Jason Blake has signed with the Leafs on a five year deal worth $4 million per season. 

The Capitals have signed Russian pivot Viktor Kozlov.  His fantasy value immediately goes up. 

The Rangers made two HUGE moves, signing both Scott Gomez and Chris Drury.  Both contracts are for a bit over $7 million per season (average), with Gomez recieving $10 million in the first year.  His is a seven-year deal while Drury's is for five. 

The Avs have inked Scott Hannan to a four-year deal worth $18 million total. 

Scott Niedermayer has indeed announced his retirement. 

Burnsy is signing out gang … Angus will be back later tonight to update this evening's activity. In one final tidbit of news, Notch has tested the free agent waters and gotten absolutely no interest. Looks like he'll be accepting Dobber's qualifying offer at $19.95 for 2 more seasons of lucky picks.

Things seemed to have cooled off. Jeff Hamilton signed for 2 years with Carolina and Michel Ouellet has signed with Tampa for 2 years. Ouellet could have some value if he gets time with any of the big boys.

Florida Panthers have inked Radek Dvorak to a two year deal. This also has little fantasy impact 

Shawn Thornton has signed with the Bruins. Equally interesting is the fact I cleaned my oven today. 

Rafalski's deal is for 5 years at $30 million. CHA CHING 

The last 5 posts were done by me … Burnsy … and damn it's good to be back. By the way, shouldn't somebody inform Dobber that the term "muscle shirt" refers to a person with muscles who wears a sleeveless shirt, and not some fantasy hockey geek with creamy white pipe-cleaners as shown in the picture below

Yanic Perreault has signed with Chicago for 1 year at $1.5 million. Why is it that this guy gets so little interest/respect, yet his value cannot be argued?

Briere's deal with Philly is worth 52 million over 8 years. It is front end loaded and will pay him nearly 10 million in 2007-08. Wowsers 

Alexei Morozov has decided to remain in Russia for one more season 

If Scott Niedermayer does not retire, the Mighty Ducks will have 21.5 million tied up in thier top four D-men next season 

Detroit has signed Brian Rafalski and is probably better off with him than with the aging Schneider who went to Anaheim earlier in the day.  

Calgary has called a press conference for this afternoon.  The signing they are going to announce is rumored to be defenseman Cory Sarich.

It is being reported that Daniel Briere has indeed signed a long-term deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Anaheim has signed defenseman Matt Schneider to a two-year deal worth $11.25 million total.  Does this mean Scott Niedermayer has decided to retire? 

Florida has signed winger Richard Zednik and center Brett McLean.   Zednik signed a two-year deal for $3.25 million, while McLean signed a three-year deal worth $1.7 million per season.  

The Penguins have re-signed RFA defenseman Ryan Whitney.  The deal is rumored to be $4 million per season for the next six years.

The Atlanta Thrashers have inked veteran Todd White to a four year, $9.5 million deal. 

Jarome Iginla is close to re-signing with the Flames.  The reported deal is worth $7 million per season and is rumored to be four or five years long.

Joe Thornton has re-signed with the Sharks.  He will make $7.2 million per  over the next three seasons.

Happy Canada Day…. The Sabres re-signed Adam Mair for three years. Whew. Dodged that bullet. It would have been crippling had they lost him to unrestricted free agency. Briere and Drury can go, but dammit – Mair must stay! Priority No.1! The Preds have re-signed Scott Nichol to a two-year deal…. The Wild have signed Mikko Koivu and Martin Skoula to contracts…. The Dick Tarnstrom rumor has been confirmed, he has signed with the Oilers….

Note: Angus and Burnsy will be covering the UFA signings from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday morning as I will be out of Internet range. I will also hold off on updating the fantasy rankings until July 4, because of all the UFA signings that are bound to happen and impact them. There will be no article on Sunday as well. My next appearance on XM will not be until September, as they have changed the schedule for the summer…. Petr Kalus going to the Wild frees up a spot for the likes of a David Krejci or Martins Karsums. It also shows increased confidence in Brandon Bochenski. I think Kalus will make the Wild. Meanwhile, the Bruins upgraded their goaltending, however a Fernandez/Thomas tandem would be a 50/30 split, which isn't exactly gold in fantasy leagues… The Blues have signed Keith Tkachuk, before the Thrashers even had a shot at him….

I love this shirt – here I am, sporting the new DobberHockey muscle shirt, doing what I do best – BBQ and beer:

Summer special – $5.63 off. So this shirt costs a shade over 14 bucks. BUY NOW