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).

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Flyers Ink Jones and Cote?

FlyersCap is reporting that the Flyers have signed two of their restricted free agents to deals in principle. Randy Jones has signed on for 3 years, 4 million (with an annual cap hit of 1.333) and Riley Cote has signed a 3 year deal worth between $1.7 and $2.4 million. *see the updated cap numbers.

Randy Jones improved immensly throughout the year and led all Flyers defensemen in +/- for the playoffs (+6). In the regular season, Jones had 5 goals and 26 assists for 31 points.

Riley Cote is an "enforcer" and has been labeled as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game, according to opposing players. Cote did not see much time during the post season, but he did lead all Flyers players in PIM with 202 in the regular season. He's a hard nose player and the type of player you'd like to have on your fourth line. He's definitely a fan-favorite in Philly.

In other news, the Flyers have offered Patrick Thoresan a qualifying offer. He will become a restricted free agent tomorrow.

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Carter Officially Signs; A Cap Outlook

According to TSN, Jeff Carter has officially signed the deal that was mentioned a week ago for 3 years, $15 million. Carter's annual cap hit will be $5 million. When Carter's deal is up, he will still be a restricted free-agent, so the short time frame turns out to be the better move for the Flyers.

I'm very excited to be staying in Philadelphia,” said Carter in a statement. "We have great group of guys on this team and I can't wait to get back on the ice and continue where we left off last season."

After the deal, the Flyers cap number is at about $52.292 million (see actual numbers after the jump). The league-wide cap is $56.7 million, so that leaves the Flyers with about $4.402million left. The above number does include Denis Topelko, Claude Giroux, and Ryan Parent. I've also gone ahead and put Mike Rathje on LITR. It does include Derian Hatcher as if he will be on the roster and playing. So, the flyers have about $4.4 million to sign new acquired defenseman Steve Eminger and re-sign Randy Jones and Riley Cote. The Flyers will also ponder whether or not they want to re-sign RFA Patrick Thoreson or Jim Dowd. The Flyers at whether Stefen Ruzicka or Kyle Greentree will be up with the big club or with the Phantoms as they are both RFAs.

Here's a look at the current cap numbers via NHL Numbers:
Forwards
Daniel Briere - 6.500
Mike Richards - 5.750
Simon Gagne - 5.250
Jeff Carter - 5.000
Scott Hartnell - 4.200
Mike Knuble - 2.800
Joffrey Lupul - 2.312
Scottie Upshall - 1.225
Claude Giroux - 0.850
Steve Downie - 0.822

10 Forwards = 34.709
Update: Denis Topelko was removed because he is returning to Russia. My mistake. All the numbers are updated.

Defensemen
Kimmo Timonen - 6.333
Derian Hatcher - 3.500
Braydon Coburn - 1.300
Lasse Kukkonen - 0.875
Ryan Parent - about .850

5 Defensemen = 12.858

Kukkonen, Parent, Eminger, and Niskala will all likely compete for the 5th and 6th defensemen spots, so these numbers could fluctuate. Eminger would be more than Parent and Kukkonen, but Niskala contract will likely be substantially less. The Daily News has reported that Jones is nearing a contract that would likely be for 2 years and at about 2.75 million per year, which would really limit their eligibility to sign any FAs.

Goaltenders
Martin Biron - 3.500
Antero Niittymaki - 1.225

2 Goaltenders = 4.725

16 skaters and 2 goaltenders = 52.292

If the Flyers do sign Randy Jones to that expected contract, their cap would be at $55.042 million, which would give them about $1.658 million in cap space. However, they will have a little more room depending on which AHL/NHL players they decide to carry on the Flyers roster. If Hatcher does indeed retire, the Flyers will have about $5.158 million in cap space or $7.908 million before the Jones deal.

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Flyers Rumors: Carter, Cote, Jones, Eminger

According to Paul Holmgren, the Flyers are nearing the completion of contract extensions for Jeff Carter and Riley Cote. They also hope to negotiate with Randy Jones and Steve Eminger before July 1st.

Holmgren said the Flyers are very close to finalizing a multiyear deal with Carter, are also close with Cote, and are confident they can get Jones on paper before free agency opens July 1.

Eminger, acquired along with a third-round pick (which was used to draft goalie Jacob DeSerres) from the Capitals for the 27th pick overall, is also going to be without a contract July 1, but Holmgren said it will not be a difficult negotiation. Eminger made $1 million last season.

[Daily News]
Yes, we did jump the gun a little bit on the Jeff Carter deal and will make sure we wait to post any real numbers until the deal is official. Signing Cote would be a nice move because the Flyers still need that style of player on the 4th line. Steve Downie can do it, but he is more valuable on the ice using his offensive ability, rather than throwing punches and landed in the box for 5 minutes at a time.

Randy Jones is a must sign for the Flyers as he improved mightily throughout the season. He led the Flyers in +/- throughout the playoffs and he was one of their leaders for the entire season.

Steve Eminger is a former first round pick, was traded for a first round, and we'd hope he plays like a first round pick. Eminger has welcomed the opportunity to come to Philadelphia and likes how they are physical. He was honored to be traded for a first round pick and he is excited for the challenge. Eminger is still only 24 and he showed some bright spots during the playoff series against the Flyers -- which seems to be what really made Holmgren interested in him. Eminger is the third first- round pick on the Flyers roster from the 2002 NHL Draft. The other two are Scottie Upshall and Joffrey Lupul. The Flyers used their pick in that draft to select Joni Pitkanen.

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Is Randy Jones A Target?

Tonight, the Boston Bruins are in town for the first face off since the Randy Jones-Patrice Bergeron incident. If you don't remember:



You have to wonder if Randy Jones will be a target of retaliation tonight as Patrice Bergeron has yet to play since his head slammed into the boards. Lucic and Thornton are out for Boston, so the 'tough' guys are pretty much out for Boston.

Also, if there will be any retaliation, I expect it to take place back up in Boston on March 15th.

Tune in tonight at 7 on ComcastSportsnet.

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Randy Jones Get Two Games

Randy Jones has been suspended 2 games by the NHL for his hit on Patrice Bergeron, see here. I can live with this suspension, though I prefer it to be zero, but is far better than an assumed five.

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Broad Street Bullies

As you may have heard over the weekend, Randy Jones hit Patrice Bergeron from behind and for awhile it looked like Bergeron was dead on the ice. Randy Jones received a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. There has been plenty of talk about another suspension, but there is no way that the Jones suspension should be anymore than undetermined suspension, if any, for this hit. Volchenkov hits Booth.

What do you think Jones suspension should be, if any?

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