Kukla's Korner

Sens Have Little Money To Play With

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/30/07 at 10:10 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

It’s more likely Ottawa will focus on the second tier of free agents.
That could include forwards like Bill Guerin, Robert Lang or Dainius Zubrus..
Murray, who replaced John Muckler on June 18, is in a difficult spot.
The Senators have spent about $42 million on 16 players for next season and that’s before a raise for goalie Ray Emery has been factored into the equation.
The Senators would like to keep centre Mike Comrie, who made $3 million last season, but Murray has indicated he just doesn’t have the money. Expect to see the Maple Leafs and Capitals make a pitch for Comrie.

more

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Will Wings Have To Choose Between Schneider and Smyth?

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By IwoCPO

06/30/07 at 02:23 AM ET | Comments (0)

So, Sunday’s July the first; and July the first starts the Summer of Smyth.  And the Summer of Smyth better culminate with that frigging hippie eating cheddar in Hockeytown.  What seemed unlikely to the pessimistic among you now has a bit more reality attached to it.  The 50.3 Cap has given the Wunderkind some breathing room.  But a few million dollars doesn’t mean a stress-free existence for our boy Kenny.  Nope, he’s got some decisions to make; and one of them just may be the toughest of his tenure as genius behind the dynasty.

Could it come down to a choice between Mathieu Schneider and Ryan Smyth?  If so, who do you shell out the bucks to?  Ponder that while I dig a bit.

Continue Reading »

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Get Ready

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/30/07 at 12:34 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

Salary cap or no salary cap, the hottest candidates usually go first — and this year, Brière, Chris Drury, Ryan Smyth and Scott Gomez should all be gobbled up within the first 48 hours of what some call the NHL’s silly season for prices that could reach $8-million (U.S.) or more a season.
Brisson likens the anticipated bidding war to “a game of musical chairs” and says that, nowadays, an agent needs to be aware of how many seats there are for a player of a certain type. For example, if eight teams have a need for a No. 1 player and there are only three on the market, the action on them figures to be fast and furious.

read on

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Don’t Be Shocked

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/29/07 at 08:38 PM ET | Comments (0)

There seems to be some “drama” coming from the announcement of the cap ceiling announced today.  By now you know the cap is set at $50.3M.
Last week at the NHL Draft I talked with numerous GMs and team officials and they all told me the cap would be very close to $50.5M, which I reported.

Now all of the sudden, “drama” is unfolding, teams are in a panic because they thought the cap would be set at $52M.
Don’t believe it, just more garbage to collect website hits.

Filed in: NHL Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Toskala Extension Agreed Upon

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/29/07 at 07:04 PM ET | Comments (0)

Howard Berger was just on Fan590 radio in Toronto and mentioned an extension is in place for Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala.
The extension cannot be announced until July 1st.
I missed the terms, if anyone gets them, feel free to post…

added 5:22pm, 3 year deal with an option year per Fan590, no $$$ given…

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Gelinas Appears To Be Staying With Florida

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/29/07 at 06:25 PM ET | Comments (0)

from On Frozen Pond,

I hear Martin Gelinas is close to agreeing to a deal with the Panthers, following in the steps of Jozef Stumpel. Both are getting two-year deals, so it appears JM likes his team so much he’s tying everyone up for at least a couple years.

more on the Panthers…

added 7:44pm, from the Palm Beach Post,

Gelinas apparently will not be among that group. He moved his family back to Calgary over the summer and expressed doubts that he would return this year, preferring instead to sign with either Calgary or another Western Conference club.
“I haven’t heard from him, (so) I expect at this point he will pursue free agency,” Martin said. “All along, he indicated that’s the direction he may want to go. But I’m still optimistic, so we’ll see.”

more...
Well, maybe not…

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Allison Plans Return

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/29/07 at 06:15 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Pierre Lebrun of the CP via the Globe and Mail,

“I’m physically and mentally as healthy as I’ve been in five years,” Allison told The Canadian Press in an interview on Friday. “I’m excited and ready to go.”
The 32-year-old free-agent centre disappeared into the NHL wilderness last year, taking a season off while ironing out issues in his private life.
“I had a lot of personal stuff to deal with last year — just getting my life re-organized and dealing with family issues,” said Allison, who went through a divorce. “It’s been a good year for me, even though I didn’t play hockey and people were wondering where I was or what I was doing ...
“It was important for me to just get feeling good about life.”

read on

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Briere Will Be Available On July 1st

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/29/07 at 06:11 PM ET | Comments (0)

from TSN,

Briere’s agent, Pat Brisson has informed Sabres management his client intends on investigating his options in unrestricted free agency.
“We’ve made a decision to go to July 1st,” Brisson told TSN.ca. “We haven’t closed the door on the idea of returning to Buffalo entirely, however out of respect to Darcy Regier and the organization we felt it was important to make our intentions clear.”

more

added 5:13pm, the CP, via TSN, has a story regarding most of the top UFAs….

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The Nashville Mess

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/29/07 at 05:33 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Jim Kelley at Sportsnet,

Once it became apparent that Balsillie’s hugely inflated purchase price (one that apparently included sending some $18 million that could reasonably be assumed to be Leipold’s cut of an upcoming expansion pie, wasn’t going to be enough to convince Bettman to roll over and allow Balsillie to put the team where he wanted, who is ultimately responsible for the decisions that may well have gutted the franchise?
Add to that, what does it mean for the future sale of the team?
It is fair to say that an NHL team without Forsberg, Kariya, Timonen, Hartnell and Vokoun simply is not as desirable a property as a team with them, but does that hold true if you’re eventually looking to keep fans in Nashville from buying in excess of 14,000 season tickets next season? Clearly if you want out of Nashville, you don’t want the fans to embrace your team.

read on

Filed in: Nashville Predators, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Smyth Will Hit The Market

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/29/07 at 02:55 PM ET | Comments (0)

Don Meehan, agent for Ryan Symth was just on Leafs Lunch.  A once in a lifetime opportunity for Smyth to see what his value is.  The Islanders have made an offer, but Smyth wants to see what he is worth on the open market.
Also, cap numbers have been set, Ceiling is $50.3M and floor is $34M and maybe some change.

added 12:57pm, via TSN,

Sources tell TSN that for the 2007-08 season, the salary cap will rise to a maximum of $50.3-million. That is a $6-million increase from this past season when the cap was set at $44-million.
Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, teams must spend at least $34.3-million on salaries next season.

added 1:37pm, Darren Dreger just on Leafs Lunch and said the same thing, Smyth will test the market.  Dreger has heard the Islanders have offered Smyth $6.5M per year and that figure may scare some teams off.  But Smyth also wants to win and he may question if the Islanders have that ability in the near future.

Filed in: NHL Talk, New York Islanders, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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