Lots of action heading into the draft next week and free agency July 1st as teams scramble to sign their free agents. The next 15 draft picks of my preview will be released late Friday night. Heres some signings to start the day off.
*-> The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed big Todd Bertuzzi to a 2 year deal. The big winger will remain in Detroit for the next 2 years at 3.8$ mil a season. A bit expensive in my books but he did have a great playoff run with 10 points in 11 games.
*-> The Detroit Red wings have also announced they have signed the older brother of Valtteri Filppula, Ilari. Ilari Filppula played last season for TPS Turku of the Sm-Liiga and put up decent numbers as the leagues 9th placed scorer. It is reported it's a 2 year 2 way deal. Terms were unannounced however.
*-> The Nashville Predators have signed fan favorite and former Montreal Canadian Francois Bouillon. The deal is worth 1.2$ mil in the first season and in the second 1.5$ mil for a total of two years.
*-> The Montreal Canadians officially bought out the contract of tough guy Georges Laroque yesterday. Laroque who never quite fit in with the Habs struggled to get himself in the lineup and also struggled to get healthy with an ailing back problem. The buyout is worth only 500K$ over 2 years. The tough guy apparently still plans on playing next season and has remained in shape. Rumors out of finland have him headed over seas to play in the SM-Liiga. Finland is the toughest league overseas but I still don't see him having the speed to succeed.
*-> The Tampa Bay Lightning have qualified 10 of their Restricted Free Agents as the free agency window looms. Steve Downie, Blair Jones, Martins Karsums, Mike Lundin, Vladimir Mihalik, Teddy Purcell, Paul Ranger, Juraj Simek, Paul Szczechura, and Nate Thompson. Only Chris Lawrence, Radek Smolenak and Lauri Tukonen did not receive offers and will hit the market July 1st.
*-> Finally the New Jersey Devils are set to announce later today that John Maclean will take over the bench for Jacques Lemaire next season. Not really a shocker as the Devils have been grooming Maclean for a while now down in Lowell.
more news later plus some good rumors
2 comments:
Maybe Laraque can play next season in Haiti, assuming the earthquake didnt affect their network of rinks......
Did anyone else watch the Off The Record wrestling match between George St. Pierre and Laroque? My guess is he may try his hand at MMA.
Post a Comment