Lightning, Sabers and Capitals seem to be the winners today.

engellands contract. jesus christ.
- stayinthefnnet

There has a been a few "WTF" signings. Chicago got themselves a deal.

Willie Mitchell got 4.25M a year
Andrej Meszaros got 4.125 a year
Brooks Orpik got 5.5M a year

There's no question as the top defenseman on the market, that Niskanen took a discount. As did Ehrhoff.
- MJL

Mesz got a 1 year deal. Same with Ehrhoff, who is obviously looking to prove himself and get a bigger payday for a longer term next July.

Perhaps a lot of GMs came to the same conclusion many of us did - Niskanen was over-hyped and not worth a huge payday. As it is, he's on the books for the next 7 years. That's pretty good.

I like Orpik, but his deal is a head-scratcher.

Well for Niskanen yeah. But Ehrhoff took an obvious discount, but that kind of makes sense.
- FlyersSteve118

With better/younger guys like Byfuglien, Yandle, Mike Green, Myers, Oduya, Campbell, Coburn, Phaneuf, Edler, etc all rumored to be available, I'm saving my cap-space to go after them... not marrying myself to secondary options like Stralman, Niskanen, and Boyle, even if I don't have to expend assets to get them.

Lightning, Sabers and Capitals seem to be the winners today.
- SuperSchennBros

the lightning are gonna be awesome.

i just cant see that orpik deal helping washington at all. i think its bad now. imagine in 2 years.

engellands contract. jesus christ.
- stayinthefnnet

You saw $70M leave the Pens D and $4M come in and your defense is better than last years

Anthony Mingioni ‏@AnthonyMingioni 4m
#Isles sign Cory Conacher

They also signed Harry Z
- PhillySportsGuy

Good, I don't want the flyers going anywhere near them. Conchar is 5.8!

The Van Dammes move on...

You saw $70M leave the Pens D and $4M come in and your defense is better than last years
- PhillySportsGuy

to be fair. theres no way in hell that number should have been 70M.

oh i see jokes got his 4 by 4. (frank)er.

Lightning, Sabers and Capitals seem to be the winners today.
- SuperSchennBros

The Caps and Sabres?

Chicago got Brad Richards for nothing

You saw $70M leave the Pens D and $4M come in and your defense is better than last years
- PhillySportsGuy

Niskanen and Ehrhoff seem to be a wash for the Pens, at least imo. Who replaces Orpik? Is Martin leaving? I'm hoping Maata has the worst Sophomore slump ever recorded.

to be fair. theres no way in hell that number should have been 70M.

oh i see jokes got his 4 by 4. (frank)er.
- stayinthefnnet

Say what now?

I'm complimenting your stupid franchise

Niskanen and Ehrhoff seem to be a wash for the Pens, at least imo. Who replaces Orpik? Is Martin leaving? I'm hoping Maata has the worst Sophomore slump ever recorded.
- wolfhounds

I think Ehrhoff is better than Niskanen. Orpik is a minus and Engelland is a big minus

Edirt: They are forced to play Despres who deserves it and Pouliot may be on the roster by the end of next season

When will Downie sign? The anticipation is killing me

Niskanen and Ehrhoff seem to be a wash for the Pens, at least imo. Who replaces Orpik? Is Martin leaving? I'm hoping Maata has the worst Sophomore slump ever recorded.
- wolfhounds

And Laughton has an amazing 1st season

The Caps and Sabres?

Chicago got Brad Richards for nothing
- PhillySportsGuy

What makes that deal great is that it's only one year...the year before Toews and Kane break the bank. They can bring Teravainen along slowly this season, then have him on his ELC if he's ready. And if those guys both get $10 million, they're definitely gonna need a few guys on ELCs every year

Say what now?

I'm complimenting your stupid franchise
- PhillySportsGuy

Don't do that, you'll definitely regret it in the morning.

Mesz got a 1 year deal. Same with Ehrhoff, who is obviously looking to prove himself and get a bigger payday for a longer term next July.

Perhaps a lot of GMs came to the same conclusion many of us did - Niskanen was over-hyped and not worth a huge payday. As it is, he's on the books for the next 7 years. That's pretty good.

I like Orpik, but his deal is a head-scratcher.
- wolfhounds

I don't think Ehrhoff is looking to prove himself. He's a proven defenseman in this League. I think he wants to play in Pittsburgh, and was willing to take that deal to play there. He has 12M already in his back pocket.

I think Niskanen also took less money to play with the Caps. There was a rumored deal for 7M for 7 years from TB. Although the term is long, 5.75M is a really good deal for the Caps.

Say what now?

I'm complimenting your stupid franchise
- PhillySportsGuy

jussi jokinen? i remember we both were coveting him. i really thought hed end up on one of the PA teams.

he wanted 4 mill for 4 years all along. in a way im glad because that 4th year makes me leery, but oh well.

The Van Dammes move on...
- Cable2k

us totally impotent.

Lightning, Sabers and Capitals seem to be the winners today.
- SuperSchennBros

Who are the losers?

Its cool being a spectator to all these ridiculous deals for once. Florida Panthers JFC. I can not believe Mez got over 4 million. But they have to hit the cap floor.

Being a UFA at all is such a big deal. These teams that suck need to hit the cap floor and these crap players reap the benefits.

With better/younger guys like Byfuglien, Yandle, Mike Green, Myers, Oduya, Campbell, Coburn, Phaneuf, Edler, etc all rumored to be available, I'm saving my cap-space to go after them... not marrying myself to secondary options like Stralman, Niskanen, and Boyle, even if I don't have to expend assets to get them.
- Tomahawk

Lots of mixing of different kinds of defenseman there. There's young inconsistent types like Myers. A team looking for a puck moving offensive defenseman, isn't going to be interested in Coburn. And I don't know how it's rumored that he's available. And there's also different levels of players, and different costs. And I highly doubt there's that many good defenseman actually available. And if they are the cost is high. And when looking at it, have to look at the fit. That's the mistake that a lot of fans make. They put together some list of who they think is better that might be cheaper. When the team making the decision, doesn't think they are better.

Congratulations! I checked the code.

Raffl-Giroux-Voracek
Schenn-Lecavalier-Simmonds
Umburger-Couturier-Read
Rosehill-Laughton-Rinaldo

Grossmann-Coburn
Timonen-Schenn
MacDonald-Streit

Mason
Emery

Stupid Umburger and stupid Raffl can be switched if need be.

I don't think Ehrhoff is looking to prove himself. He's a proven defenseman in this League. I think he wants to play in Pittsburgh, and was willing to take that deal to play there. He has 12M already in his back pocket.

I think Niskanen also took less money to play with the Caps. There was a rumored deal for 7M for 7 years from TB. Although the term is long, 5.75M is a really good deal for the Caps.
- MJL

Apparently players take less money in Florida because theres no job tax. I was schooled on that thought today. That's why the corpse of willie Mitchell gets 2 years at 4.25