Blackhawks Deal Another One: Ladd Moved To Atlanta

 

Apparently trading away Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager, Akim Aliu, Colin Fraser, Kris Versteeg and Bill Sweatt was not enough to get the Chicago Blackhawks into comfortable positioning underneath the salary cap. They needed to deal another guy. And that other guy is 24-year old left wing Andrew Ladd, who was dealt to the Atlanta Thrashers amidst all the free agency madness on July 1 for a second round draft pick in 2011 and 22-year defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy.

Ladd will now re-unite with Byfuglien, Sopel, Eager and Aliu in Atlanta after those four were dealt to the Thrashers for a package including Marty Reasoner, Jeremy Morin, Joey Crabb, and the 2010 first and second round draft picks acquired in the Ilya Kovalchuk trade with New Jersey. Ladd is a restricted free agent who was extended a qualifying offer valued at $1.65 million by the Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon. He had the ability to seek higher compensation by filing for arbitration.

How much he would receive via arbitration is unknown, though we could still find out if he elects to go down that road with Atlanta, which one would have to figure as unlikely given the fact that the Thrashers traded for him. But in all of these deals, General Manager Stan Bowman has successfully shed about $5,333,333 in actual salary and $5,594,999 in cap space without even factoring in the cost of re-signing the restricted free agents (of course, this math depends on who you factor in as likely to actually play for Chicago next season from the return deals - I went with Viktor Stalberg and Vishnevskiy actually making the roster.)

This type of wheeling and dealing is necessitated by the fact that performance bonuses to a few of the Blackhawks players as a result of their Stanley Cup Championship actually drops the team's cap number lower than other teams next season. And with Antti Niemi needing a new deal with no hometown discount anticipated, costs largely accumulated during Dale Tallon's reign as GM needed to be cut loose.

Ladd now moved back to the Southeast Division, where he started his career as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes and won a Stanley Cup with them back in 2006. He has top six forward ability, but inconsistency generally reduces him to a checking line forward role. He can score, though, and did so with a career-high 17 goals last season. He is also a presence on the defensive side of the puck, using his size and physicality to guard his own zone.

Another Year In NY For Prospal, Two More In Anaheim For Koivu, Cullen Joins Up With Minny For Three

~ Vaclav Prospal came to New York last season with something to prove after being bought out by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He joined up with his old head coach, played with Marian Gaborik and managed to be an absolute steal at $1.15 million in cost to the Rangers by posting 20 goals and 38 assists for 58 points in 75 games. It was a no-brainer to bring him back, and General Manager Glen Sather made sure to get it done. Prospal will return on another one year contract for a what will be a base salary of $1 million with $1.1 in what The New York Post's Larry Brooks calls "easily achievable bonuses." At 35 years old, he's still holding up pretty well and provides a good veteran presence for a team looking to get younger. He's a character guy, great leader and still strong offensively. And, he came cheap yet again. Great re-signing.

~ Saku Koivu clearly had a good time last year in his first season out of Montreal. He's coming back to the Anaheim Ducks on a two-year deal worth $2.5 million per season. the 35-year old Finnish center is coming off a campaign with 19 goals and 33 assists for 52 points in 71 games. That's pretty much what the Ducks are going to get out of Koivu offensively going forward, and always have his strong leadership skills to boot.

~ The Ottawa Senators wanted to keep him around, but that wasn't to be and now Minnesota will reep the benefits of responsible, two-way play from 33-year old center Matt Cullen. Cullen heads to his sixth NHL franchise in 12 seasons and will earn $10.5 million over three years with the Wild. Cullen is very dependable player who can go in all situations. He isn't the most dynamic offensive player, but he is a 15- to 20-goal scorer and 30 assist guy. In Minnesota, he will likely play No. 2 center duties behind Mikko Koivu.

Between The Pipes: Ellis Heading To Tampa, Mason Joining Atlanta, Raycroft Aligning With Stars

In light of teams being able to find postseason success without a high-priced goaltender, many are now seeking cheaper options to guard their net. While Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco are still without employment, several less-prolific, yet experienced goalies were snatched up right away - and cheap.

~ The Montreal Canadiens tried to bring Dan Ellis into their mix when they traded for his rights from the Nashville Predators. But they couldn't come to an agreement with the 30-year old, and instead opted to bring in Alex Auld on a one year deal. That left Ellis to look for work elsewhere, and he found it in Tampa Bay. Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman was able to lock him up for two years at $3 million, marking a $500,000/year discount over what former Lightning Antero Niittymaki signed for as the newest No. 1/1A in San Jose. Ellis should start out playing the backup role, with a generous portion of games going his way, to Mike Smith. And if Smith slips, there should be no hesitation on Tampa's end to make a switch. This is a good, cost-saving move by Yzerman that provides the Lightning a formidable one-two punch in net.

~ When the St. Louis Blues decided to get younger in net and traded for Jaroslav Halak, who is thus far unsigned as a restricted free agent, it pretty much spelled the end of Chris Mason's tenure with the team. That doesn't mean the 34-year old was a disappointment during his two years in St. Louis. Quite the contrary. He served extremely well in 118 games played with a 57-43-15 record as a Blue. In 61 games last year, he won a career-high 30 games and posted a 2.53 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Two years ago, he racked up a career-high six shutouts. That's solid production that the Atlanta Thrashers hope will continue from their new backup netminder. Mason signed with the ever-improving Thrashers for the next two years at $3.7 million. He will see salaries of $1.6 million next season and $2.1 million in 2011-12 for an annual cap hit of $1.85 million. Yeah, it's a bit expensive. But with Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg both gone and Ondrej Pavelec still pretty unproven, Mason's pay is justified. When it's all said and done, he'll probably end up becoming Atlanta's starter.

~ Andrew Raycroft will forever be known as the Boston Bruin rookie who won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2004 and then went on to be ridiculously awful. But as a backup to Roberto Luongo in Vancouver last season, Raycroft actually played pretty well. He was in 21 games, went 9-5-1, had a 2.42 goals against and .911 save percentage. He parlayed that into a two-year, $1.3 million contract to play backup to Kari Lehtonen in Dallas. He will see salaries of $700,000 next season and $600,000 in 2011-12. A Lehtonen/Raycroft combination is pretty uninspiring really. But it's not exactly easy to get excited over a replacement for Marty Turco.

Coyotes Bring In Whitney, Retain Morris

 

Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney unfortunately could not bring defenseman Zbynek Michalek back into the fold due to financial constraints, and he bolted to Pittsburgh for a $20 million, five-year deal. But Maloney was able to retain the services of defenseman Derek Morris and bring in the veteran scoring touch of left wing Ray Whitney.

The 31-year old Morris is back on a four-year, $11 million contract that will be split evenly at $2.75 million per season. It's a slight paycut from the $3.3 million he earned last season, but Morris remains in a comfortable situation with Phoenix. When Morris was acquired by the Coyotes last season as a trade deadline addition, it marked his second run with the team. He previously played with them from late 2004 through late 2009. In his return to the Coyotes this past spring, he put up a goal and three assists for four points in 18 games. He totals four goals and 25 assists for 29 points on the season when factoring in 58 games with Boston.

Morris is a solid all-around defenseman who can be good on the offensive and defensive sides of the puck when he wants to be. He's just inconsistent at times, and that prevents him ranking among the elite. At $2.75 million, though, Maloney was able to keep a familiar face at a reasonable price.

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In an effort to boost the league's seventh-worst goal scoring team in the league last year, Maloney brought in one of the more sought after left wings on the market, Ray Whitney, on a two-year deal valued at $6 million. According to TSN's Darren Dreger, this contract includes "a modified no-move clause that includes a small window for a few teams to trade with."

"We are thrilled to sign Ray to a contract," said Maloney (by way of TSN). "He is a terrific offensive player who will help us on the power play. He is a great leader in the dressing room with a Stanley Cup Championship to his credit and will instantly upgrade our offensive attack."

The 38-year old is one of those players that just hasn't run out of steam with age. He scored 21 goals last season - the fourth straight with over 20 scores - and 37 assists for 58 points in 80 games with the Carolina Hurricanes. In a career with 1,072 games played, Whitney boasts totals of 324 goals, 545 assists and 869 points.

The Coyotes will value his veteran presence as the team continues its push to be a serious contender. And even in his advanced age (at least sport-wise), the team need not worry about him being out of the lineup after having suited up for at least 80 games in three of the past four seasons.

Sutter Loses His Mind: Brings Jokinen, Tanguay Back To Calgary

 

Nobody necessarily classified Calgary Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter as a sane man. So perhaps what went down today with the Flames is called for. But he pulled a move that had pretty much everybody at TSN questioning everything they believe in by bringing back a completely failed player from the past.

After a rather good move on his end in bringing Alex Tanguay back to Calgary on a one year deal worth $1.7 million, Sutter called up Olli Jokinen and got him to return on a two-year, $6 million pact. Yes, that's the same Jokinen that Sutter tossed aside to New York last spring for Rangers castaways Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik - neither of which are still in Calgary right now.

As previously stated, the Tanguay deal is nothing to mock because he did produce pretty well with the Flames. His best season came with the team in 2006-07 when he posted a career-high 81 points between 22 goals and 59 assists. With a decline in his numbers over the past few years, it's hard to imagine he will reach that plateau again. But a single year committment at a low pricetag of under $2 million is a low-risk proposition for somebody that should, at the very least, offer around 15 goals and 40 points.

Jokinen's signing, on the other hand, is baffling. An absolute stud when he played with the Florida Panthers (and constant topic of trade chatter during his tenture there), the 31-year old Finnish center has failed miserably to bring his game to the same level in stints with the Phoenix Coyotes, Rangers and Flames. Last year, Calgary thought so little of his non-chemistry with Jarome Iginla that is participated in a cap dump for the Rangers by taking in $5.1 million in salary for Kotalik, who had two years, $6 million still left on his deal, and the pending RFA Higgins in exchange for him.

Apparently, as TSN's Darren Dreger tweeted, Sutter believed he should have never traded Jokinen. And thus, the marriage was reborn.

If it didn't work the last time, it's not going to work this time, either. Calgary was rid of Jokinen, who was pretty much set up to either take a really low offer from an NHL team on a one year basis or become the next NHL alum to head to Russia.

Poor Iginla.