Pavol Demitra has signed a one-year deal to play in the KHL next season.

Jack Skille has a smart agent. He signed a one-year deal worth $600k today with Chicago. His qualifying offer was for over $1 million, but it would have been a two-way deal had he accepted it.

Now he has a one-way deal, and a very cap-friendly contract. Two reasons why he is a lock for Chicago’s forward group.

Montreal has signed David Desharnais to a one-year, two-way contract. He impressed in his brief stint with the big club last season (only one assist in six games, but he was noticeable on the ice).

He is undersized but a proven producer at every level so far. He’ll be in tough to see more than a brief call-up or two unless Montreal gets ravaged by injuries.

Montreal also signed Alexander Avtsin today. He’s got a considerable amount of upside and getting him over and signed is a major coup for the Habs. Get him on your radar if he wasn’t there already.

Igor Makarov has signed a two-year deal with Chicago. Before you get all excited, remember he has only scored five goals in his past 55 KHL games.

I have read that his KHL team put him in a defensive role (perhaps Rosso can weigh in). Even then, the Hawks have a long list of young forwards he’d have to leapfrog to earn a spot in the top nine.

Great article on Andrew Cogliano from a few weeks ago. I love reading something that changes my perspective of a player completely.

Minnesota has re-signed Josh Harding. Does this mean KHL for prospect Anton Khudobin? Khu knows.

Toronto has signed German winger Marcel Mueller. You probably remember him from the 2010 Olympics back in February. He is big and skilled. (How’s that for a scouting report?)

Look for Mueller to spend some time at the AHL level. He replaces Stalberg in terms of upside on the left wing.

According to George McPhee, the Caps are done in free agency. I am very surprised that a contending team is comfortable with a rookie (Marcus Johansson, Mathieu Perreault) or an out-of-place winger (Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischmann) centering the second line.

I’ll leave the Pittsburgh-winger speculation to Dobber, I swear he is bombarding Ray Shero’s inbox with Patrick O’Sullivan information. I’ll say one thing though, Crosby’s wingers at the moment are Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz.

Crosby was probably watching the Free Agent Frenzy on TSN… “Ok, we replaced Gonch with Michalek. Won’t be able to afford Martin and a winger now. Time to get a winger, how about Ray Whitney? My old budy Colby perhaps? What’s this?  Martin as well? I guess I’ll have to score 50 again next year! I swear… if Guerin thinks he is coming back…”

As Dobber reported yesterday, Scott Glennie has signed a contract with the Stars.

He’ll be back in the WHL next season – don’t expect him to pull a Jamie Benn at training camp this fall. Benn’s rapid development doesn’t happen very often.

Shocking fact of the day: the Minnesota Wild have over $55 million committed in payroll for next season. Mikko Koivu, Niklas Backstrom, uh…. and….

Like Chiarelli’s horrible cap mismanagement in Boston, the Wild have a slew of bad contracts. Overpaying by 200-500k isn’t bad if the player fills a huge team need, but slight overpayments quickly add up if multiple players receive them.

Looking at Minnesota’s roster, you could make a case that Burns, Zidlicky, Schultz, Miettinen, Kobasew, Bouchard, and Cullen are all overpaid.

Currently not taking any new submissions for team audits. Have quite a few to get to at the moment. Check back in October, I’ll have more info about the future of the audit at that point.

Am I alone in thinking Ryan Potulny still has a shot at becoming a good NHL player? He is currently a UFA after the Oilers chose not to qualify him.

I have some great stuff in the 2010-11 DobberHockey Fantasy Guide, set to be released August 1^st. In addition to my usual contributions,

I have perhaps my best (favourite) fantasy hockey-related column yet, titled "Angus' Golden Rules of Trading." Three simple, applicable rules that will make you an infinitely more successful poolie.

As well, I'll weigh in with a Prime Cut on each team, good or bad. One player who I have a hunch/gut instinct about for the 2010-11 season (and potentially beyond).

The deadline for the Free Agent Frenzy Contest will be August 1^st, and there are still numerous players who were on the contest list who have yet to sign anywhere.

I have started doing my initial projections for 2010-11, so I'll share a few of my thoughts in the ramblings over the next few days. Some stuff for today:

I really like St. Louis in 2010-11. Losing Kariya and Tkachuk and replacing with Sobotka and Hensick may not seem like a win, but the Blues have many things going for them.

Aside from Alex Steen, almost every single player struggled from an offensive standpoint. It is highly unlikely that this "trend' continues.

Halak can steal games, unlike Chris Mason.

The development of Oshie, Perron, Berglund, and Johnson will continue. I am interested to see who St. Louis puts at center – they like Backes there but I feel he is more effective on the wing. Oshie is great up the middle. Berglund projects to be a top line center but he isn't close yet.

I see a return to the 70-point mark for Andy McDonald in 2010-11. He is one of the quickest players in the game (difference between speed and quickness), and he brings a lot of skill to the table. He hasn't hit 70 points since 2006-07, but I have a hunch he bounces back in a big way.

Can you tell I spent most of my time on St. Louis yesterday? I don’t go through my evaluations alphabetically, I try and start with the teams that are mostly put together. I am completely avoiding Chicago for now!

Over/under: Jay Bouwmeester repeats his three-goal performance in 2010-11.

As an avid NHL video gamer… I am excited:

Amazing Dion Phaneuf video put together: