Ice Scoopz: Friday Evening

Lots more signings to announce plus a few rumors for you digest with your supper.

*-> Mathieu Lombardi is now a Nashville Predator. Lombardi signed a 3 year deal worth 10.5$ million. The speedy center will take over much of the offensive role for the Preds.

*-> The Edmonton Oilers have found their enforcer after 2 days of bidding. The Oilers have decided to bring back tough guy Steve MacIntyre for another season. The terms of the deal were unannounced but we do know it is a 1 year 1 way deal.

*-> The Edmonton Oilers have also resigned Jason Strudwick to a 1 year deal as well as they have comes to terms with AHLer Richard Petiot. The Petiot is a 2 way 1 year deal.

*-> The Florida Panthers have signed Chris Higgins to a 1 year deal worth 1.6$ million hoping the former Canadien will have a bounceback season. Higgins is expected to play a second line role for the cats.

*-> The Buffalo Sabres have resigned forward Cody McCormick to a year deal worth 500K$.

*-> Defenseman Mark Eaton was forced out of Pittsburgh today after he told the team he'd wait a day to see if he was still a fit with the Pens. Turns out Mihalik and Martin both are higher up on the depth chart so Eaton has moved on to the New York Islanders. The Islanders are paying Eaton 2.5$ Mil for 2 seasons for a total of 5$ mil.

*-> The Islanders also bolstered their defense by adding shut down defenseman Milan Jurcina to the fold as well. Jurcina will make 1$ million even for 1 year.

*-> The Islanders have also decided to add some toughness to the lineup by signing former Tampa tough guy Zenon Konopka. Konopka is rumored to be signed at 2 years for 1 million a season but it's not yet been confrimed. While working on toughness the Islanders have also added former New York Ranger prospect P.A Parenteau for a season at 600K$.

*-> The St. Louis Blues have resigned Brad Winchester to a 1 year deal worth 700K.

*-> The Coyotes have signed Andrew Ebbett of the Minnesota Wild.

*-> Ryan Craig has left the Tampa Bay Lightning and signed a 1 year deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins worth 500K$.

*-> The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally come to terms with Russian forward Nikolai Kulemin. The RFa was signed today to a 2 year deal worth 4.7$ Million.

*-> The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed a trio of players to 2 ways deals. Nate Guenin, Kyle Wilson, and Trevor Frischmon have all signed with the Blue Jackets.

*-> Niklas Persson of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL has signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

*-> The Florida Panthers have lured Bill Thomas back to the NHL from Lugano.

*-> Trevor Smith has left the Islanders for the Anaheim Ducks.

*-> Enforcer Jimmy Bonneau has signed and AHL contract to return to the Hamilton Bulldogs after playing a season for the Rochester Americans.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*-> Rumors out of Philly have the Tampa Bay Lightning putting several offers on the table for Simon Gagne yesterday but the Flyers reportedly were unsure of trading Gagne. The Flyers have to make a move to clear some cap space and it is expected ether Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne or Daniel Briere will be dealt. All signs point to Jeff Carter still as the other two have no trade clauses and Jeff Carter is a lot more appealable. The Nashville Predators were looking at Carter but after todays moves expected to pull away from the deal. The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Toronto Maple Leafs should still be interested.

*-> Former Phoenix Coyote Ladislav Nagy is looking at making a return to the NHL after playing a year in the KHL for Severstal Cherepovets. A few teams have reportedly shown interest in Nagy and it's rumored he's willing to sign a "damaged" player discount ala Maxim Afinogenov. He may be worth taking a flyer on if it's under a mil.

*-> The Minnesota Wild have reportedly shown interest in veteran Mike Modano.

*-> I've had several people ask me about free agent Roman Cervenka recently. He bailed on all of the NHL offers he received to play with Jaromir Jagr for the next 2 years in Russia. He signed a 2 year deal with Avangard OMSK of the KHL.

*-> Finally on the Ilya Kovalchuk front, it appears Kovalchuk is sitting on several offers. It's believed the Nashville Predators and the New York based team both have mild interest. It's believed the New York based team is the Islanders just to due cap space and the lack of Ranger cap space. The New Jersey Devils still would like to retain Kovalchuk at the right price it's believed while the Los Angeles Kings have put a decent offer on the table to bring him to Hollywood. Now some teams to think about are the Colorado Avalanche who have an abundance of cap space and Carolina Hurricanes who desperatly need some help up front next season. A big name could rekindle life back into Raleigh. Some are also saying the Sabres but now that Tallinder and Lydman are gone they need defensive help badly and will most likely jump into the Kaberle sweapstakes or take a run at Willie Mitchell or Bieksa. Kovalchuk is believed to be thinking his options over and even milling over several massive KHL offers. The KHL could be very tempting but I believe his heart is in the NHL with the bright lights and big cities and well better competiton. We'll keep our eyes open and wait for this one.