Looking for a potential Fantasy League steal next season? How about Andrew Hutchinson, the ultimate power play specialist "defenseman" that the Tampa Bay Lightning just signed to a two-year free agent deal.
With Dan Boyle traded to the Sharks, the Lightning are woefully short of blue-line talent that can produce offensively. Filip Kuba led all Bolts' d-men with a whopping 31 points last season. That ain't gonna cut it, sister!
Hutchinson is clearly going to be given a chance to quarterback the Tampa power play, and after spending last season in the AHL (64 points in 67 games), he'll be a very cheap pick-up in any fantasy league you're in.
In 95 career NHL games, Hutchinson has put up 33 points, with 20 of those being on the ice during mad-advantage situations. Consider the fact that Hutchinson averaged just 12:13 of ice time per game, and you realize that the boy knows how to put points up on the board at an efficient and effective rate.
Yes, Hutchinson has many warts in his game, but Tampa has loaded up their forward corps with many offensive talents to feed the puck to. A team that features Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi, and Vaclav Prospal front is going to, potentially, do a lot of damage on the Power Play.
When Tuomo Ruutu was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks 9th overall back in 2001 draft, pundits expected Ruutu would be the next BIG THING in NHL Power Forwards.
Ruutu started off quite well, putting up and playing a very aggressive crash-and-bang "Canadian" style of game and putting up 23 goals in his rookie season. Ruutu loved to deliver hits, and looked like he'd develop into an effective 35-40 goal scorer for the Hawks for many seasons to come.
Alas, Ruutu ran into injury problems (and was mistaken for an armed robber!), and was never quite the same again. During the past two seasons, Ruutu has put up just 38 points in each campaign and hardly looks like he belongs on the top two lines of any club. The Canes, who gave up Andrew Ladd (another disappointing forward) to acquire Tuomo, are hoping that Ruutu can find his game in a new home, signed the young Finn to a simple 1-year deal that will pay him a cool $2.25M next season.
"We are happy he'll be back with our team and we hope that he can stay healthy and return to the 20-goal plateau that he reached during his rookie season," said Rutherford.
Is Tuomo simply a bigger version of his pesty and unproductive brother, Jarkko, or will he actually provide above-average offensive numbers? 20 goals is hardly much of an exciting target.
With the Salary Cap hovering over the Pittsburgh Penguins like a dark cloud over a Sunday picnic (cue dark and evil background muzak), many pundits and fans have wondered if the Penguins will be able to keep the dynamic duo of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby together for the long-term. Given the Penguins are having to spend big bucks to keep the likes of Ryan Whitney and Marc-Andre Fleury in the fold, can and will the Penguins be able to have enough cap room to keep Malkin while icing a successful club?
It has been widely speculated that Malkin would demand "Ovechkin!!" money, and might price himself out of the Penguins ability to keep him. Would the Pens have to trade Malkin rather than risk losing him on the Restricted Free Agent market to some poacher?
Well, it appears that Pens fans need not worry any longer. Reports from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and TSN.ca indicate that the Pens and Malkin are close on a new deal which will see Malkin and Crosby stay together for a very long time.
"I'm thinking maybe five or six years," said Malkin, set to enter the final season of his three-year entry-level deal. "I'm an easy guy to deal with. I'd love to stay in Pittsburgh."
Malkin told the newspaper he does not need to exceed the $8.7 million salary of captain Sidney Crosby but sources tell TSN the likely target for Malkin is a five-year deal worth more than $9 million per season.
Obviously, this bodes well for both the Penguins and the league. Having THE dynamic duo together and maintaining a popular 'dynasty' (for lack of a better term) will provide the fans with a must-see team for many years, and give the league a team that it can promote. As great as the Wings are, their style of play, and their quiet superstars, just aren't as marketable as the Golden Boys.
Part of me worries that the Pens could end up like the Tampa Bay Lightning: Stacked with a few highly-paid superstars and a whole bunch of chaff. On the other hand, the Pens have a much better farm system, plenty more quality depth, and a salary cap that continues to rise. The future is bright.
The problem with being a hockey goalie prospect is that there are so few job openings for your position. Each team carries 13 forwards and seven defensemen, but usually only two goalies. It's kind of hard to crack the big time when only 60+ positions are open at any time.
For the Wings' Jimmy Howard, it must have been a huge relief to see Dominik Hasek retire and open up a job within the NHL ranks. No prospect, no matter how good there are, is going to get a lot of playing time when Chris Osgood and Hasek are on the roster.
"I think Jimmy Howard is very close, if not there, to playing in the NHL," Holland said. "I'm guessing Ozzie can play 50 games, maybe more. The 20-30 games that Chris doesn't play in a parity league, those are key points. The hardest thing is, we're trying to continue to be a Cup contender. How do you move young people into your team at a key position?"
The Wings have always had the mentality of breaking in their kids slowly, giving the likes of Jiri Hudler and Nicklas Kronwall tidbits of ice time while the old guys got the bulk of the work.
In Howard's case, he certainly shouldn't count on the Wings' backup job being his, given that there are a few factors working against him.
Given that Wesley is approaching the big 4-0, and has been rumored to be retiring for the past few years, today's announcement is no surprise.
Just like buddy Ron Francis, Wesley will remain with the Hurricanes in the role of "Director of Defensemen Development". Who comes up with these titles?
"There were a lot of memories, alot of great things that I can reflect on," said Wesley. "But I think for right now I'm going to enjoy time with the family and hopefully improve my golf game."
"It's [Director's role] a new role that the organization has given to me and I think it's something I'm going to enjoy in working with the younger defensemen," said Wesley. "Hopefully I'll be able to help them in different perspectives."
Besides being quite easy to notice with his fiery red hair, Wesley will always be remembered, by myself at least, for being part of the most lopsided deals of all time.
Sami Kapanen, the spunky jack-of-all trades saw the writing on the wall when the Flyers made him a healthy scratch/bit player during their playoff run. After a regular season which saw the little bugger get a whopping eight points in 74 games, it's not as if the Flyers were going to utilize Kapanen in a big role.
Flyers right wing Sami Kapanen has decided to end his NHL career with the Flyers and play in his native Finland next season.
Kapanen, who will turn 35 on June 14, has agreed to return to KalPa Kuopio of the Finnish League, where he played 10 games during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
Kapanen had one year remaining on a contract that would have paid him $1.25 million next season. That salary will come off the Flyers' books for the 2008-09 season.
Part of me has always thought as Kapanen as a disappointment. Given his speed and smarts, I figured he be able to put up much better offensive numbers than he did. Sure, 458 points in 831 games is nothing to scoff at, but Sami only ever crossed the 60-point barrier twice in his career, and took a huge nosedive in 2002, when he was 29 and still in good shape.
On the other hand, Kapanen has been one of the most flexible and useful players during his later career. How many other players would you be comfortable playing at both forward and defense, and in any situation? Sami could do it all and never put up a fuss about it, unlike Sergei Fedorov.
Flyers fans are probably feeling a bit sad and glad today, given how much Kapanen busted his balls for the Flyers, but also knowing that this gives Philly a much needed bit of cap room to use on a younger player who isn't skating with a giant fork in his back.
While Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin get all of the media attention and fanboy love, let's not forget that Marián Hossa, a star in his own right, is doing his fair share of scoring for the Penguins in these playoffs. How does a guy with nine goals and 19 points in 14 games get so little attention?
Of course, these are the kinds of numbers that Hossa should be putting up, given his skill level and the fact that the Penguins traded the house (Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito, and Pittsburgh's 1st round choice in 2008 NHL Entry Draft) to rent the guy for a few months.
Last year, Hossa put up one of the stankiest playoff performances of all time with one lone assist in 4 invisible games. After scoring 100 points in the regular season, Hossa didn't even generate a drop of sweat as the Thrashers were swept aside like a cow in a tornado.
Chris Simon's tumultuous National Hockey League career may have officially come to an end on Saturday when he signed a contract with Vityaz Chekhov of the Continental Hockey League in Russia, according to Russian media reports.
Simon, who has been suspended twice by the NHL in the past 15 months for a total of 55 games, finished the 2007-08 season with the Minnesota Wild. He scored one goal and added two assists in 38 NHL games split between the Wild and New York Islanders last season.
Fighting is not allowed in European leagues, which already negates Simon's #1 skill. With Simon's lack of foot-speed, you know he'll end up taking a lot of dumb fouls, which he's very good at, and hurt his team with many penalties to kill.
I know the Russian Super league loves to sign ex-NHLers, but why sign a 36-year old thug who has just 52 points in his last 177 games?
While the trading away of veterans Tomas Vokoun, Scott Hartnell, and Kimmo Timonen signaled a cleaning of the Nashville Predators' house, and reeked of a ' asset sell off', the Preds have quietly done a good job in securing their premium young players to long-term deals.
"Martin Erat is a perfect example of this organization's philosophy," Poile said. "He came to us as a seventh-round draft pick, and grew steadily into an elite player when given an opportunity to succeed. He has continued to take on more responsibility and is an integral part of our team moving forward. We look forward to his leadership and production for the next seven years."
As fellow FanHouser James Mirtle notes, Erat is getting paid quite handsomely for a guy who puts up a good-but-not-great 55-60 points a season. Given Erat's upside, he *should* be able to do better in the future, and he has the skills to do so.
Next up for the Preds? Ryan Suter and Shea Weber, the two cornerstone defensemen who will both want similar contracts, and one Dan Ellis, who won the #1 goaltender's job after Chris Mason laid a whole basket of eggs.
One thing that I have always enjoyed about the NHL Playoffs are those blue-collar plumbers and grinders that go on an incredible streak and get a little bit of limelight to themselves. Guys like Chris Kontos, Dave Lowry, and John Druce were typically third line players that got little notice through most of their careers, but earned some fame for some unexpected playoff heroics.
As a Panthers fan, back in 1996, I'll never forget Dave Lowry leading the Panthers in playoff scoring with 17 points and 10 goals. This, after scoring just 24 points during the whole season. Yowsa!
This season, Detroit's Johan "Mule" Franzen has leaped into Conn Smythe contention with 11(!) goals, three assists, and +9 in 13 games, including two hat tricks. Not bad for a guy who had just 27 goals and 38 points in 72 games during the regular season.
Even more impressive is that Franzen's 11 goals scored is a Red Wings record for one playoff year. That's quite a feat, given the Wings have had many great postseason performers, such as Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan.
The Mule still has one or two more series to go, and just may put that team record out of reach for good.
Looking for a potential Fantasy League steal next season? How about Andrew Hutchinson, the ultimate power play specialist "defenseman" that the Tampa Bay Lightning just signed to a two-year free agent deal.
When Tuomo Ruutu was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks 9th overall back in 2001 draft, pundits expected Ruutu would be the next BIG THING in NHL Power Forwards.
With the Salary Cap hovering over the Pittsburgh Penguins like a dark cloud over a Sunday picnic (cue dark and evil background muzak), many pundits and fans have wondered if the Penguins will be able to keep the dynamic duo of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby together for the long-term. Given the Penguins are having to spend big bucks to keep the likes of Ryan Whitney and Marc-Andre Fleury in the fold, can and will the Penguins be able to have enough cap room to keep Malkin while icing a successful club?
The problem with being a hockey goalie prospect is that there are so few job openings for your position. Each team carries 13 forwards and seven defensemen, but usually only two goalies. It's kind of hard to crack the big time when only 60+ positions are open at any time.
Another one of the NHL's longest serving players, Carolina's Glen Wesley, 
While Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin get all of the media attention and fanboy love, let's not forget that Marián Hossa, a star in his own right, is doing his fair share of scoring for the Penguins in these playoffs. How does a guy with nine goals and 19 points in 14 games get so little attention?
When you think of what it would take to play in the Russian Super league, if you ever do, what do you think of?
While the trading away of veterans Tomas Vokoun, Scott Hartnell, and Kimmo Timonen signaled a cleaning of the Nashville Predators' house, and reeked of a ' asset sell off', the Preds have quietly done a good job in securing their premium young players to long-term deals. 
One thing that I have always enjoyed about the NHL Playoffs are those blue-collar plumbers and grinders that go on an incredible streak and get a little bit of limelight to themselves. Guys like Chris Kontos, Dave Lowry, and John Druce were typically third line players that got little notice through most of their careers, but earned some fame for some unexpected playoff heroics. 
