The Day before Deadline Deals
Tomorrows transfer deadline will be eagerly anticipated by hockey fans everywhere with a mixture of dread and hope. Some General Manager’s will be more active than others and some will want to get their deals done already. In fact, some have. Here are the deals made today:
Sean Avery claimed by NY Rangers on re-entry waivers
No surprises here. The New York Rangers are obviously desperate and need any help they can get. From a financial (rather than sporting) viewpoint, this is a good deal for the Rangers. They get a big nasty centerman that can help them in their playoff bid and only need to pay half the bill. Dallas will lovingly pick up the other half, seeing as he was claimed on re-entry waivers. Avery has a $ 3.8 million yearly wage and it runs for another 3 year’s after this season. Coach John Tortorella who said Avery “doesn’t belong in this league” will have to learn to love Sean the way GM Glen Sather does…
Meanwhile, another recent Rangers waiver claim, Mark Bell, is sent to Hartford in the AHL to make room for Sean’s princely salary.
Nicklas Backstrom locked up in Wild
After a season of speculation that the Minnesota Wild may have to trade their All Star goalie Nicklas Backstrom on the deadline, if he didn’t sign a new deal – a new deal was signed. It’s a four-year deal worth $ 24 million, which will keep the inspirational netminder locked up to the organization for the foreseeable future. Nicklas had always said he’d like to remain with Minnesota and the Wild clearly wanted him to stay too. This is a great deal for Minnesota’s GM Doug Risebrough and the franchise.
Calgary claim D Nycholat on waivers from Canucks
The Flames were looking for some added defensive depth and got it for free as they claimed Lawrence Nycholat on waivers from the Vancouver Canucks, TSN reports. Calgary GM Darryl Sutter said in a statement: "We were prepared to give up a draft pick to acquire a depth defenseman." Well he got what he wanted and got to keep the draft pick; sounds like a good deal to me!
High profile players placed on waivers
In an attempt to shed salary before the trade deadline, some high profile players have been placed on waivers by their respective teams, TSN reports. The four most notable are:
Miroslav Satan was placed on waivers by Pittsburgh. The Penguins had hoped he’d take a wing spot next to Crosby, but the $ 3.5 million winger didn’t get any chemistry going with Sidney – and now he’s on waivers…
Brendan Morrison was placed on waivers by Anaheim.The Ducks need the cap space because of players returning from injury and Brendan never really got going in Anaheim.
Gary Roberts was placed on waivers by Tampa Bay. The 42-year old veteran forward is expected to attract some attention from tams around the league, including Calgary; where Roberts won the Stanley Cup in 1989.
Martin Gerber was (again) placed on waivers by Ottawa in the hope that someone would take his wages from their hands. Whether anyone is willing to gamble on the out-of-form Swiss netminder this time around however; remains to be seen.
More waiver-claim-eligibles: Brenden Bell was also placed on waivers by Ottawa, Aaron Voros by the New York Rangers and Erik Reitz and Eric Perrin by the Thrashers. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks put Craig Adams on waivers, while Islanders did the same with Jon Sim.
Burrows signed to new Canucks deal
The Vancouver Canucks gritty winger Alex Burrows was signed to a new four-year deal. The 27-year old has managed to work himself up from the ‘energy’ lines up to the top lines and is now rewarded with an $ 8 million dollars worth 4-year deal. It had been rumored the Canucks would trade Burrows if no deal was signed, but now those fears are dispelled in Vancouver and some will sleep a bit sounder tonight.
