July 26, 2008
Dobber Sports
2008-07-26
The Wild have avoided a Monday arbitration hearing by inking P.M. Bouchard to a five-year, $20.4 million contract.
It looks as though Brendan Shanahan wants to be back for another season. Although he still has another 55-point year left in him, you certainly should not expect more than that…and be thankful if he stays healthy enough to get there.
The Preds have signed Rich Peverley to two years. The first year is two-way, the second is one-way. Pekka Rinne got another year added to his contract, so he is signed one-way for the next two seasons.
Marek Svatos avoided arbitration by signing a two-year pact with the Avs. I would be surprised if he had a 60-point season during this contract. He doesn't get the assists needed to produce high point totals, and is probably hurt a little too frequently even if he did.
Here we go again. Even though Mike York signed to play in the KHL, he has now signed with Columbus. I have to think that he will be added to the list. Regardless, his last two seasons have shown that he is a borderline NHLer. I don't know what happened to him – he used to be a great second-line player who struck me as an industrious worker.
The Habs signed Yanick Lehoux to a one-year deal, likely two-way. Lehoux is a prolific scorer at the minor league level, but injuries happened so frequently between the ages of 18 and 22 that he never really got his NHL career off the ground. It would take a key injury to the Canadiens for Lehoux to get a shot, but the Montreal native is in the best city to get that shot, that's for sure.
The Isles have signed Bruno Gervais to a three-year deal. It is a one-way agreement for just over $700K per.
Matt Keith has signed to play in Germany next season.
21-year-old Russian star Igor Antosik collapsed and died on the ice during a HC Dynamo practice in Moscow. He was a Top 25 European prospect in both the 2006 and 2007 drafts, but was overlooked because of the lack of a transfer agreement.