A Carolina Hurricanes blog with occasional news about the rest of the NHL.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

first day of free agent market not exactly booming

Almost 24 hours have passed since the opening of the free agency market. Most people expected to see a flurry of activity right out of the gates, but there really hasn't been very much worth writing home about. See, watch this:


Dear Mom,
Yesterday the much anticipated NHL free agency market opened, and there were a few signings I'd like to tell you about. The St. Louis Blues signed Aaron Downey, the Minnesota Wild signed Andrei Nazarov and the LA Kings signed Tom Kostopoulos. I've never heard of any of those guys. In bigger news, the Florida Panthers signed two aging veterans in Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts. Bigger, but not earth-shattering. Late last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to pick up Adam Foote. That's pretty solid. The biggest thing, though, came this morning when the Blackhawks signed Adrian Aucoin. A lot of teams, including the Hurricanes, were hoping to get him. Oh well.
Guess I should go now.
Love,
Your son


See what I mean? Nothing. I mean, the Aucoin deal is kinda big news. The only other thing worth mentioning is the Adam Foote to Columbus deal. That'll help their defense quite a bit.

People are making a big deal about Nieuwendyk and Roberts going to Florida, but I really don't see that as being all that huge. These are both guys who are frequently hampered by injury and who are also both rapidly approaching 40. They both put up 50-point seasons in Toronto back in 2003-04, but neither played hockey at all during the lockout. Rumor has it that Roberts has been staying sharp the whole time, though. Maybe they've still got it.

I'm just surprised that not much has gone on. I think there's some speculation that everyone is kinda waiting for someone else to make the first move, and to set the bar. Meanwhile, fans everywhere are getting anxious.

1 comment:

greatwhitebear said...

I think the Adam Foote deal is huge for the Jackets. If Rick Nash plays at all like he did in Europe last year, he is about to become the best player in the NHL. The new rules opening u p the ice will help him tremendously. He really took to the open ice in Europe. Foote will give them a terrific 2 way defenseman who can start the play up ice and allow Nash to create. Look for the jackets to ber really improved this year.

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