Helene Elliott is reporting that the Kings have verbally agreed to a contract with Willie Mitchell. She also reports that the Lightning have signed Randy Jones to a one-year deal, which adds some nice depth on the back end for them.

Bob McKenzie is reporting that Steve Downie has agreed to terms on a two-year, $3.7M deal. You can expect 50 points and close to 200 penalty minutes this year, with some upside on both numbers.

The Canucks get a great deal on Raffi Torres, signing him to a one-year deal worth one million dollars. I think Sportsnet was the first to break this one. But Torres realized that was the best he would get money-wise. The sooner the other UFA’s get that, the better for them. I’ll have an analysis of the deal up later this morning.

The Fantasy Guide, updated as of August 18, can be purchased here. Next update will be this weekend.

It looks as though the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk have agreed on a basic framework for a contract and ran it by the NHL. The league then recommended that they toss this framework and start again. Another blow to the Kovalchuk in New Jersey hopes.

Puck Daddy’s Dmitri Chesnokov is reporting that both Jose Theodore and Vesa Toskala received an offer from Traktor of the KHL, but neither was interested. We’ll see how they feel in a month. So many goalies, so few spots. Since goalies develop later (usually), there is a lot greater a chance that an NHL-caliber one can be found in their mid- to late-20s. So those European/college goalies are being added two/three per season to the league, so now we’re seeing some goalies get left out in the cold. Ray Emery could have warned these two back in June.

Aaron Ward officially retired. I thought he did already…but no, it happened yesterday.

The Blackhawks have signed Brandon Pirri to a three-year, entry-level contract. I had him ranked 145 on my prospects rankings, but he’ll get a look this fall and will move up the chart accordingly. He’s likely one to two years away, depending on how the cap issues get handled over the next year – and how well he plays in the AHL.

CapGeek reports that Vancouver has 24 players on one-way deals and are $3.6 million over the cap. So the UFA’s not only have to compete with each other for a handful of jobs, but also with players who may get traded to teams who at the moment could be a UFA destination but after the trade would not be.