Broad Street Heroes

Yesterday, July 1st, was the start of Free Agency for the NHL (the NBA too but I don’t care as much about that).   Somehow, ESPN barely recognized this.  The only headline about the NHL Free Agency signings was near the bottom of the headlines sidebar.  For those of you who weren’t able to check out TSN or NHL.com, here is an update on what was one of the craziest days of the season for the NHL.

Top 10 Free Agent Moves So Far

1. Marian Hossa Signs with Chicago: 12 years, $62.8 Million
2. Marian Gaborik Signs with the Rangers: 5 years
3. Michael Cammalleri Sings with Montreal: 5 years, $30 Million
4. The Sedin Twins Resign in Vancouver: Both get 5 years, $30.5 Million
5. Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi Leave Pittsburgh: Gill to Habs, Scuderi to Kings
6. Martin Havlat Signs with Minnesota Wild
7. Mattias Ohlund Signs 7 year deal with Lightning
8. Mike Knuble Signs with Capitals: 2 years, $2.8 Million
9. Mike Komisarek Leaves Habs for Leafs
10. Jay Bouwmeester Signs 5 year contract with Flames

There were also a few major trades made before the free agency period got underway.  The two biggest trades were the Jay Bouwmeester for Jordan Leopold trade which enabled J-Bo to get out of Florida.  Now that the Flames were able to lock him up they have one of the most formidable blue lines in the league.  The other major trade was made by the Philadelphia Flyers at the NHL Draft when they traded two 1st round picks, 2008 first round pick Luca Sbisa, and 25+ goal scorer Joffrey Lupul.  By doing this the Flyers are showing the league that they want to make a run at the Stanley Cup, and with the addition of Pronger they have a good chance of doing so.