Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

One Crazy Day

07/02/2014 at 9:03am EDT

from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

Teams spent more than half a billion dollars on 75 players, which dwarfed last year’s $340 million in the first day of free-agency and was considerably higher than the 2009 $384 million, according to TSN’s counter.

There could be “cartoon anvils” over some general managers’ heads, as one of their brethren said — how about Brooks Orpik’s $27 million over five years in Washington? — but, for the most part, teams gave players money but stayed away from long-term, except for defenceman Matt Niskanen, who got seven years from the Washington Capitals as the top D-man on the shelves.

The arms race in the West got stronger as teams tried to keep up to the Cup-winning Los Angeles Kings. Nobody wanted to be left out.

The Eastern teams didn’t make anywhere near the splash on a day that really was “Free-Agent Frenzy.”

Unlike trade deadline day, when people are waiting around for hours for even the small fry to move, deals were coming fast and furious, starting with Christian Ehrhoff’s one-year deal about 30 seconds after the market opened.

Here’s a look at who did what, barring in mind we’ve got another day Wednesday for those left out in the cold, like Marty Brodeur and Olli Jokinen, David Legwand and Mikhail Grabovski.

read on

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

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