Mogilny to Devils

The New Jersey Devils signed Alexander Mogilny to a two-year, $7M deal. This will be the 36-year-old's second tour of duty with New Jersey.
The five-time All-Star was originally a fifth round selection by the Sabres in the 1988 entry draft, and has also played for The Vancouver Canucks, and of course, most recently, Toronto Maple Leafs. In 956 career NHL contests, Mogilny has tallied 461 goals and 546 assists for 1007 total points. Although age and injury are catching up with him (he missed 40 games in 2003-04 with a hip injury), he's still able to produce at nearlya point a night. I think this is a great pick-up by the Devils.
I usually have no love to give for Leafs players, but I always liked Mogilny. He works hard and doesn't let his talent go to waste. In addition to being a remarkably gifted skater, he plays a very clean, sound game. Anyone who wins the Lady Byng, as he did in 2003, gets my respect.

Then another big-name free agency signing came late last night which finally answered a question I posed nine days ago. CuJo has signed a one-year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. I'm not sure of the financials on that, but it doesn't matterThe deal is reportedly worth $900k. This is an outstanding pickup. One that will make Coach Gretzky's job a lot easier. The three-time All-Star had a "shaky" season with Detroit in 2003-04. He sat out a number of games with different injuries to the same (right) ankle, and was constantly the center of trade talk. He played in 32 contests, and had a record of 16-10-3, had a Goals Against Average of 2.39 and a save percentage of .909. In the 2004 playoffs, he appeared in 9 games, going 4-4 with a GAA of 1.38 (!!!) and a save percentage of .939. He did not play at all during the lockout.
Often considered to be among the best in the game, CuJo has never hoisted the Cup. This move will certainly mean that he won't be doing it in 2006 either.

The NHL free agency gods also answered another one of my questions from about three weeks ago. Anson Carter signed a one-year, $1M deal with Vancouver. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was pretty much a done deal that he was going to be a Maple Leaf. I know, I know. Every player in the NHL has been rumored to be headed to the Leafs at some point this summer, but I swear I heard that he was in Toronto undergoing the physical examination as a formality to a deal with them.
Actually, I don't like this guy. He doesn't assert himself well at all, and he doesn't put up numbers that are all that impressive. For $1M, though, it's not bad. Carter, who didn't play at all during the lockout, was traded two times during the 2003-04 season. Both of them were horrible trades by the Capitals. I've already written about this at great length, but to refresh.... In a move that would have certainly been vetoed in any fantasy hockey league, the Caps traded Jaromir Jagr to the Rangers straight-up for Carter. The Caps also agreed to pay half of Jagr's salary. Shortly thereafter, the Caps traded Carter to the Kings straight-up for Jared Aulin. So in a six week span, the Caps went from Jagr to Aulin. From premiere player to prospect. From stud to bum. Caps owner Ted Leonsis can try to rationalize that as much as possible, but if I live to be 200 years old, I'll never understand that. I know it was a money thing, but it still doesn't make sense to have gotten as little out of it as they did.

Here's a question I'd really like the free agency gods to answer... Why isn't anyone talking about Ilya Kovalchuk? He's still unsigned, and I haven't heard a single rumor about him.