Tampa bay acquires Gratton

The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired centre Chris Gratton from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2007 or 2008 NHL Entry Draft (Florida's option), Executive Vice President and General Manager Jay Feaster announced.

Panther RE-SIGN Alen

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -The Florida Panthers re-signed defenseman Bryan Allen to a five-year contract Wednesday.The deal is reportedly worth nearly $15 million.Allen was a restricted free agent this offseason. He played in all 82 games for the Panthers this past season and finished with four goals and a career-high 21 assists."The signing of Allen marks another significant step in our plan to bring continued stability and success to the Panthers," Florida coach and general manager Jacques Martin said.Allen came to Florida in the trade that sent goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Vancouver Canucks last year.

Cowan is closing in on deal

The Canucks are very close to signing forward Jeff Cowan to a 2 year contract

swede deal

Lee Goren of the vancouver canucks has signed in sweden

ANH keeps coach

carlyle has agreed to 1 year deal

pred to go to Hamilton?

The Globe and Mail: "Jim Balsillie's representatives and lawyers for the City of Hamilton are expected to reach an agreement this morning that if he completes the purchase of the Nashville Predators and decides to move the team, it would be moved only to Hamilton."

sundin re-signs

The Globe and Mail: "Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin has agreed to a one-year, $5.5-million (all figures U.S.) extension. The speculation since the end of the regular season was that the Leafs captain and his club were nearing a new two-year contract. But in the last week, Sundin delayed the process because he instead desired just a one-year deal."

Tureon retires

Denver Post: "Pierre Turgeon, the NHL's 27th all-time leading scorer who played his final two seasons with the Avalanche, has decided to retire. Sources close to the 37-year-old Turgeon said he will make an official announcement soon. He will live with his family in the Denver area, where he helps coach his daughter's hockey team. "

McCabe,Redden available?

TSN.CA: Darren Dreger recently reported Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bryan McCabe and Ottawa Senators blueliner Wade Redden might be considered available despite their contract status to the right team for the right price. Dreger claims some suggest McCabe might consider waiving his "no-trade" clause for the NY Islanders, who might need to make a splash if they can't re-sign Ryan Smyth or Jason Blake. Dreger claims the Leafs won't initiate a discussion but with 8 d-men under contract might be willing to listen. As for Redden, Dreger writes that rumours of interest from the Edmonton Oilers won't go away, and Edmonton is close to home for Redden.

Latest on Sundin

TORONTO STAR: Kevin McGran reports Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr and Mats Sundin's agent will meet today to iron out what should be the final details of a new contract for the Leafs captain, believed to be a two-year, $11.5 million contract.

Where could Yashin go

BOSTON GLOBE: Kevin Paul Dupont recently reported on potential destinations for former NY Islanders centre Alexei Yashin, suggesting Washington, Florida, Atlanta and Los Angeles as 4 clubs which could use some depth at that position.

brisebois expecting to play next year

CANADIAN PRESS: reports impending UFA defenceman Patrice Brisebois is confident he'll sign with a new team next month, citing his experience as one trait helpful to other teams.

Leafs interestest in Morozov

TORONTO SUN: Steve Simmons recently reported the Maple Leafs have hinted of having some interest in former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Aleksey Morozov.

Phili trying to land Gomez

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Tim Panaccio reports the Flyers should forget about signing either Chris Drury or Daniel Briere via free agency, claiming the former is likely bound for San Jose whilst the latter is a bad fit for the Flyers. Instead, Panaccio believes the best fit is New Jersey's Scott Gomez as he fits the team's need for a two-way player.

Phili trying to land Gomez

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Tim Panaccio reports the Flyers should forget about signing either Chris Drury or Daniel Briere via free agency, claiming the former is likely bound for San Jose whilst the latter is a bad fit for the Flyers. Instead, Panaccio believes the best fit is New Jersey's Scott Gomez as he fits the team's need for a two-way player.

latest on Panthers

PALM BEACH POST/MIAMI HERALD: both reported on the Florida Panthers plans to shop for a starting goalie. Brian Biggane of the Post reports potential trade options for the Panthers include Minnesota's Manny Fernandez, San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov or Vesa Toskala, Anaheim's Ilya Bryzgalov and Colorado's Jose Theodore while UFA options beside JS Giguere include LA's Mathieu Garon, Phoenix's Curtis Joseph and Edmonton's Jussi Markkanen
Barry Jackson of the Herald reports there's a decent chance the Panthers could re-sign Ed Belfour but the team would like to explore other options first, such as perhaps making a pitch for Giguere or consider a trade with San Jose for either Nabokov or Toskala. The Panthers apparently prefer Belfour over Fernandez or Joseph. Jackson also claims the Panthers will set their sights on second and third tier UFA forwards like Scott Walker, Todd White, Scott Hartnell and former Panther Viktor Kozlov. They're interested in Atlanta's Slava Kozlov but consider him too expensive.
OTTAWA CITIZEN: Hugh Adami reports Alexei Yashin's agent intends to contact Florida Panthers GM Jacques Martin to see if he'd like to be reunited with Yashin.

Sens to shop Gerber

OTTAWA CITIZEN: Ken Warren reports Senators GM John Muckler will "certainly try" to trade goalie Martin Gerber to a team in need of goaltending, one that might discount Gerber's struggles early this past season as a mere blip on his resume. Gerber has two years and $7.4 million remaining on his contract, which Warren believes makes him an expensive gamble for a rival GM.

Pens in Hartnell mix

- The Pittsburgh Penguins could make a pitch for Scott Hartnell, whom Pens GM Ray Shero knows from his days as assistant GM of the Nashville Predators.

Sabres might add grit

The Buffalo Sabres never replaced the grit element they lost when Jay McKee and Mike Grier were lost to free agency and may look to bolster that element this summer.

burke wont celebrate for long

Riverside Press Enterprise : " With that effort under way and the victory party temporarily on hold, the focus will shift to determining whether the team will be able to get signatures from either goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere or leading scorer Teemu Selanne on new contracts."

flyers wont go for buffalo's big guns

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Forget Chris Drury. Every indication is he will end up in San Jose. Forget Danny Briere. He's really the wrong fit for the Flyers. And if Buffalo loses Drury, the Sabres have no choice but to re-sign Briere at any price."

Smyth NOT returning

Edmonton Journal: "They also know Smyth's agent Don Meehan will be flooded with calls in three weeks, with Colorado, Detroit, Toronto and the New York Rangers probably at the top of the list. It's unlikely Smyth will end up back here; that door may have closed on Feb. 27 when Smyth didn't take their pitch."

emery on the move?!?!?

Ottawa Sun (scroll down): " Emery will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights July 1, unless his agent, J.P. Barry, is able to strike a deal with the Senators beforehand. There's also the possibility another team will sign Emery to an offer sheet."

moen and parros lose to be re-signed

both are expected to re-sign.they are done deals just waiting to be finalized.all this coming from a very good source!!!

Can Burke keep his championship team together

Riverside Press Enterprise : "Will leading scorer Teemu Selanne continue playing or retire? And will the Ducks be able to re-sign standout goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1?"

Owner Willing To Spend Max On Sens

Ottawa Sun: " After seeing his Senators come up just short in their bid for a first Stanley Cup, the Senators owner told Sun Media yesterday he will likely boost the club's payroll to the salary cap -- whatever it turns out to be -- to take another run at bringing the Cup home."

sabres sign 1 years deal with AHL team:Rochester

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - The Buffalo Sabres signed a one-year contract Friday extending their minor-league affiliation deal with Rochester of the American Hockey League.
Under the deal, the Sabres will provide the Americans with a minimum 10 prospects and the team's entire coaching staff. The Sabres consider the Americans an ideal partner, considering Rochester is an hour drive from Buffalo.
The contract means the teams will have shared an affiliation for 29 years, the longest current affiliation among NHL and AHL franchises. --

Does Drury Jump Ship?

Buffalo News (scroll down): "Drury’s chief concern immediately after the season wasn’t whether he would get his money. He wondered how Buffalo would be better if his getting a hefty salary meant Briere was forced to leave. The Sabres have already made it clear they’re going to be cautious with payroll."

back to the drawing Board for Ottawa

Globe and Mail: "Does Wade Redden get traded? A year ago, Redden decided to forgo unrestricted free agency and return to Ottawa for two more seasons at $13-million. But this season was the most disappointing of his career, as his role slipped considerably on the defence unit."

Emery looking for Big Raise

Sun Media: "Goalie Ray Emery: He will become a restricted free agent on July 1 after making $925,000 US. He is due a big raise. The Senators are prepared to go to arbitration with Emery, but they do have one concern: Will anybody make Emery a Group II offer sheet worth $3.99 million and risk giving up No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 picks in next year's draft?"

Fernandez gone anyday now....

Minneapolis Star Tribune (scroll down): "Fernandez, who signed a three-year, $13 million extension in March 2006 with the anticipation he'd be the Wild's No. 1 for years, expects to wake up any day to a phone call informing him of a change in address. 'At this point, I'm sure they'll look to move me,' Fernandez said from his offseason home in Montreal."

wings to sign chelios

"The Detroit Red Wings are close to signing Chris Chelios to a one-year contract that will bring the 45-year-old defenseman back for his 23rd NHL season."

wild re-sing backstorm

The Wild announced Thursday that they had signed Niklas Backstrom to a US$6.2-million, two-year contract, but that doesn't mean Manny Fernandez is going anywhere.


source:TSN

kronwall signed(should be announced today)

"Meanwhile, the Leafs are expected to announce today that Staffan Kronwall has agreed to terms. The defenceman played with the AHL Marlies last season."

Nonis wants to sign Schneider ASAP

Globe and Mail: "The Schneider camp has been non-committal — U.S. collegiate players have family advisers, not agents, while still in school — Nonis indicated yesterday, admitting the Canucks want Schneider under contract as soon as possible."

barnes re-signs

The dallas stars have re-signs barnes to a 1 year 900k deal

cowan close to re-signing

a very good source just told me that cowan is on his way to re-signing with the vancouver canucks,also could be put out in public in just 1 or 2 weeks

Yashin's out

he has just been bought out by the isles.good move

K. Lowe working hard to keep francise back on track

Edmonton Sun: " With three picks in the first round of this year's entry draft, and more young bargaining chips than he knows what to do with, GM Kevin Lowe will be making at least one big trade on or before June 22."

Nonis wont wait

Vancouver Province: "When Vancouver Canucks GM Dave Nonis mentions the NHL entry draft and a trade in the same thought, people tend to stop dead in their tracks and take notice."

Ducks to keep Parros?

USA Today (scroll down): "Anaheim forward George Parros hasn't seen action through the first four games of the Stanley Cup Finals, but that hasn't stopped the club from taking steps toward extending the tough guy's current one-year deal."

Antropov re-signs

Antropov Re-Signs in Toronto: 2 Year Deal.Terms are not dissclosed

source:hockeybuzz

Kings Sign Prospects Dravecky & Ersberg

Dravecky , 21, is described as a gritty forward, though he didn't have many penalty minutes this past season. Ersberg, 25, is a butterfly goalie who's fast and athletic. Anyone who's seen the Kings' goaltending in the past couple seasons knows that speed is something the Kings can definitely use in goal. Many fans have asked for Felix back during the rough times since he was traded. Perhaps Ersberg will be the goalie they end up favoring when he ends up in goal for the Kings.

source hockeybuzz

MCARDLE signs with panthers(as repoted here first)

The 2007 Memorial Cup Champions Vancouver Giants congratulate forward KENNDAL MCARDLE (left) on signing his first NHL contract with the Florida Panthers. Terms of McArdle's agreement with the Panthers were not released.


SOURCE:vancouvergiants.com

PYATT stays with 'nucks(as reported here first)

CKNW radio in Vancouver reports that the Canucks and forward Taylor Pyatt have agreed on a a two-year deal worth over $3 million US.