Happy Canada Day!

I’m trying to keep this updated. Doing okay so far…

AND we’re not done yet. Daniel Carcillo has signed with the Blackhawks, per Chris Kuc from Chicago

Mark Dekanich has signed a one-way deal with Columbus.

Mike Commodore signs for one year with the Red Wings. Brian Elliott a two-way deal with the Blues, Chuck Kobasew signs with the Avs.

Eric Belanger has signed a three-year deal with the Oilers. I’m working on the Fleischmann to Florida analysis now.

Sheldon Souray in Dallas complements Goligoski, it does not hurt him. Not one iota.

Colorado has signed JS Giguere. Carolina has signed Alexei Ponikarovsky. Marco Sturm to the Canucks. Boyd Gordon to Phoenix.

Ville Leino to Buffalo – yeah, I can’t keep up :(

The Oilers have traded Kurtis Foster to Anaheim for Andy Sutton. A great deal for Edmonton, because they upgraded their offense from the blue line with Barker, and now they have filled a tremendous need by adding a big stay-at-homer.

Philadelphia has traded Kris Versteeg to Florida. Boston has signed Benoit Pouliot. Analysis of both of these is forthcoming. Actually, I’m falling so far behind…I may have to do some in the morning!

Jake Dowell to Dallas. Johan Hedberg re-signs with New Jersey

Ottawa has signed Alex Auld. Dallas has signed Michael Ryder (reportedly…analysis coming). Oilers sign Darcy Hordichuk

Cam Barker has signed with the Oilers to a whopping $2.25 million. Talk about rolling the dice, but it’s only for one year. Barker gets one more chance! Erik Cole monster deal to Montreal, analysis on the way…

Alex Bolduc has signed with Phoenix, a two-way deal. Roman Hamrlik signs with Washington for two years. Joel Ward signs for four years (analysis coming). Islanders sign Marty Reasoner.

The Rangers have signed Mike Rupp to a three-year deal at $1.5 per. Sean O’Donnell to Chicago, one year.

Winnipeg signs Derek Meech, two years, one-way. Carolina gets their backup – Brian Boucher has signed. Well done.

Jan Hejda signs with Colorado for four years. Andrew Brunette signed with Chicago for one year. Jovanovski is for four years at $16.5 million – I don’t mind what the Panthers have done, except for this stupid deal. It’s like he hasn’t lost a step, when in fact he has lost three. Brunette analysis coming up…

Two AHL deals – Mark Mancari signs with Vancouver. Michel Ouellet signs with Norfolk (TB).

The latest – Matt D’Agostini has re-signed with the Blues. Ed Jovanovski has signed with the Panthers (he’s back!). Tim Brent has signed for two years with Carolina. Dallas signed Vern Fiddler and Radek Dvorak. And Phoenix has signed Raffi Torres…

Some notes – Jamal Mayers has signed with Chicago for one year. Ben Eager has signed with Edmonton for three years. Mathieu Garon has signed with Tampa Bay, meaning Desjardins will not be the backup this year. Blame the shoulder injury there…

The Pittsburgh Penguins have withdrawn their offer to Jaromir Jagr, per TSN and the Tribune. Wow, did he just blow his chance at getting a couple more years out of his career…

Good morning! Some updates – James Wisniewski has signed with the Blue Jackets. Between him and Carter, the Blue Jackets are saying "enough with the crap – time to ice a kick-ass team"! Wiz signed for six years at $33 million. Beauty of a deal for him.

Patrick Eaves has re-signed with the Red Wings. Three years, $3.6 million.

Sami Salo has re-upped with the Canucks for one year at $2 million. That's $1 million per 10 games he'll play.

Josh Harding has re-signed with the Wild. He'll be their backup. Too bad circumstances wouldn't allow him to put himself on the market. He needs to prove himself this year – and I think he will.

Angus’ work is below in blue font…

Prediction: Trades are more prevalent than free agent signings. Obviously the Rangers are going to push hard for Brad Richards, Florida and Buffalo will back up the Brinks truck, and the Leafs will throw in a token offer (but will smartly back down because things will clearly get out of hand). But it's the RFA offer sheets that teams are scared of, and to make room for those signings, you'll see some deals. Not just today – but over the next two weeks. Stamkos is the key one. Teams are talking MAX cap hit, or over $12 million short term, or over $9 million long term. The Lighting will match, but would be forced to deal Lecavalier.  The Devils will be forced to deal players to make room for Zach Parise… or trade Parise himself. Do the Preds need Shea Weber? With Suter, Blum, Franson, Ellis… could they get a king's ransom for Weber? People question the loyalty of teams, but I think teams are too loyal – to the point where it blinds them. Trade these guys, and get the huge return that you know would be coming to you.

And then there are the qualifying offers for Nashville's RFA's – Cal O'Reilly, Sergei Kostitsyn, Nick Spaling and Matt Halischuk all could be unrestricted if it is determined that the qualifying offers were not given on time. The only player that this matters with is Kostitsyn, who is the only player that other teams would be interested in and could very well command upwards of $3 million or more on the open market. Think about it – he had 50 points, when he really didn't even start until December… and he was in a defensive system. Teams would be drooling over that, and there aren't a lot of players like that out there.

The Oilers have re-signed Ladislav Smid.

The Blues have signed TJ Oshie to a one-year deal. He needs to prove that he can play 80 games and stay out of trouble off the ice. If he does, then he'll get 65 points.  $2.35 million.

Would you sign Jason Arnott? I'd give him $1 million, no more. Seems like you would be lucky to get 50 games out of him these days.

The Blackhawks celebrated finally getting out from under the tremendous pressure of a difficult salary cap situation by signing Steve Montador to a ludicrous four-year-deal at $2.75 million per. Did they need Montador? Or the cap space? Discuss. Obviously, my opinion is – just keep the cap space.

The free agent crop is weak this year. It was weak last year, but even more so this summer, because teams are smartening up to the fact that these players are assets and you can't lose assets for nothing. So they're getting signed beforehand, or their 'rights' are traded and then they sign.

But yeah, it's a weak crop. If two more top unrestricted free agents sign before noon today, then I slip into the Top 10 still available UFA's. I play left wing.

JP Dumont was bought out. Ditto for Sheldon Souray, Cam Barker, Chris Drury, Tyler Sloanand Mike Commodore. Souray is intriguing in that if he signs for a decent dollar figure, he could damn well produce 55 points if healthy (big if there, though). And Dumont escapes an organization where he was just another 50-point guy. In a new organization, he could flourish.

San Jose has re-signed Jamie McGinn.

Carolina has re-signed Jussi Jokinen – here is one player who I think will do best right where he is. So this re-signing is a good thing. He's a 65-point guy IMO. Three-year deal at $3 million per.

I would rather give Tim Connolly three years for $3.5 million per, than Brad Richards seven years at $7.5 million per. And I believe Brad Richards will get close to $9 million, I was just being conservative.

Teemu Selanne underwent knee surgery on his left knee Thursday, so his retirement decision is on hold.

Ottawa prospect Jakob Silfverberg will delay the NHL for another year. He is fully profiled in the Fantasy Prospects Report.

Even the Red Wings are getting drunk off of the free agent frenzy. They signed Jonathan Ericsson for three years at $9.75 million. And here I thought they would let him walk, and he would sign somewhere else for $1.2 million tops. So Ken Holland IS human after all. But this makes a huge statement as to the potential player that he can be, so take note fantasy owners.

Angus – If I am a contending team, I would gladly throw a ton of cash at RFA Keith Yandle and risk losing multiple picks to Phoenix. The odds that even one of three or four 1st round picks turns into a Yandle (unless they are all top five) are very, very low.

Likely got lost in the shuffle yesterday – Buffalo has extended Nate Gerbe for three years. Great news for Gerbe owners and hockey fans – he’s a ton of fun to watch. Likely a third line player with second unit PP time, as the Sabres have a lot of depth up front. At worst, should be good for 40-45 points. With increased ice time, 55-60.

The Jonathan Ericsson contract is u-g-l-y. Over $3 million per for three years to a guy who, at the best of times, is an adventure at both ends of the ice? Detroit must see something in him that we are all missing…. (And if there is one team to believe over your own opinion, it would be Detroit).

Hearing some buzz around the Canucks that they are interested in Rangers C/LW Brandon Dubinsky. The Canucks first tried to trade for Dubinsky two years ago. He would be a fantastic compliment on the second line to Ryan Kesler. The Rangers have a bit of a numbers game up front right now, and July 1 may only cloud that situation.

The three best WHL players I ever saw play live – Peter Mueller (hope he gets back on track – by far the most dominant junior player I saw with my own two eyes), Dubinsky, and Jamie Benn. I remember first going to see Benn – was more interested in Myers at the time. I left the game wondering who the hell let this kid slip all the way to the 5^th round.

Gilbert Brule was also up there. He was about as bust proof as it got – a rushed NHL career and a few major injuries early on really derailed any sort of progress.

Here are some columnist changes happening right now with DobberHockey…

Chicago signed Steve Montador to a four year deal for just under $3 million per. Montador is a solid veteran defenseman who has pretty good fantasy value in leagues with many categories. He'll get between 20-25 ES points, and hits, blocks shots, and takes a decent number of PIM. He'll likely play a 5/6 role on Chicago, and could provide some secondary offense as the team lost a huge chunk of it in Brian Campbell.

Love Jokinen re-signing with Carolina. Great fit for him, probably the best in the league. He took a big pay cut – $3 million per for three years. I could have seen him getting $4 to $4.5 per on July 1. Jokinen is very streaky with his production, but he should be counted on for 55-60 points each season.

Oilers are going to buy out Souray. Any fantasy value left?

Another buyout – Cam Barker. Chicago absolutely fleeced Minnesota a few years ago – good on the Wild for recognizing their sunk cost of a mistake and cutting bait. Barker will likely get a second crack elsewhere because of his draft status (3^rd overall behind Ovechkin and Malkin) and his size/mobility.

I have received a few emails regarding Troy Brouwer in Washington. How does it affect his value? At this point, I am not sure. It sounds like the Caps want to keep Laich at center, but he will also slide to the wing at times on the PP and in other situations.

Brouwer has played primarily RW with the Blackhawks, and he will likely stick there in Washington. Other RW include Knuble and Semin. One is aging (technically we are all aging, but Knuble is pretty old for a top six forward), and one is injury prone. He has the shot to score 30 goals with enough ice time.

TJ Oshie has plenty of motivation after signing a one year deal. So much of his value depends on his role with a team – his energy and defensive presence may hurt his offensive upside, as the Blues seem to like him in more of a two-way/PK role.

Daily reason why Pavel Bure should be in the HHOF – he has the third highest goal-per-game number in the modern era behind a few guys you may heard of – Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux.

The Preds have bought out JP Dumont. Could be a sneaky-good signing on a contender in a secondary offensive role. For whatever reason he worked his way into Barry Trotz's doghouse and couldn't escape.

“LIKE” Dobber Sports on Facebook, and win yourself a pair of Oakley’s! On July 6 I’ll draw a name from one of the likes, and send them a pair. We are also giving away two free copies of Tales from the Boston Bruins Locker Room, by Kerry Keene.

Thanks to "Mick" for this one – some Anton Rodin (Vancouver prospect) highlights. He's profiled in the Fantasy Prospects Report – I'll need more YouTube clips to get me through the next 70 or so ramblings. So keep sending them in!