The Vancouver Canucks have signed center Marc Chouinard to a year two year deal worth 1 million dollars per season.
The Rangers are not quite done, and there is serious talk this morning that Brian Leetch could return to Broadway.
Though the Wings have yet to sign a goaltender, Ed Belfour could be offered a contract as early as today.
Is Martin Havlat worth $6 million a season? Chicago thought so, but then again, this is the same Chicago team that has offered Samsonov $7 million. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Lets take a quick look at who's left in the free agent market, in alphabetical order!
Jason Allison - Put up pretty good offensive numbers for Toronto, but was slow and had defensive problems. Still could be a number one center on a few teams, but likely will land somewhere as a number two. Toronto and Calgary are two teams I've heard.
Ed Belfour - Old and injury prone, but Florida and Detroit seem to both have interest.
Peter Bondra - Getting older, but can still provide offense. Could probably be had for around two million dollars a season, though there has been talk that he may retire.
Jan Bulis - Coming off his best offensive season (20 g,40 pts), Bulis is getting some attention, and could be had for less than 2 mil.
Anson Carter - Coming off one of his best ever seasons, Carter is looking for a longer term deal worth around $3 million per season. Many GMs feel that Carter only fed off the Sedin twins. Likely he'll return to Vancouver at this point, while Detroit and LA are still in there, and Toronto still remains as well.
Eric Daze - Injury prone winger who if healthy could return to previous form (70 points in best season). Daze has played in 20 games over the past two seasons, and will not be signed to anything more than a one year deal.
Brad Isbister - Still has lots of potential, scored 23 points in 58 games last season
Mike Leclerc - Has shown a lot of bright spots, but has not been as consistant as teams have hoped he'd be. Still worth a shot on a third line somewhere, maybe second.
Manny Legace - Some thought he was the best UFA goalie available (and his stats from last season agree), yet he says he has not recieved an offer from any team. St. Louis and Florida are both said to have some interest.
David Legwand - Injuries slowed him down last season, however, he's still a good center who is capable of putting up 45+ points per season.
Brian Leetch - Missed 21 games due to injury last season, but proved he still has a lot of offensive upside. Rumoured to be going back to NYR, while Boston is also possible.
Eric Lindros - Though he's battled injury problems the past 5-6 years, when healthy he's shown he could be as dominant a player as any. Toronto is most likely, while I feel Lindros could be this years comeback player of the year.
Danny Markov - Though his offensive production has declined over the past three years, he's improved his defensive game a lot. He is one of the best d-men left on the market, though a return to Nashville is unlikely.
Yanic Perrault - One of the best faceoff men in the league, Perrault is still a very valuable commodity.
Mark Recchi - A veteran who can still produce on the ice. Though Pittsburgh is still the most likely of places he'll end up, anything is possible. Any team looking for leadership should give Mark a call, just ask the Carolina Hurricanes.
Martin Rucinsky - 55 points in 52 games last year, I'm very surprised he's still available. The Rangers don't seem to keen on having him back, while I can confirm that Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Boston and Columbus have all inquired about him. Asking price is somewhere between 2-3.5 million per season, two or three year deal.
Sergei Samsonov - Maybe the best UFA available, Samsonov was built for the new NHL. Rumoured salary offers range from $3-$7 million, while many teams have been rumoured to be after his services. Detroit seems most likely, while Edmonton and LA are in the mix as well, as are at least four other teams.
Petr Sykora - A very good winger who can still put the puck in the net. Doesn't look like he'll return to the Rangers, and at this point it's hard to predict where he'll end up.
