Penguins Replace Gonchar With Cheaper Option: Zbynek Michalek

 

The Phoenix Coyotes really wanted to keep him, but there was simply not enough money to do so. Their loss is Pittsburgh's gain, and it appears Zbynek Michalek is headed to the Penguins on a five-year, $20 million deal. He is not as offensively gifted as Gonchar. But at $1.5 million less per season and about eight years younger, Michalek is a solid addition to the Penguins roster. He will add a great deal of defensive prowess to the team, and is able to sport the blue line in power play situation for modest results.

Lightning Deal Mezsaros to Flyers, Extend St. Louis Four More Years

Free agency might be about signing players, but trades are sure to go down, too. One was struck between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers, where new GM Steve Yzerman moved defenseman Andrej Meszaros and the four years, $18.5 million remaining on his contract to the Flyers for a second round pick.

A decent all-around defenseman, the Flyers might not be thrilled with the fact that he hasn't as physical a player as his size would indicate. But being unable to re-sign Dan Hamhuis, Meszaros isn't a terrible No. 2 play. The second rounder might be much and the $4 million cap hit is not great one for Philly, though.

*********

One player is sent away by Yzerman, another is kept for a longer period of time. In his second big move of the day, Yzerman signed right wing Martin St. Louis to a four-year extension that, added with the one year remaining on his current deal, will have him donning the Bolt until 2016. TSN's James Duthie tweet that the extension is worth $22.5 million over four years, which averages out to $5.625 million per season. St. Louis will earn $4 million next season with a $5.25 million cap hit.

Even with Steven Stamkos emerging as the Lightnings' top offensive threat, St. Louis is a key piece to their scoring puzzle. He is a former 48-goal scorer who still possess 30-goal ability (was just one off the mark last season.) And skating with Stamkos has granted him great setup opportunities, as well, boasting a career-high 65 assists last season.

At 35 years old, this should be the final contract of St. Louis' career.

Gonchar Saying Goodbye To Pittsburgh, Hello To Ottawa

 

The Pittsburgh Penguins worked toward the end to bring their top offensive blue liner back into the fold. But it just wasn't meant to be. Sergei Gonchar was the first big name off the board Thursday afternoon, electing to leave the Penguins for richer (in money only) pastures with the Ottawa Senators at what TSN's Darren Dreger reports to be a three-year, $16.5 million deal with a no-trade clause. That will break down to an average cap hit of $5.5 million per season for Ottawa.

There was always the possibility this would play out for Pittsburgh, considering the 35-year old Gonchar has just one more big-time contract in his career and he wants another payday. That wasn't going to fit well into Pittsburgh's budget, so General Manager Ray Shero pulled the trigger on a deal to acquire the rights to Dan Hamhuis for a third round pick. He wanted to get both guys inked, but that was improbably and both chose to go the UFA route. Hamhuis, however, is still an option for the Pens.

Gonchar now goes to a team that didn't previously have tremendous potency in the scoring department from defenseman. He immediately emerges as the team's top gunner from the point and first unit power play quarterback, which is exactly what General Manager Bryan Murray was looking to snag this summer.

First Signing: Martin Biron Joins New York Rangers

 

Not many people pegged Glen Sather to be busy this year in unrestricted free agency. But he made the first deal of the day once the market opened at noon. A main priority for New York was to acquire a reliable backup netminder to Henrik Lundqvist who was willing to take a role as a 10-15 game guy. And that goalie comes to New York in the form of Martin Biron. The 32-year old will join the Rangers on a two-year deal worth $1.8 $1.75 million, which TSN's Bob McKenzie breaks down to $950,000 next season and $800,000 in 2011-12. The deal will be an annual cap hit of $900,000 $875,000 to the Rangers' payroll.

"I’m very excited, I think it’s going to be fun. It’s a great organization and a great team," Biron told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun. "Looking forward to joining back up with Chris Drury, a great guy I played with in Buffalo. Really looking forwad to playing with Henrik Lundqvist and working with (goalie coach) Benoit Allaire. The Rangers are going to give me an opportunity to be able to do that."

Biron is a 12-year veteran who spent last season as one of many goaltenders to guard the crease for the New York Islanders. He saw action in 29 games, going 9-14-4 with a 3.27 goals against average and .896 save percentage. That was the Islanders, though, and Biron was also a 30-game winner in both Philadelphia and Buffalo previously. For a team in need of a cheap, yet steady backup presence in net, Biron is a solid signing.

Get Out Your Checkbooks: NHL Free Agent Market Is Open For Business!

This may be a weak free agent class in comparison to other years (and definitely in comparison to the one in the NBA - I mean really, have you seen who's available over there?!) But there are still Ilya Kovalchuk's, Sergei Gonchar's and at least half a dozen quality goaltenders that general managers wish to pay no more than $2 million a season for. It's bound to be an active day on all fronts. Check back here and on the Twitter page (@getoutmycrease), which I surprisingly have not broken yet, for all the updates as this free agent bonzana plays out. Who knows, maybe LeBron James quits the NBA entirely and joins the Red Wings on a one-year deal. It's probably his best shot to win a championship at this point!