NHL Free Agency Round-Up

UPDATE: Randy Jones has officially signed a 2 year, $5.5 million contract, which will be a $2.75 million annual cap hit. [Daily News] This was the deal that was earlier reported last week, but there were some conflicting reports that said he signed for 3 years, $4 million. At least we now have the official update. Also, please check out the salary information to the right for the update numbers. The cap numbers include: Briere, Richards, Gagne, Carter, Hartnell, Knuble, Lupul, Upshall, Giroux, Downie, Metropolit, Timonen, Hatcher, Jones, Coburn, Eminger, Kukkonen, Parent, Biron, and Niittymaki.

After the first day of free agency, while other Atlantic division teams tried to strengthen their teams, the Flyers tried to make a few moves to build more depth and competition for NHL roster spots. The Flyers signed four players:

1. C - Glen Metropolit (34, 5'10" 195)- 2 year deal; Metropolit will likely replace Jim Dowd on the NHL roster as the team's fourth line centerman. He played in all 82 games for the Bruins last season and he recorded 11 goals and 22 assists.

2. D - Ossi Vaananen (27, 6'4" 215)- 1 year, $1 million; I do not know much about this guy as he has not played in the NHL since 2006-2007. He was plagued by foot and knee problems, so he went to the Swedish Elite league last year to try and improve his game. He recorded 7 goals, 8 assists, and 102 penalty minutes in 45 games for Djurgardens IF Stockholm.

3. Forward - Nate Raduns (24, 6'3" 205) - 1 year; Raduns was purely signed to help provide some depth at the AHL level. The Flyers traded a lot of their younger guys who would likely not make the Flyers roster to acquire defenseman and so forth. Last year, Raduns played for the Worcester Sharks of the AHL and he recorded 12 goals, 15 assists, and 42 penalty minutes in 56 games.

4. D - Sean Curry (26, 6'4" 230) - 2 year deal; Curry was another player that was signed to help increase depth at the AHL level for the Flyers. The Flyers and Phantoms now have a plethora of defensemen to choose from, but I am not exactly sure about the quality of such defensemen when compared to the quality. Last year, Curry played for the Providence Bruins and he recorded 13 goals, 25 assists, and 139 penalty minutes in 72 games.

While the Flyers added depth, the rest of the Atlantic division made moves in hopes to improve their teams from last season. Here is a brief summary of the moves that have happened after one day:

Pittsburgh Penguins: Re-signed F Pascal Dupuis (3 years, $4.2 million), D Mark Eaton (2 years, $2 million), and signed F Eric Godard.

New Jersey Devils: Re-signed Bryce Salvador (4 years, $11.6 million), F Jay Pandolfo (3 years, $7.5 million), F Barry Tallackson (undisclosed), and F David Clarkson (undisclosed). Signed F Brian Rolston (4 years, $20.25 million) and F Bobby Holik (1 year, $2.5 million).

New York Rangers: Resigned D Michal Rozsival (4-years, $20 million). Signed F Aaron Voros, F Patrick Rissmiller, and D Wade Redden (6-years, $39 million). Acquired a 2008 third-round pick from the Phoenix Coyotes for right wing Alex Bourret.

New York Islanders: Signed D Mark Streit (5-years, $20.5 million).