Bolts sign #1 pick

Tampa Bay signed the #1 overall pick from this years draft Steven Stamkos. The contract he signed was a three-year, $2.625 million contract that could be worth up to $11.175 million with incentives.

The Bolts have also signed Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi, Olaf Kolzig, Adam Hall, and Gary Roberts. The Bolts have signed a handful of vets. I think that the only guys that will help them all season long is Malone and Kolzig. Kolzig allows Mike Smith to play the majority of the games and still having a chance to win. Malone brings a hard nose style who can also score. The Lightning also get the number 1 pick signed, resigning big Vinny and still have Martin St. Louis. They also got a new coach in Barry Melrose and will be expected to make the playoffs in his first year.

The Redwings signed Valtteri Flippula to a $15 million contact for 5 years.

Mark Parrish got realsed and will be bought out by the Wild.

Vancouver and Motreal remain hot after Mats Sundin. It looks like he will be in Vancouver.

Mass native John Tortorella is the front runner for the open job on long island.

St. Louis Blues forward Dan Hinote is one of the luckiest guys in the world. Marring former playmate and Jenny McCarthy's sister Amy.

Bruins sign 2

Bruins sign Nate Thompson and Martin St. Pierre. St. Pierre came over in the deal from Chicago for Pascel Pelliter. The 24 year old, played most of the season for the Blackhawks farm team that won the Calder Cup, he also made an apperance in a handful of games for the big club.
Thompson last year played for the baby B's in Providence and is a former 6th round pick in 2003. Thompson also played in 4 games in the 06-07 season for the Bruins.

Bruins after Jay-Bo?

According to...yes, Eklund, the Bruins may be offering the best package for Jay Bouwmeester, the young stud defenseman from Florida.  

Now, before any Panthers fans goes, Lucic, Kessel and Rask on us, let's examen this.

Previous Florida deals....

Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a 6th round pick for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen.  Luongo was an RFA, no long term deal could be made, so they dealt Luongo, arguably the best goalie in the league and Krajicek was a decent young defenseman with some potential.  For Todd Bertuzzi who had sucked for 2 years, battling legal issues and was a shell of his former self, not to mention injury prone.  Alex Auld a good young goalie, but unproven and did not last in FLA.  Bryan Allen was a decent defenseman.  

Olli Jokinen for Nick Boynton, Keith Ballard, and a 2nd round pick.  Ballard, good young defenseman, Boynton was on waivers last year and a 2nd round pick, worth nothing really.  All of that for 2 years of an all-star center.  

Now, Previous deals for Elite Defenseman.

Chris Pronger for Eric Brewer, Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch.  

Chris Pronger for 2 1st rounder, a 2nd rounder, Joeffry Lupol and Ladislav Smid

Dan Boyle for Matt Carle, Ty Wishart and a 4th round pick

You have to think, FLA isn't as smart based on previous deals, so they won't be getting as good as a deal EDM got for Pronger.  More along the St. Louis deal.  A NHL defenseman, good but not elite prospect, a lower prospect and a 1st-2nd round pick.

My offer to FLA, would be.....

2010 first round pick, Andrew Ference, Peter Schaefer (salary reasons), and Vladimir Sobotka/Carl Soderberg for Jay Bouwmeester.

I am not going to overpay knowing he will be a UFA next season and we have TONS of money to spend.

Bruins acquire Martin St. Pierre

Bruins today traded Pascal Pelletier to Chicago for Martin St. Pierre.  The 24 year old had 21 goals and 67 assists for Rockford of the AHL last season.

I like this move.  Pelletier would never have made the team, even though he played well scoring 37 goals and 38 assists.  St. Pierre is a year younger and has better playmaking ability, which the Bruins like.  Playmakers usually transition better then goal scorers for some reason from the AHL.

Glen Murray also passed waivers, so he will be bought out tomorrow.

Wideman officially signs, 4 years, 15.5 million

AAV of 3.875.  3.25 in 08-09, 3.75 in 09-10, and 4 million in both 10-11 and 11-12.  A little less than sportsnet reported.  It is a good deal, again a little more than I would have liked, but aav of 3.5 for 2 years was around what we expected for RFA years and 2 years 8 million for 2 UFA years is the price, so it works out.

Murray on waivers

The Bruins placed Glen Murray on waivers today, and he will be bought out unless claimed.  Sad for Murray, but he was done.  If his salary was not 4.15 million, we may have kept him since he has had off seasons in his career.  But, we will trim 2.7666 million off the books, moving us below the cap, and will carry a cap hit of 1.383 million over 2 seasons.  I hate how he carries into next year, but it had to be done.  I thought Murray would be moved to LA, but it did not happen.  Sucks to see a guy fall off like that, but it is a business.  Thanks Glen.

Wideman Signs New Deal

According to Sportsnet.ca, the Bruins signed Dennis Wideman to a 4 year deal worth 15.75 million or 3.9375 per.

A lot more than I thought he would get, I was looking at between 2.8 and 3.3 per.  More to come tomorrow.

Wideman deal close

According to the Boston Globe, the Bruins are close to signing Dennis Wideman to a deal.  It is believed that the money is pretty much agreed on, but the difference lies in the length of the deal.  The deal will likely be between 2.8 and 3.5 million annually.  

Bruins in 5-6 years

Could it be like this---only prospects and current young guys.

Lucic-Bergeron-Kessel

Wheeler-Hamill-Krejci

Soderberg-Colborne-Karsums

Marquardt-Sobotka-Marchand

Wideman-Lashoff

Hunick-Stuart

Bodnarchuk-McQuaid

Rask

X

If all these players pan out to what they could be, wow, just a sick lineup.  

Who makes it?

The more and more I keep thinking about this roster, the more excited I get, with both the present and future of this club.  To be honest, I see the Bruins as one of the better teams in the East.  Not only because I am a homer, usually I will say when I don't like this team, but because this team is DEEP, which is what Detroit was and all the Cup winners in the past were.  So, let's take a look and see who makes this team.

Locks:

Patrice Bergeron

Marc Savard

Phil Kessel

David Krejci

Milan Lucic

Chuck Kobasew

PJ Axlesson

Marco Sturm

Bubble:

Petteri Nokelainen

Peter Schaefer

Glen Murray

Carl Soderberg

Jeremy Reich

Shawn Thornton

Vladimir Sobotka

Stretches:

Blake Wheeler

Zach Hamill

We have say 14 active forwards for this season, so 8 locks leaving 6 spaces.  I would say Soderberg would most likely end up in Providence and then is called up if necessary.  I think they would REALLY like to get him some time getting to know North American hockey before most likely getting a roster spot next season.  Assuming everyone is here, I think Sobotka goes to Providence as well just because he can get more playing time and be called up if necessary.  Nokelainen is likely to be the 4th line center, but he also could end up in Providence or as a healthy scratch some nights.  Reich will see extremely limited time as an injury replacement, and since his deal is 1 way, he might be traded for a pick or in a package.  Thornton will see time as the goon on the team.  Schaefer remains the most likely to be dealt if a trade is made, but he could be paired with Sobotka as they played well in the playoffs.  Wheeler and Hamill with more than likely play in Providence and could get a late season call up.

Lucic-Savard-Ryder

Sturm-Bergeorn-Kessel

Kobasew-Krejci-Murray

Schaefer-Nokelainen-Axlesson

Thornton-Sobotka

Reich

or

Schaefer-Savard-Ryder

Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew

Lucic-Krejci-Kessel

Axelsson-Nokelainen-Murray

Thornton-Sobotka

Reich

As you can see, I moved Lucic up to the 1st line as it seems that the Bruins really want this guy up at the top, but a Lucic-Krejci-Kessel like could also work in which Murray would slot down to the 4th line and Schaefer plays with Savard as was planned last year.  If Schaefer can regain playoff form all year, he will be a good player.  I really don't see Reich doing much, which is why he is the 15th forward on the team.  Thornton could spell for anyone via injury and juggle the lines and Sobotka and Nokie will likely split a lot of time.  Obviously, a trade is what is most likely or buyout, but I am dealing with what we have now.

If Murray is gone, here are my lines.

Lucic-Savard-Ryder

Sturm-Bergeron-Kessel

Schaefer-Krejci-Kobasew

Axelsson-Nokelainen-Sobotka

Thornton-Reich/Soderberg

or

Schaefer-Savard-Ryder

Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew

Lucic-Krejci-Kessel

Axlesson-Nokelainen-Sobotka

Thornton-Reich/Soderberg

So, as you can tell, this is a DEEP team with 4 legit scoring lines.

A "Beckham Rule"?

In the MLS, there is a rule called the Beckham Rule, which allows teams to spend whatever amount of money they want on a player without him counting toward the cap.   What if the NHL adopted this rule?

Many GM's such as Brian Burke want to be abled to send cash aka pay part of the outgoing players salary to other teams, basically trading cap space, to allow for more player movement.  With so many teams within 4 million of the cap, player movement becomes very limiting.  

My proposal is to instate the Beckham Rule.  This would mean, the highest paid player on a team would NOT count against the salary cap.  The highest earning player on the team, must have their salary be no more than 20% of the cap.  Each season, the player with the highest earning salary may be different, therefore, each season the player being applied to the Beckham rule may change every season.  So if Zdeno Chara was at 7.5 the Beckham player, say we signed Hossa at 8, he would be this season.

This rule keeps the salary cap in place, and keeps the salaries tied to revenue.  All this rule does is allow for more cap space for trades and signings.  It also allows teams to keep their franchise players at high salaries they deserve, without hindering the teams ability to field a competitive team.

What are your thoughts?

Your Line Combos

With no trades, so what we have now...

Sturm-Savard-Ryder

Kobasew-Bergeron-Murray

Lucic-Krejci-Kessel

Axelsson-Nokelainen-Schaefer

Reich-Sobotka-Thornton

Chara-Wideman

Ward-Ference

Stuart-Lashoff

Alberts-Hnidy

Fernandez

Thomas

Predicted Stats 1.0

Name...............G.....A....PTS

Marc Savard.......22.....74....96

Patrice Bergeron..32.....52....84

Zdeno Chara.......17.....42....59

Marco Sturm.......27.....30....57

Michael Ryder.....31.....22....53

Phil Kessel.......26.....24....50

Glen Murray.......24.....25....49

Chuck Kobasew.....23.....22....45

Dennis Wideman....14.....21....35

David Krejci......13.....21....34

Peter Schaefer....14.....17....31

PJ Axelsson.......12.....18....30

Milan Lucic.......15.....15....30

Matt Lashoff.......8.....20....28

Vladimir Sobotka...6.....10....16

Andrew Ference.....2.....12....14

Aaron Ward.........4.....10....14

Petteri Nokelainen.6.....7.....13

Mark Stuart........2.....10....12

Shawn Thornton.....3......5.....8

Andrew Alberts.....1......7.....8

Shane Hnidy........1......4.....5

Jeremy Reich.......1......3.....4

I know that is about 3.75 goals a game, but I don't think ANY of these predictions are WAY out there.

Zherdev to the Big Apple

UGH!  Trades like this piss me off.  Two average defender for a young talented winger in Zherdev.  Backman and Tyutin to the Blue Jackets.  Why didn't PC offer like Stuart and Alberts or something?  Zherdev is cheap money and can score.  Good deal by Sather.

I am liking the Ryder deal more

Okay think about it, imagine if a 28 year old winger had come off 3 seasons of 25, 30, 30 goals.  Wouldn't you be after him?  Yes!  Because he had a bad season, everyone is pissed.  But, he fell out of favor from his coach and struggled, happens to players.  If Ryder had done 17, 25, 30, 30, he would have been getting 4.5+ million.  Aside from Hossa, he has been one of the most, if not the most consistent young forward in the market.  I don't know but I am liking the Ryder deal more and more now.  A

Offseason Overview

Radmin Vrbata to Tampa Bay, 3 years/3 per.  Less than I thought Vrbata would get coming off a almost 30 goal season and almost 60 points.  But, you have to take into consideration he ever cracked 20 goals in his career before last season, so it is a risky signing.  On the other hand, Vrbata is entering his prime at the age of 27 and it takes offensive players a few years before you can tell what they will really be like.  B+

Andrew Brunette to Minnesota, 3 years/2.333 per.  I love this signing by Minnesota.  Obviously, Brunette took a home town discount to come back to Minny.  He is a year removed from an 83 point season with Colorado.  He is 34 though, so 3 years is a bit long, but for a consistent 15+ goal scorer and 50+ points, it is a great signing.  A-

Kurt Sauer to Phoenix, 4 years/1.75 per.  Bad signing.  Sauer has 26 points in 288 career games, and is a career -15.  He was a 6th defenseman in Colorado I don't think he is worth 1.75 million.  He is only 27 and if he can play good in his own zone, and improve the offense a little (4 career goals and career high in a season is 1), he could be worth it.  I think you could have gotten the same production from a rookie or veteran.  C

Jose Theodore to Washington, 2 years/4.5 per.  I don't get it.  Why not spend the extra 1.1 million for Huet, which could have gotten done earlier so his price would not be that much.  Theodore is inconsistent, and does not seem able to put back to back good seasons.  He is talented, but 4.5 for a guy two seasons ago was looking like he could be done as a starter is a steep price.  I think Washington made a mistake not taking their guy Huet.  B-

Andrew Raycroft to Colorado, 1 year/800k.  Ouch, Razor is really that bad now.  The former rookie of the year was bought out by the Leafs and has found a new home backing up Peter Budaj.  Colorado made a huge mistake.  Aside the fact that Raycroft sucks, they did not get a veteran to back up Budaj, who has only played 1 season as a starter.  They should have spent some coin on a guy like Kolzig or went the trade route to sure up the goaltending.  C-

Ty Conklin to Detroit, 1 year/750k. Great signing by Detroit.  Conklin was so valuable to Pittsburgh in the regular season when Fleury went down.  He is a former starter and a veteran who can get the job done, not to mention that he comes at an extremely cheap price.  The only issue is, if Osgood goes down, is Detroit that confident with Conklin?  In the past they have always had 2 all-star goalies whether it be Legace, Hasek, Jospeh or Osgood.  B+

Todd Fedoruk to Phoenix, 3 years/1.0583 per.  A banger who gets under peoples skin.  Phoenix wanted to be more tough and improved that with Fedoruk.  He can score as well, career high 6 goals and 11 points last season, and has a career high of 23 points.  Fedoruk comes at a cheap price, and since his game has a little offense, he costs more than just a Shawn Thornton type.  B

Jeff Finger to Toronto, 4 years/3.5 per.  Who?  Wait Jeff Finger, haha imagine the headlines.  Wait, they already have them.  Toronto gives the Finger to its fans.  I thought Toronto was going to be responsible with its money.  3.5 million for a guy who has played 1 full season, and scored a whopping 19 points.  He also has played in a whopping 94 NHL career games.  What was Toronto thinking?  D-

Curtis Joseph to Toronto, 1 year/700k.  Good signing by Toronto, rare good signing that is.  Cujo can be a much better and affordable backup to Toskala than Raycroft.  Comes at a decent price and still get the job done.  B

Cory Stillman to Florida, 3 years/3.53 per.  Stillman has been consistent throughout his career, being a 20+ goal scorer for pretty much his entire career.  I am not astatic about the length, again Stillman is 34, but Florida is a young team and needs some veteran leadership.  B

Cristobal Huet to Chicago, 4 years/5.6 per.  I don't get it.  They have Nikolai Khabibulan already at 6.75 per season.  Why not just let him play out the final season of his deal?  Spend the 5.6 million on defense or offense.  They did not need help at goalie and now have over 12 million between 2 goalies.  Huet is a decent goalie, but should not be making top 10 goalie in the league money.  C

Darcy Tucker to Colorado, 2 years/2.25 per.  Good signing by Colorado.  Tucker is a pest on the ice, but loves to play the game and can score 20 goals.  Cheap money, and could really contribute to the team.  B

Olaf Kolzig to Tampa Bay, 1 year/1.5 million + incentives.  Good deal by Tampa.  Kolzig solidifies the goaltending, which with just Mike Smith could have been disastrous.  While Kolzig isn't the goalie he once was, he will help this team and brings a mentor to Smith.  B+

Alex Auld to Ottawa, 2 years/1 million per.  I loved Auld while he was here, and he is talented as proven with Vancouver, but 1 million for a guy last season who was in the minors?  Conklin only got 750k.  I am not sure why Auld should be making 100k less than Tim Thomas, but Ottawa needed a backup for Gerber after Emery was bought out, and Auld is a proven starter incase Gerber falls out of favor again.  B-

Patrick Lalime to Buffalo, 2 years/1 million per.  Lalime was great with Ottawa early in his career, then had 2 bad seasons with Chicago and St. Louis.  Bouncing back last year, he is a proven starter and is a good backup for Miller.  I like this more than the Auld signing because Lalime has proven more over his career than Auld.  B

Brian Campbell to Chicago, 8 years/7.1 per.  For the top defenseman to get 7.1 is not bad considering Chara got 7.5 as the top guy and usually the top guys at their position get 7+.  The issues is the years.  Campbell is 29, so he is locked up until 37, and unless he is Ray Bourque or Nicklas Lidstrom, which I don't think he is, 35+ defenseman don't play that well, not to mention he is an offensive guy, and isn't that sound in his own zone.  He was a 45 point guy until this season, when he blossomed into a 60+ point guy.  Campbell is in his prime, so for the next 4-5 years, it'll be a good deal.  Chicago needed to make a splash, and they did, even though they went 2-3 extra years.  A-

Mike Commodore to Columbus, 5 years/3.75 per.  Commodore is a solid defenseman, as proven with Carolina.  He isn't offensively gifted, but can contribute a little bit on offense.  Commodore is 27, entering his prime and 5 years is long, but he will only be 33 when his deal is up, so he isn't ancient.  The money is fairly good, and Columbus needed some help on D which they accomplished.  B

Ossi Vaananen to Philadelphia, 1 year/1 million.  Don't like it.  1 million for a guy who DID NOT play in the NHL last year, has 57 career points in 430 games, and isn't anything great.  Why not give a rookie a chance?  Vaananen projects to be a 6th-7th defenseman.  He is good in his own end, but nothing special.  D+

Brian Rolston to New Jersey, 4 years/5.05 per.  Like Rolston going back, and the money isn't too bad, but 4 years for a 35 year old?  I don't think he will be worth it in years 3 and 4.  3 years was pushing it, 4 come on.  Rolston will definitely help them out, but the years are too much.  B-

Glen Metropolit to Philadelphia, 2 years/1 million per.  Metro has shown over the past 2 seasons he can play 3rd line duties.  He can give you 10+ goals and 30 points, and is worth the money.  Good signing by Philly.  B+

Niklas Hagman to Toronto, 4 years/3 million per.  It could go either way.  You either guy the 30 goal scoring Hagman, or the under 30 point Hagman.  Well, only 1 season has he cracked 30 points, which was last year.  It is sort of like the Vrbata signing, since Hagman is 28.  Only time will tell if it works out.  B-

Bobby Holik to New Jersey, 1 year/2.5 million.  Going back to where he was most successful.  Holik adds leadership and is a fan favorite.  He scored 15 goals last season and 37 points, he has been consistent throughout his career so you know what you are getting.  Good money and good signing.  B

Wade Redden to New York Rangers, 6 years/6.5 per.  Redden was supposed to get a paycut from his 6 million salary, but insane money in the UFA market said otherwise.  Redden needed a new home, and if he can get up back to his 50 point days, it won't be as bad a signing as if he continues his recent struggles over the past 2 seasons.  He is good in his own end, but that isn't worth 6.5 million.  B-

Mark Streit to New York Islanders, 5 years/4.1 per.  Will the Isles ever learn?  Streit has played 2 full seasons, is a 10-15 goal scorer at best.  He isn't a pure defender, and can play offense on the wing.  Is a PP guy in general.  Has never had a positive +/- rating and while he had 49 assists, it is tough to judge whether than will continue or if it was a one year wonder type thing.  C+

Michael Ryder to Boston, 3 years/4 per.  Is it good or bad?  He scored 25, 30, 30, 17 in his 4 seasons of full time.  If not for a bad last season, in which he fell out of favor of his coach in Montreal, Ryder could be looking at 5+ million.  He is pretty much a 25+ goal scorer and could take his game to the next level to score 35+.  He is very good on the PP as well.  B

Marian Hossa to Detroit, 1 year/7.4 million.  The rich get richer, and richer, and richer.  Detroit got the best player in the market on a 1 year deal at a reasonable price.  He won't kill them in the wallet when they need to re-sign their other guys down the road.  He may just be there for a year, but what's to lose?  He will be on one of the best offensive and defensive lines in the league with Zetterberg and Datsyuk.  This solidifies Detroit's team that just won a Cup and did not lose anyone via free agency.  They will likely repeat in my opinion.  A+

Sean Avery to Dallas, 4 years/3.875 per.  I don't know.  Avery is annoying as hell and is a locker room cancer to some people.  While he is the agitator all teams need, he could grow out of favor quickly, which is why he hasn't spent more than 2 full seasons with one team in his career.  He can score though and if he doesn't bring down his team, it'll be a fine signing for a 15 goal scorer.  B

Jarkko Ruutu to Senators, 3 years/1.3 per.  Ruutu is a 5-10 goal scorer who gets down and dirty.  Big PIM from this guy and will be a favorite in Ottawa.  Adds toughness and grit to the team.  B

Ron Hainsey to Atlanta, 5 years/4.5 per.  A little expensive, but after losing out on Campbell they had no choice but to overpay.  At 27, he is like an older Dennis Wideman, making some strong strides and being a good puck moving defenseman.  B+

Hossa to Motown

The rich get richer.  You have to respect Hossa for wanting to win a cup, and he signed for 1 year.  Who would have thought?

Good thing is, aside that fact Detroit should win the cup, again, is that I can dream of Hossa next offseason unless he signs with Detroit long term.  We have Axelsson, Alberts, Fernandez, Murray and Thomas coming off the books, and likely a cap raise.  So again our team is basically filled out.  Hossa anyone?  

Bruins sign Michael Ryder 3 years/12 million

Sorry for nothing yesterday, my computer wouldn't let me log on to blogger.

So, no Hossa.  Sucks, but he did not want to come here and is going to sign for 8.5+ million.  

We signed Michael Ryder, an ex-Hab.  The more I think about it, the more I like it (I am slowly coming out of my Hossa-haze).  The guy has a WICKED shot, I mean the puck flies off the stick.  He scored 30 goals twice, 25 another and a bad year last season.  If he can get 30-25-55, he'll be worth the money.  The Habs never had a playmaker like Savard either, so Ryder's game could go to another level.  Don't read much into last season, he was in the doghouse.  4 million is tough to swallow, esp. when guys like Kobasew got 2.333.  But, that is the going price, and he made 2.95 last year, so of course he was going to get a raise and with teams bidding on him, well that's what happens.  I know Ryder is a lot like Murray, but if it is Glen Murray at 28, then great.  92 points!  Ryder is only 28 and we have him in the prime of his career.  Ryder was a nice consolation for Hossa.  Also, next season we can snag another player because we have a TON of money coming off the books.  

I bet Ryder scores more goals than Tanguay....

Michael Ryder Signed

All that wait for right wing Michael Ryder. 3 Years at 4 million a year. More details to come. Not a big fan of this signing.

Vrbata to Lightning

3 years, 3 million per

Wheeler signed

two year entry level deal as said before

Pitkanen to Car for Cole

Pitkanen to Carolina for Erik Cole.

Cujo to Toronto

1 year, 700,000

Bourque to Cgy

Rene Bourque from Chi to Calgary for a 3rd rounder

Dupuis to Pit

3 year deal

Stuart to Det

4 years, 3.75 per

Torres to Clb for Brule

Raffi Torres from EDM to CLB for Gilbert Brule.

Chat Now

Going into chat a little earlier....want to talk some hockey.

Click the link on the right below the Bruins logo!

Mike Green signs with Was

4 year deal worth 5.25 per

Salvador back to NJ

4 year deal worth 2.9 per season.

How today will work

I will be going into the chat at around 11 am EST.  When the signings occur, we will obviously let people know in the chat and I will post them on the blog, just the terms and player and team.  I will give my take on them tonight when things calm down a little.  

Chat 11 am EST today!  

12 years/100 million?

NY Post says so, and not from the Islanders, but from us!  I doubt that is the offer, they would probably split it to 6 years, 50 million.  8.3 cap hit per.  This is my point, the Globe/Herald stories don't make sense.

The Bruins entire roster is basically signed.  They could sign no one and still be fine.  PC said he will likely sign someone today.  Well, the Herald/Globe says the Bruins could be after 2nd tier guys and multiple of them.  Why would you sign some secondary guys when your roster is full.  You would then have to ship guys out.  Why not sign Hossa and ship those guys out anyways.  It also makes no sense that a guy they have coveted for a year, now available, they would let walk, and with next years weak crop as well, have no other options besides a trade, where they would likely have to deal Kessel, a guy they refused to for HOSSA!  Then, in 2 years, we will have to start talking Savard, Bergy and Chara for new contracts.  It doesn't make any sense to why they would let him go and not make a hard push for Hossa.

Globe/Herald Bruins out on Hossa

Not to be a homer, but they are full of crap.  I mean, you can't believe anything or anyone until the player is signed.  Didn't PC want to make a splash?  Wait, were not we the front runners by many.  All of a sudden we are going to sign Ryder?  No.  If Hossa walks for 8 million a season, I will be pissed.  Why didn't you buy out Murray then?  We'll see....