More NHL Signings

Plenty of moves happened that don't really deserve a stand alone post. Let's start with Antero Nittymaki going to the Sharks. Most of the reaction has been negative, but I think the Sharks are getting a steal with him. Let's face it, getting a top flight goalie didn't matter for either Cup participant, plus Nabokov was right to let leave and Marty Turco is to me buyer beware. If the Sharks get another top-4 D-man, Nittymaki will be fine.

Dan Ellis is headed to Tampa, another good move for Steve Yzerman. Ellis is a very capable goalie and I think give Mike Smith a run for his money to take his job. And at two years/$3, not a bad deal salary-wise as well.

The Leafs made their first move by signing Colby Armstrong to a three year/$9 million deal. He'll fit as either a bottom forward with some scoring or a top forward as Kessel-protection. Doesn't turn them into a playoff team.

The Penguins got their second defensemen, signing Paul Martin to a five year/$25 million deal. Martin will add to the Pens blueline as a smart, puck moving D-man. Still, the Pens haven't addressed their lack of wingers and I don't think they ever will in Ray Shero's tenure.

Derek Morris was resigned by the Coyotes which goes to show that Phoenix is the only place Morris is considered a valuable player. They also signed Ray Whitney to a two year/$6 million contract. I like the Whitney move since he hasn't really declined yet and will proven invaluable to a young team learning to win. The question for the Yotes, does this mean the end for Matt Lombardi?

The Buffalo Sabres lost a couple players, it's an annual tradition for them. Toni Lydman leaves for the Ducks, signing for a 3 years/$9 million deal. Meanwhile, Henrik Tallinder signs for 4 years at $3.375 per with the Devils as Paul Martin's replacement. His key role will be mentoring future Swedish defensemen the Devils have coming up. Stay tuned for more moves.

St. Louis resigns and Michalek to Pens

The best move of the day occurs in Tampa as they resign Martin St. Louis to a four year/$22.4 million extension. Great move by Yzerman, who keeps Marty for about half what they did for Vinny Lecavalier. He'll continue to help Steven Stamkos turn into perhaps the best player in the NHL in a few years. If not best, top 5 for sure.

The Penguins recovered from losing Sergei Gonchar and signed Zybnek Michalek to a five year/$20 million deal. Michalek appears to be the start as Dan Hamhius or Paul Martin are on the Pens radar. Good move as Michalek was a cheaper, but better version of Anton Volchenkov, the most overrated in the market. Z can shut players down and has some offensive upside. Stay tuned for more.

Gonchar to the Sens and more

The biggest signing of the first hour was Sergei Gonchar signing with the Ottawa Senators for 3 years/$5.5 mil per. According to Pierre LeBrun, the Pens would have signed him to that deal if he wasn't over 35. This means Volchenkov is definitely gone and now the Pens might be in on two defensemen. I think three years for Gonchar can work, but the first year must be good. If not, then it will be a bust. Remember, Gonchar gets hurt a lot, and that's why I was wary to sign him.

The Rangers resigned Erik Christensen to a two year deal just days after everyone in NY questioned his sanity for rejecting a deal. Looks like Christensen got a little more with about $975K/year. Good move by Rangers since any move that isn't a cap crippling move is a good thing. That's what its come to for the Glen Sather Era, don't f--- s--- up too much.

Also, Alex Tanguay is going back to Calgary for one year at $1.7 million. If he has anything left, this is the best place to see, with previous success. The big story for the Flames is a rumored Marc Savard-Robin Regehr trade. Both guys have no movement clauses, both solve issues for both teams (Flames need a playmaking center for Iginla, Bruins find a taker for Savard and get a good D-man for their trouble). Stay tuned.

Biron to the Rangers and more

Rangers made the first signing of the Free Agency period by signing Martin Biron to be Henrik Lundqvist's backup (I'd link the story, but almost every relevant NHL writer tweeted this move). The deal is for 2 yrs/$875,000 per. I must say, this move was expected and honestly, you can do a lot worse. Johan Hedberg is only good against the Rangers, so that move would have been a failure. Arturo Nittymaki and Dan Ellis probably wanted to have a chance to start and would of cost more. Biron works and should get about 20 games for the next two years.

The other big move before we started was Andrej Meszaros going from Tampa to Philly for a 2nd round pick. Tampa clears $4 million in cap room which Steve Yzerman can now use to sign a better defensemen or a goalie (Nabokov, perhaps?). Meanwhile, the Flyers keep adding defense, meaning it's Leighton's team next year.

First Deal of the Day

No, it's not a big name free agent or team, but Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Drew Gooden agreed to a 5 year/$32 million deal with the Bucks. The Bucks have been looking for size, seeing as they drafted Larry Sanders and Keith Gallon. Fact is, we won't hear about Gooden again until his last year of the contract when his $6 mil/year salary would be a good expiring. This is immediately one of the worst 20 contracts in the league. But the Bucks won't be made or broken by this move, since no top player would ever sign there. The more I think about it, this move really is reminiscent to '01 when the Bucks signed Anthony Mason (a past-his-prime, out-of-shape Mason) and it completely derailed a Bucks team that went to the East Finals and led to Ray Allen being traded. Let's hope Gooden doesn't cause the same if you're a Bucks fan.

Free Agency Preview

NBA and NHL Free Agency are about to start and in the case of the NBA, would start once you start reading this post. Of course, no one can sign until July 8 in the NBA because the week will be a negotiating period as the NBA sets the cap (likely at $56.1 million). The NHL will start at noon and the moves likely will take place in flurries. For the first time, I will use this blog with continuous updates on all the NHL signings and if any NBA players make decisions on their futures. Now a few thoughts and predictions on the past few days.

-How does Richard Jefferson opt out of $15 million dollars? By doing this, the Spurs doesn't have to break up Duncan/Ginobili/Parker and are slightly under the cap and can make smaller moves to make them better as George Hill and Dejuan Blair continue to develop.

-The Blackhawks continue to add cap space by trading Kris Versteeg to the Maple Leafs with a prospect for three prospects. This move should allow Chicago to keep Andrew Ladd as well as hang on to Niklas Hjalmarsson and Antti Niemi. As for Toronto, they get another forward in their 43 year rebuilding period and gave up nothing of real value.

Here's my NBA picks:

-LeBron: Bulls
-Bosh: Bulls
-Wade: Miami
-Amare: Knicks
-Joe Johnson: Hawks
-Dirk: Mavs
-Boozer: Miami
-Rudy Gay: Knicks
-David Lee: Nets
-Pierce: Celtics
-Allen: Celtics
-Richard Jefferson: Clippers (for comedy sake)

As for my NHL picks:

-Kovalchuk: Kings
-Nabokov: Thrashers
-Turco: Sharks
-Dan Hamhius: Pens
-Gonchar: Pens
-Volchekov: Caps
-Zybnek Michalek: Sens
-Biron: Rangers
-Afinogenov: KHL


Enjoy the madness.

Lakers-Celtics Preview

The return of The Cycle comes just prior to the start of the return to the most famous NBA Finals matchup possible. That's right, it's Celtics-Lakers for the 12th time in history. Of course, this is the worst possible matchup for the majority of NBA fans, who will either tire of another Boston championship (like the Yankees winning last year was for baseball fans) or of another Lakers title (and dealing with the Laker bandwagon, again like the Yankees). Here's the keys to this series.

1. The Artest/Pierce matchup: For all the bad having Ron Artest has been for the Lakers, this is a series where he can be an asset. Trevor Ariza probably doesn't match well as Artest does with Paul Pierce. Also, he won't get punched in the mouth like the Celtics like to do and not keep coming, unlike Vince Carter. So it really comes down to if Artest has declined as a defensive player. I think he hasn't, but Pierce is still a skilled offensive player. I'd be surprised if the loser in this battle wins the series (unless Kobe is Jordan in '93 for this series).

2. Andrew Bynum: He can be the difference if healthy. I'd take the Celtics frontcourt of Garnett/Perkins/Davis/Wallace over the Lakers if it's mostly the Gasol/Odom combo. The main reason, Pau and Lamar aren't great defenders and I'm more confident that the Celtics will score upfront like they couldn't against Dwight Howard, plus I think they will contain both guys on the other end. Bynum is the difference, because he's the better defender in the middle for the Lakers and gives the Celtics another person to deal with offensively. If only he plays well.

3. Rajon Rondo: He's the best player on this Celtics team and will probably be guarded by Kobe. If Derek Fisher guards him, Rondo will explode and shred the Lakers defense. Kobe have to try to contain him and that where Rondo will have to work without the ball to set up shots for Ray Allen or Pierce. It comes down to this, if Rondo plays the guy from Games 4-6 of the Cavs series and Games 1-3 and 6 of the Magic series, the Celtics win. If not, they lose. It's that simple.

4. Kobe Bryant: That's why Kobe is the biggest key to the series and more for his defense and his ability to play at a high level on both ends for a whole series. We all know he needs to keep playing like he has in the playoffs, putting up 29-5-6 and 33-6-7 that he had in the Jazz and Suns series. But he know has to play tough defense for the first time since the Thunder series when he was switched to Russell Westbrook.


As for a prediction, there will be a six game series and I'll go with the team I predicted at the beginning of the year, then hoped no one remembered (which no one did). Yes, the Celtics win in 6.