Nolan Enters The Wild

Owen Nolan has signed a new 2-year deal with the Minnesota Wild. the Contract is worth 5.5 million over the 2 years, in other words 2.75 million per season.This signing could mean the end of forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard who is a restricted free agent.

Bergenheim to arbitration, recap of offseason. Schneider talks?

First off i'd like to say I am a new blogger. I have never blogged in my life. My name is Ryan Pavlicek, and I am a die hard Islander fan. My name on Islandermania is Islander 39, so if I post something here and Islander 39 wrote the same thing I DID NOT COPY IT IS ME! hope all readers will welcome me nicely!

Back to the New York Islanders.

Islander player going to arbitration- Bergenheim is on his way to arbitration. This kid is something special, and hopefully we can sign him long term. If you remember the last time he was a RFA contract talks were messy.

RUMOR- Islanders in trade talks for Mathieu Schneider. Schneider scored 39 points last year in 64 games. Streit and Schneider on the PP sounds very nice.

A nice idea- Offer sheet for Nigel Dawes. The Rangers are pretty tied up in cap space, and a 2.6 million offer sheet is a second rounder, so that's a pretty good price for Dawes. Also maybe we would force the Rangers to use their very little cap space to keep Dawes at the garden. Plus signing Dawes may add fuel to the Ranger-Islander rivalry.

RECAP OF OFFSEASON- So to recap the offseason. So far this offseason we have drafted for the future and signed a couple of guys to help us now. I'm sure every fan is tired of hearing of the draft as it's been reviewed over and over so I will go right to free agency. Mr. Snow said he will kick some tires, and not make a splash, well he made a pretty big splash to the Islander world by signing defenseman Mark Streit. He is a PP QB type of d-man. The islanders brought him in to help the putrid PP. He may not be the best in his own zone, but we are filling a need. We also signed an older veteran Doug Weight. There were complaints, but honestly I think we got him for the right price. He is buddies with Billy Guerin, and can dish the puck very well. I expect to him to be a first liner for us. He will also help the PP with his skillful passes. Garth Snow signed only 2 guys, but these 2 guys do fill needs.

Islanders free agents still unsigned- Josef Vasicek, and Bryan Berard. It seems unlikely that either of them will be signed by the Islanders

DEPARTURES- Dubie- Russia, Miro- Pittsburgh, Tank- Pittsburgh. I don't like that we did not re-sign dubie as now we have Joey Macdonald as our backup. Miro and Tank leaving doesn't bother me.

OVERALL- I like the entire offseason, including the draft. I would like the Islanders to sign another scorer, but as of now I grade the offseason a B+

Kovalev Wants Extension And Wants It Now

According to TheInsiderOnPittsburghSports.com Montreal Canadiens forward Alexei Kovalev Wants an extension before training camp begins. Sources tell TIOPS that hes seeking an extension of about 3 years.

Our habs blogger will more than likely have More On This later tonight.

15 players to salary arbitration

Fifteen players decided to go through salary arbitration. The big names are Panthers Jay Bouwmeester, Ottawa Antoine Vermette, Minnesota Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Detroit Valtteri Filppula, Colorado Marek Svatos and Rangers Dan Fritsche. The nine other players are Washington Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrissonn, other Minnesota Stephane Veilleux , Boston Dennis Wideman, San Jose Marcel Goc , Caroline Chad Larose, Islanders Sean Bergenheim, St.Louis Jay McClement and Nashville Ville Koistinen.

Can Pavol Demitra be a Blue Shirt?

There is a rumour going around, Pavol Demitra could accept making less money to play with Markus Naslund. The Rangers are near the salary cap, it is why they offer less money for Demitra. Pavol Demitra played for the Wild last season, notching 15 goals and adding 39 assists.

Another Nucks Offersheet?

According to CKNW the Vancouver Canucks have given another offersheet. This offersheet is going in the direction of Red Wings Forward Valtterri Filppula. Terms of the offersheet have not been announced. The offersheet could be introduced later tonight as GM Mike Gillis will hold a press conference.

Rivet A Buffalo Sabre

NHL.COM is reporting that the Buffalo Sabres have made another move today. The Sabres have acquired veteran D-man Craig Rivet from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for two 2nd round pick. Rivet will bring experience and leadership to a Sabres team that needs lots of both.

Steve Bernier A Nuck

TSN reports that the Buffalo Sabres have traded restricted Free agent Steve Bernier to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a second round pick in 2010 and a 3rd round pick in 2009. The Canucks will have to sign Bernier soon or they will risk Arbitration.

Boyle To Swim With Sharks

A day after adding some veteran leadership to there team with the signing of Rob Blake, the Sharks have now added another key defenseman to there roster. Dan Boyle has agreed to waive his no trade and a deal will be made official later today. The deal will look like this

To San Jose:
Dan Boyle
Brad Lukowich

To Tampa Bay:
Matt Carle
1st round pick
4th round pick
Ty Wishart

Could the addition of Matt Carle mean that his brother who was drafted late this year in the draft because of health problems could play?

Jagr to Russia

A day after it was announced that forward Jaromir Jagr And The New York Rangers would not be together next year Jagr signed a contract to play with Avangard Omsk of the Continental Hockey League In Russia. This was according to the league Continental Hockey League's website. The contract is worth 35 million dollars over 2 years. He will have an option for a 3rd year.

Sens fans WOES!!

Hey all,

I know it's been a while since my last contribution, but here I am, exhausted and all! ha!

Well, as a die-hard sens fan, I must say I am still completely in awe of how some fans are reacting to Murray's handling of signings and such! I'm just flabbergasted! People calling for his head! He's twiddling his thumbs and doing NOTHING! BLA BLA BLA!!

I think some of these fans should REALLY listen to how they sound...
This year's crop of UFA's were handed ludicrous contracts, and I for one am SO proud of Murray for not handcuffing the Sens with HUGE contracts and severely compromising their future success on the gamble of ONE player and his enormous salary. Trust me on this, those teams that blew their load on some of these contracts will be wishing they hadn't in a year or two...
Murray is a patient and calculating man, and he knows full-well how this hockey market works. I'm so glad he didn't rush in, because essentially our core are signed for years to come at amazing prices and really, that alone is worthy of a tip of the ol' hat!

Now, as for the Boyle rumors, well I personally would like nothing more than to see that hometown boy suit for the Sens. He brings his A game night in and night out, and we all know how badly the Sens need a gritty puck mover back into their fold.
I would hope the rumors (and there's a truckload of them out there) are proving true and that Boyle is seriously considering a return home, but if isn't meant to be, so be it. I'll go on the record though and say that if Murray loses out on Boyle, he better have Schneider or Bowmeester in mind next and land one of them!

So, all of you who are calling for Murray's head, I beseech you: please let this man do his job. He's a well-respected and tenured hockey man, and I assure you, he knows what he's doing.
Let's wait and see what Murray has up his sleeve before we parade him down Bank street and lynch him shall we?