some good laughts at the HF forums...

I will be happy if we trade for a puckmoving D-men.....and if the Habs DONT sign Hossa

But well, the Habs have to do something, being this year the century year, they have to do a big splash....I guess.

HOSSA TO THE WINGS!!!

1 year 7,4 millions

Didnt see that one coming....seems that Marian wants the Cup pretty badly!!

Hossa to Detroit...7.4 for only one year

Like Detroit needs more talent?

what a boost to Detroit! Zetterb Datsyuk Hossa Lidstrom Rafalski = the best 1st line in the league lol
Let's see now how it works...
Now Montreal will be focusing on Sundin...

Zetter, Datsyuk n' Hossa...

Good lord.

What a line.

My teams have definitely had very good off-seasons thus far.

Wings
Datysuk - Zetterberg - Holmström
Filppula - Franzén - Hossa
Cleary - Draper - Samuelsson
Hudler - Helm - Maltby
Kopecky, McCarty

Lidström - Rafalski
Kronwall - Stuart
Lebda - Chelios
Ericsson - Lilja
Quincey - Meech

Devils
Rolston - Elias - Gionta
Parise - Zajac - Langenbrunner
Pandolfo - Madden - Zubrus
Rupp - Holik - Clarkson
Pelley, Bergfors

Oduya - Martin
White - Mottau
Salvador - Vishnveski
Greene, Brookbank

Brodeur
Weekes

Hi, it's me again

I never understood the Hossa to Boston hype, it was getting quite annoying to be honest. Hossa signing a one year deal now means we'll see another 12 months of that. Hooray. I don't think the Bruins ever were seriously in the Hossa sweepstakes, and Chiarelli's statements seem to confirm that. Ryder was quickly identified as the number one on their list and they grabbed him, even improving their offer because two other teams were after Ryder too.

I can live with that deal, I feel it's maybe half a milion too much, but seeing what others got it's really not bad. Depends on what Chiarelli does with Murray. If he's moved or bought out it's all fine. I see some people moaning the Bruins just signed Murray v2...they are quick to forget how good a scorer Murray was in his prime.

Chia said that's it for free agency probably but I don't believe he's done dealing. I'd like a guy like Hainsey but not at the price he's probably gonna demand. I'd rather have Chia acquire a defenceman via trade.

Actually, Chia said he had been in talks, working to sign an "elite player" but he moved on once he found out that the Bruins were not as high on that player's list as they had thought. I would take that to be either Hossa, Campbell, or maybe Redden. Those are the 3 biggest names that were out there. I can't see them having any interest in Sundin since they're very well stocked at center. Anyhow, that "elite player" was first on their list and then they moved on to Ryder a little later in the afternoon.

I can agree with you on Hainsey's asking price probably being too high after seeing what all of these other defensemen are signing for. Heck, I'm worried about the arbitrator is going to give Wideman after what we saw given out for contracts yesterday. I wonder if the asking price for a defenseman in trade is going to be inflated as well? If that is the case, I'd much rather give Lashoff a shot this year.

Well that's what Chiarelli said about after signing Ryder
''He's someone we've targeted for a while...We were involved a little bit with Hossa,'' Chiarelli said. ''He's a terrific player. We weren't at a position where we felt we would devote time to it.''
Of course you take Hossa over Ryder if the chance is there, but I never really thought there was a realistic chance. Considering Wideman is still in arbitration and will get at least 3m buying out Murray would not have been enough to get under the cap. Even trading someone like Schaefer in addition to that probably wouldn't have been enough, you need a certain amount of players who count against the cap and still be under 56.7m. It would have probably required to buy out both Manny and Murray, at least.

I'm not sure about Lashoff, maybe I don't see something most people see. For an offensive Dman his passing, shooting and skating is mediocre and he doesn't seem very responsible in his own end. I'd have liked Preissing from LA, he didn't have a great season over there from what I get but I still rate him and he has a decent contract. Not sure if LA is willing to move him now that they got rid of Visnovsky.

Overall, with Wheeler, Soderberg, Ryder and the relatively cheap new deals for Stuart, Ward and Nokie I'm fairly satisfied. Wideman will get a huge raise but that's not surprising. There are rumours about Chia and Wideman agreeing to terms but Chia preferring him to file for arbitration so the Bruins get an extended buyout period. Under normal circumstances the buyout period is over but you get an additional 48 hours if one of your players files for arbitration. We'll see if there's any truth to it.

Sorry for the doublepost, Hainsey just signed in Atlanta, long term deal 4.5m p/a. Well that's a deal I really don't like.
Jackets trade Zherdev and Fritsche to Rags for Tyutin and Backman apparently.

OMG! I'm a bit late on this one, but... Hossa to the Red Wings? But... he is not 35 years old yet! How could they've been interested? Jokes apart, there's a strange odor of back-to-back...

So the Jacks deal Zherdev after dealing Brule? Who's next? Nash? Leclaire? Sure, i'm exagerating, but i'm not sure about those deals...

Falkky: Holik to New Jersey is not something new Same for Rolston. Both played there earlier in their career, and had some success. If my memory is vaguely intact, it was at the golden period with Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and Ken Daneyko in defense... but i may be wrong...

TSN is reporting the Columbus Blue Jackets just reserved www.seentavares.com

Danny wrote:TSN is reporting the Columbus Blue Jackets just reserved www.seentavares.com

With the moves the Jackets are making, they do seem like they are going for a lottery slot. Dunno about these deals. Zherdev was making great strides under Hitch (I thought) as a responsible scoring threat. Sure he had a typical Russian attitude for a while, but the problem wasn't his talent, but the fact they still don't have a #1 center to dish the puck and defensemen who can get the puck to center ice. CBJ has some great talent, but no supporting cast. It seems like they are trading the talent to get the supporting cast (robbing Pete to pay Paul)

As for Hossa to the Wings: 1) Glad it's a short term deal; 2) I know he would have got it somewhere, but I don't like the salary. It makes him much higher paid than Dats & Hank and they are far better players. Great talent, but may become a cancer in the room. Big egos haven't had a place in Motown since Stevie was named captain way back when. Here's to keeping the fingers crossed, but this may bite them in the end.

Hossa to Red Wings is some wicked news I heard this morning. And that's just scary, I would love to see a great Slovakian player to brought the Stanley Cup over here. I really don't expected this one, but....way to go!

Campbell with Huet to Hawks, I like that, I like Hawks and these are good players to sign with.

Tampa Bay is really stacking up, I am courious how they're gonna do next year.

Oh, and seems like Budaj is no.1 goalie now for Avalanches, that's a chance for the guy to show his potential.

Now I am corious about Meszaros, Demitra, Satan and other slovakian fellas on the market.

Hossa won't be a problem for the Wings IMO. He signed short term, for less than what he could have get on the market. He wants the Cup this season. Nothing else. So he'll be kind in the locker room and work on the ice because he wants the Cup, and he want it now.

Colombus is doing strange moves, but they had a decent signing, with Huselius for 4 years and a 4.75M$ contract (slightly under 1.2M$ a season, which is less than the 1.4M$ he had in Calgary). You can't count on him when it matters the most, but he can provide nice depth the rest of the time, and for relatively cheap. I'm glad he is no longer in Calgary though

I also seen that the Islanders signed Doug Weight for 1 year at 1.75M$. Does he have one more year in the tank?

Pittsburgh re-signed Brooks Orpik (6 years; 22.5M$ -> 3.75M$/yr) and Evgeni Malkin (5 years; 43.5M$ -> 8.7M$/yr). After loosing Hossa, Malone, Roberts, Conklin and Ruutu, and with Fleury still left to be signed, they finally kept some talent at home. Not enough to return to the Finals IMO.

gibson41 wrote:Tampa Bay is really stacking up, I am courious how they're gonna do next year.

They are loaded upfront and will probably be a constant offensive threat. Backwards however, it's pretty thin. And there are more and more rumors about Dan Boyle being traded. TSN article. That's just rumors so far though. Anyhow, i don't see the Bolts going very far. Maybe making the playoffs thanks to their impressive offensive corp, but then fall pretty early due to their lack of defense and goaltending (Smith + Kölzig? decent, but nothing impressive). Their games should be really fun to watch though, with tons of goals



EDIT: I've just seen that the Flames signed undrafted defenseman Ryan Wilson on July 1st. LINK. Sure, he is not as good in real life than he is in EHM, but as he's a well-known name of the EHM community, i found it interesting to mention it

Well I don't know what they want to achieve when they trade off Dan Boyle. Surely they boosted up the offense, but that's not enough.

And I was reading that Sundin article, that he can't decide yet, well that sucks... I mean teams are in hope to get him and by the time he decides all other UFAs slip away so if he decides not to join the particular team, that team is screwed. And seriously, Vancouver's bid is ridicolous.

There are still some good players on the market, and after this Rangers trade, i won't be surprised if they signed a D, like Zhitnik...
Even if they don't sign nobody, in my opinion they still have a good defense, with Redden, Rozsival, Staal, and Girardi(who had a good season).

Come on!!! are the Pens Insane, giving 3.75M$ y to Orpik...ok he's a big guy, can hit anybody anywhere, can check very well, but he's a disaster with the puck and lacks in speed. Regehr is much better than him and only earns 2M.

Next sign i will talk for me its an example for all nhl teams, and it's an analogy to Weight's contract, Jeremy Roenick did 23 Game Wining Points with the sharks and will earn 1M this season, Dough Weight did almost nothing with the ducks and will earn 1.75M...

I still can't believe the bad trades that the Blue Jackets have been making. That deal with the Rangers takes the cake. What was that GM thinking? Even if he didn't like those players and wanted to get rid of them, he should've gotten some value in return. He got played! He should be canned for making that deal with the Rangers.

Shadd666 wrote:Colombus is doing strange moves, but they had a decent signing, with Huselius for 4 years and a 4.75M$ contract (slightly under 1.2M$ a season, which is less than the 1.4M$ he had in Calgary). You can't count on him when it matters the most, but he can provide nice depth the rest of the time, and for relatively cheap. I'm glad he is no longer in Calgary though

Ehem, u got that wrong Shadd....its 4,75 M$ PER SEASON, not total.

No way a player like Huselius would make 1,2 M$ per season right now, the market is crazy....just look at Jeff Fingers and his 3,5 M$ contract ....still cant believe that one!!!

Sooo, looking at that one I have to say that Ryder was not that expensive, supposing he can come back and score around 25+ goals next season.

Edit; forgot the link to the Huselius signing: TSN-Huselius signs with the Jackets

Just for example he will receive more than the 2008 Playoff MVP Henrik Zetterberg.
SICK!

Good point Flea TSN initially just mentionned 4.75M$, so it looked like it was for the whole contract when i reported it. But at 4.75M$ per year, it's a very ugly acquisition for the Jacks! Added to their recent bad trades, it seems like Nash and Leclaire will have some extra-time to devellop their swing next spring... Huselius deserves nothing close to 5M$ per year... 1.5M$ would be the very best... and only since the cap get up to 56.7M$.

Oh well, Colombus is now in a good position to chase Tavares...

Gonna have to compete with Vancouver.

Right now this is the Canucks best line up off the top of my head, so may miss someone.

Sedin-Sedin-Pyatt
Wellwood-Kesler-Raymond
Burrows-Ryan Johnson-Some call up from farm team
Hordichuk-some useless farm player-Cowan

Ohlund-Mitchell
Salo-Krappicheck
Edler-Baumgartner

Luongo
Sansieveford

THat amounts to a whale of a challenge for the Loafs and Bugs to get 1st overall in the lottery.

I was about to say you better not leave out the Leafs.

WOOOO!!! We traded for Grabovsky! YEAH plan the parade route...It wil be led by Finger and Hagman!