After months of waiting, it's here! At 12 noon today, the UFA market begins, and yes we will see players go today, and most likely several in the first couple hours. I'm hearing Jovo (Florida) and Gerber (Detroit) could be the first two to go.
Marc Savard has said he'd like to talk to the Leafs, however, the Leafs feel his 97 point season was thanks to Kovalchuk, and do not have interest in him.
The Rangers apparently are the front runner to land Chara, however, many in the Rangers organization feel they'd be better off signing two players for Chara's price. The Kings are also going to go hard after the very large blueliner.
McKee is very saught after, with NYR, Toronto, Montreal, LA, Ottawa, and most of the other teams interested in his servives. Toronto is apparently in the lead, with the Rangers, Kings and Sens right behind.
Arnott will recieve interest from the Kings, Habs and Leafs right from the get-go.
Roenick is still looking at Toronto and Ottawa, but would also like a shot in Vancouver and Calgary as well. It's still very likely he ends up on a Canadian team.
Anyone remember that Rob Blake is a UFA? The fact that Colorado has yet to sign him, makes him one of the best blueliners availables. He was trying to get his own deal done with the Avs, but since no contract has been completed, he has re-hired his former agents and will look around the league for the best deal possible. Still likely he returns to Colorado, but he's available to all 30 teams today.
Get ready for the collapse of the Oilers. Peca, Roloson, Samsonov and Spacek all hit the open market today, while Pronger is still waiting for a trade. If I was an Oiler fan, I would not be happy with the job of Kevin Lowe at this point.
The Phoenix Coyotes are expected to be very active on the UFA market this summer. They apparently have interest in Jovo, Chara, Arnott, McKee, Mitchell, Elias and McCauley. They are also interested in Chris Pronger.
Montreal is said to be ready to offer Patrick Elias a contract. Many teams are interested in the speedy winger, including the Devils, Leafs, Sens, Wild, and Panthers, among many others.
Montreal and NYR are two teams I've heard interested in newly-made UFA Bill Guerin
Tie Domi is likely to retire, though the Habs are said to have some interest in him, Ottawa as well.
Belfour is likely to end up in one of LA, Detroit or Florida.
One of the most underrated UFA's available this season is Anson Carter. Vancouver and Toronto are the two most likely destinations for him
Two minutes, here we go! I will be around for half today, Yick will do coverage after that. Enjoy your July 1st everyone, it's going to be a fun next couple of weeks
