The Bruins signed Tyler Seguin to a three-year ELC for as much money in base and bonuses as they possibly could. Those contracts should just be standard for a Top 3 pick, save them negotiating time. Anyway – Seguin will be on the team this year and as the season approaches the overly cautious and asset-hoarding Chiarelli will finally be forced to make a deal. The deal would likely be Savard which means it would have to be a team that Savard approves of. That would mean that he would have to accept the return offered by the Leafs or the Sens.

Why did Chiarelli sign Savard in the first place. That was one of the most shocking signings of the season last year. I couldn’t believe it – he had Bergeron and Krejci who were decent 1-2, plus Joe Colborne was on the way. It just tied his hands needlessly – and that was before they knew they were getting another top center in Seguin.

Anaheim signed Kyle Palmieri to an ELC as well. He won’t be on the team this year.

The Panthers signed a couple of depth defensemen and traded for another – they signed Joe Callahan, Mike Weaver and they traded for TJ Fast.

The Isles signed Jon Sim to a two-way deal. I think he’ll be lucky to play 20 games in the NHL this campaign.

Chris Pronger had “minor knee surgery” last week according to philly.com. He had “loose bodies” removed.

The Blackhawks signed Igor Makarov to a two-year deal. That is promising because it should mean that he will give training camp a shot at least two more times. That’s a good thing because he’s in tough this year. He had a great camp in 2008. If he does that again, he’s on the team this year. Simple as that. The roster is not sewn up by any stretch. But anything less than great and he’ll yo-yo back and forth from the AHL. Next year though, he’ll make it – but he has to stick to it and not sulk.

It looks like San Jose is about to announce the signing of Jamal Mayers.