2014 NHL Signing/Trade Thread

[Kovy27]

Since there is about a month left before the deadline, might as well add them all here.

SIGNING - Varlamov signs with Colorado for 5 years, 29.5 mill. LINK
TRADE - Toronto trades Mark Fraser to EDM for Cameron Abney and Teemu Hartikainen.
TRADE - Montreal trades Raphael Diaz to Vancouver for Dale Weise.
TRADE - Pittsburgh trades Paul Thompson to Columbus for Spencer Machachek
TRADE - NY Islanders trade Pierre-Marc Bouchard (50% retained) and Peter Regin (50% retained) to Chicago for a 4th round pick in the 2014 Entry Draft.
TERMINATED CONTRACT - Buffalo terminates Linus Omark's contract.
SIGNING - Girardi signs with NY Rangers for 6 years, 33 mill.
TRADE - Buffalo trades Ryan Miller and Steve Ott to St. Louis for Jaro Halak, Chris Stewart, William Carrier, 2015 1st and 2016 3rd
TRADE - Florida trades Eric Selleck to St. Louis for Mark Mancari.
TRADE - Chicago trades Brandon Pirri to Florida for a 2014 3rd Round Pick and 2016 5th Round Pick.
SIGNING - Scrivens signs with Edmonton for 2 years, 4.6 mill.
SIGNING - Brandon Bollig signs with Chicago for 3 years, 3.75 mill.

[Kovy27]

Toronto trades Mark Fraser to EDM for Cameron Abney and Teemu Hartikainen. LINK

[mikey287]

Fraser is like Engelland kind of. Abney is useless. The guy I like in this deal is Teemu Hartikainen. He's, coincidentally, exactly what the Oilers need...he's a man, he plays physical, he does that grunt work and can finish around the net...he's going to be a decent complementary piece in this league if he gets an opportunity...I was disappointed that he went over, as the Oilers swapped big, ornery Finns essentially when Jesse Joensuu came over and Harti left...

Harti will come over next year and Kulemin will be traded or simply allowed to walk...Harti is his replacement...

[Kovy27]

Montreal trades Raphael Diaz to Vancouver for Dale Weise. LINK

[Idoit40fans]

Fraser is like Engelland kind of. Abney is useless.

So theyre both like Engelland.

[SolidSnake]

Montreal trades Raphael Diaz to Vancouver for Dale Weise. LINK

[youtube][/youtube]

[mikey287]

I want to see a little more tape on Diaz before committing to this, but I think that player 61 is decent puck-mover, I'm detecting some upside there...certainly more than Dale Weise, who is just your average fork and spoon operator...though, as a disclaimer, I remember feeling similarly about Marc-Andre Gragnani as I do Diaz...

[mikey287]

Just to make it official in case Kovy updates the OP...

Chicago acquires: Pierre-Marc Bouchard (50% retained) and Peter Regin (50% retained)
Islanders acquire: 4th round pick in 2014

Hooray for PMB!

[Kovy27]

Updated.

Chicago gets some guys that will definitely help them out.

[Jim]

I do not understand that trade from the Islanders point of view... AT ALL!

[Idoit40fans]

Theyve played as many games as anyone in the conference and have fallen significantly behind. Salvaging a pick and saving what money they can.

[mikey287]

I do not understand that trade from the Islanders point of view... AT ALL!

Well, I'm a biased Pierre-Marc Bouchard fan, so I'm excited because I see the Blackhawks have still not filled their second line center spot and I think that PMB will somehow find his game and take that...in reality, what will probably happen is that Peter Regin becomes the 2nd line center for the Blackhawks, they realize how terrible he is (shows some flashes, but just never puts it all together, doesn't seem like a top-six player to me) and move him to utility winger or something and Bouchard never gets a chance because the organization feels he's done based on what he shows down in Rockford...

So, cynically, Bouchard is finished and after being a little guy who sustained a lot of injuries (head and otherwise), he just doesn't have it any more and is also scared to look for it...he did start on a line with John Tavares this year and it really didn't look good...I was disappointed...meanwhile, Regin is a never-was and had trouble advancing in the Isles lineup where guys like Michael Grabner, Brock Nelson, Colin McDonald, and if I had to guess based on this trade, young Ryan Strome (after the Olympics) have advanced and he did not...

Bouchard was on waivers, and no one would bat an eyelash if Regin was...so the Isles gave'em a haircut and took a draft pick...it frees up some money for them, however little, they weren't near the contract limit anyway...but losing Regin's roster spot, again, I assume, allows Strome to play, he's better now at 20 than Regin will ever be...

Meanwhile, for a late 4th, the Hawks get two centerman with hundreds of NHL games between them (something that pick #117 will never have) and they get to try their hand and whatever comes of it and if it's nothing, they gave up nothing...

[Chirpin' Grinder]

Sir Mikey, what happened with Regin? IIRC he was one of the better Senators forwards versus the Pens in the playoffs a few years back, then he took a few steps back. Islanders took a gamble on both of these guys and are clearly just cutting losses now and like you said, decent veteran depth/lottery tickets for a Blackhawks team that doesn't need much and gave up even less in this deal.

This is the second deal like this Bowman has pulled off this year after picking up Versteeg at half price from the Panthers.

This is exactly the type of deal Shero needs to pull off to add depth at forward, especially if he will find increased cap space with 58 possibly out long term. Find another Jokinen, a guy on a goin nowhere team that appears to be floundering but that can be useful in a role on the Pens. Shero needs NHL bodies up front.

The uncertainty regarding Letang, which as of now stretches well into the future, also mitigates the likelihood of a Despres deal (silver lining).

[columbia]

I do not understand that trade from the Islanders point of view... AT ALL!

1/2 season salary dump, where they still pay 1/2 of his salary?

So...yeah, I'm not sure that's worth a 4th round pick.

[Kovy27]

Sabres terminated the contract of Linus Omark. LINKAGE

[mikey287]

Yup. Omark was waived just before the hiatus here. Failed to report to Rochester. The Sabres and Omark went through the NHL's divorce court. Omark and the Sabres are now both free of the contract, and that's it...Omark will go back to Europe where he belongs. As another Oiler YouTube All-Star goes by the wayside...

[Idoit40fans]

Marty St Louis is happier about this than he is about being on the Olympic team.

[mikey287]

Sir Mikey, what happened with Regin? IIRC he was one of the better Senators forwards versus the Pens in the playoffs a few years back, then he took a few steps back. Islanders took a gamble on both of these guys and are clearly just cutting losses now and like you said, decent veteran depth/lottery tickets for a Blackhawks team that doesn't need much and gave up even less in this deal.

Sorry. Didn't see this. What happened with Regin? I don't really know...every day, he'd sit on the front steps, whittling a block of wood with his carving knife and one day, he walked inside without any fingers no one said a thing...

I'll try...one, he's injury prone. He must have once high-fived Pascal Leclaire, because he's got the -itis...you can't spell Regin without an "I" and "R". Two, he's just not a very consistent player and he can't multitask it seems...he can be offensively charged, but lose ground defensively...he can be defensively sticky, but then lose all his puck skills...he can be an energy guy, until the power goes out...

And he's gotten a lot of mileage out of that playoff series...and honestly, that's one of the last times I've actually seen him on the ice...I've watched games he's played in, but I rarely spot him...he's one of those guys that has potential, both ways, and you want to give it a try...but ultimately, it's just not going...he could be one of those anonymous NHLers, one of those guys that's in the NHL because he was last year...formerly, Tom Wandell, Dustin Jeffrey, Mark Letestu, Chris Butler, Taylor Pyatt, soon, Michael Raffl, etc.

I mean, maybe he's not over all his shoulder injuries...but he's a guy that maybe cashes in in Switzerland or Sweden next season...a less physical league would bring out a lot in him I think...

[MRandall25]

Hey, Marky Mark aka Science aka The Test Tube has earned himself a spot/niche in the Columbus roster and is probably one of their best PKers.

[Kovy27]

Dan Girardi is staying with the Rangers.

6 years, 33 mill

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/nyr140228a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SolidSnake]

Bye bye Callahan

[Kovy27]

Ryan Miller and Steve Ott to STL
Jaro Halak, Chris Stewart, William Carrier, 2015 1st Rounder, 2016 3rd Round to BUF

http://blues.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=7 ... L|STL|home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Shakes]

Ryan Miller and Steve Ott to STL
Jaro Halak, Chris Stewart, William Carrier, 2015 1st Rounder, 2016 3rd Round to BUF

http://blues.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=7 ... L|STL|home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well, there's the first big shot fired.

Wonder if Stewart/Moulson will be moved again.

[pcm]

That's a good haul for Buffalo. It could very likely be 2 1sts. Plus, whatever young player Tim Murray plucks from Ottawa for Stewart. Maybe Halak gets moved again (Washington?) too.

[mikey287]

Fla gets: Brandon Pirri
Chi gets: 3rd (2014) and 5th (2016)

Little odd, B-Hawks do not have any center depth, Pirri was experimented with on the 2nd line a little bit...one must assume they have another center lined up...