Copyright 2000 Puckjunkie Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Photographs courtesy of BBS
Other September Free Agent Signings:Oct. 1, 2000Andreas Dackell (signed by Ottawa, No Terms Announced) - This has been a rather ugly contract dispute. But both sides decided to bury the hatchet for now. Dackell should get a shot to play with Yashin and could perform well. Don't be surprised if he has significant performance bonuses in his deal that could easily be triggered after a season on a line with a 90 point guy. Sept. 30, 2000Kimmo Timonen (signed by Nashville, 3 years, No Financial Terms) - This is very important to the Predators. Timonen is their quarterback on the powerplay and having him in the fold was essential to improving their very anemic play with the man advantage. Sept. 29, 2000Jakob Cutta (signed by Washington, 3 years, No Financial Terms) - Like the Washington Capitals need another defenseman this season. But if they do, it could be the 17 year-old Cutta. He had an outstanding camp and may just stick...at least until Gonchar gets back into the fold. Sept. 27, 2000 Adam Foote (signed contract extension with Colorado, 4 years, $17 million) - Well the money tap hasn't run dry in Colorado yet. The Avs have solidified their "D" for the next 5 years. Foote isn't much of a fantasy pick unless your league focuses on PIMs and +/-. Sept. 24, 2000 JS Aubin (signed by Pittsburgh, 1 year, $700,000) - The Pens really wanted to get this done, but on their terms. They thought that the Flyers overpaid for Brian Boucher and they weren't going to do the same for Aubin. It didn't help Aubin's case that San Jose signed both their goalies and tenders like Garth Snow and Mikhail Shtalenkov were still out there. As he said in an interview, "I didn't want to lose my job." Well, it's up to him to put up decent numbers this year. We think that he'll do pretty well, but look for him to get pushed by Parent who wants to prove that he's an NHL calibre goalie. Sept. 23, 2000 Ryan Smyth (signed by Edmonton, 3 Years, No Financial Terms) - this was an important signing for the Oilers in two ways. First, they had to get their potent sniper for the Weight line back in the lineup. And secondly, they needed to lock him up for a long time. Sept. 21, 2000 Patrick Marleau (1 year, $770,000) and Marco Sturm (3 years, $2.1 million) re-signed with San Jose. Sept. 20, 2000 Craig Rivet (signed by Montreal, 2-year contract, No Financial Terms) We're quite sure that Rivet was motivated by the Habs signing Darryl Shannon. Shannon stands to cut into any powerplay time that Rivet would have received. Sept. 19, 2000 Rich Parent (signed by Pittsburgh, No Terms Announced) - The Penguins had to get a guy with NHL experience in camp. At present Sebastien Carron and Mark Scally are occupying the nets for the Pens. That is not acceptable. Sure Carron may turn out to be a great one, but do you want to find that out when he's your #1 goalie at 18 years old? Obviously GM Craig Patrick felt the same way. If nothing else signing Parent doesn't result in the Pens spending a lot of money if they do manage to get JS Aubin under contract. And he is capable of being an adequate back-up. Evgeni Nabokov (signed by
San Jose Sharks, 1 year, No Financial Terms) - Getting
Nabakov under contract is the best thing that's happened to Dean Lombardi
since beating the Blues last year in the playoffs. Is Nabakov that good?
No. At least not yet. But what it means is that there's finally some
movement in the logjam of restricted free agents the Sharks GM has to
sign.
Sept. 17, 2000 Darryl Shannon (signed by Montreal, 1 Year Contract, No Financial Terms) - Shannon is a solid d-man, who is capable of playing on the powerplay but is not a standout. He's not going to replace the departed Scott Lachance defensively, but he should be able to hold his own. A very good 5th or 6th d-man on your fantasy team.
Sept. 14, 2000 Oleg Tverdovsky (signed by Anaheim, 3 Year, $9.15 Million) - Now this is the player that everyone knew Tverdovsky could be. Offensively he returned to the form he spotlighted in the 96/97 season. As well, he proved to be capable defensively. The 24 year old is the key to quarterbacking the Ducks powerplay and with the departure of Frederick Olausson, he's the only decent offensive threat on the blue line. He played in all 82 games last season, scoring 15 goals, 36 assists, and 19 powerplay points. Look for this to be Tverdovsky's year. This is a guy that can anchor your fantasy league defense.
Jan Bulis (signed by Washingon, 3 Years, $2.08 million) - It's funny. A team announces that because of an injury to a player the urgency to sign him lessens. What happens next? He's signed. Such is the case of Jan Bulis in Washington. GM George McPhee said that he wasn't concerned about signing Bulis and was, instead, going to concentrate on Sergei Gonchar, Chris Simon and the trading of Peter Bondra. I guess that didn't sit well with the young Czech center. He wanted a deal done now, even though he won't likely be on the ice until November.
Sept. 13, 2000 Garry Galley (signed by New York Islanders, 1 Year $850,000 plus Option) - Galley gives the Islanders another offensive d-man who will probably get some work on the 2nd unit of the powerplay. He rebounded nicely from a very poor 98/99 campaign even though he's 37 years old, he still has something to contribute to the Isles and your fantasy team.
Maxim Oullet (signed by Philadelphia, 3 years, No Terms Announced) - Oullet will be given every chance to back up Brian Boucher but he'll have to have an error-free camp to make sure the Flyers don't acquire one of the available veteran goalies on the market.
Sept. 12, 2000 Michal Handzus and Lubos Bartecko (both signed by St. Louis, No Terms Announced) - Handzus, the Selke Trophy nominee, is essential to another great season in St. Louis this year. At 21, he looks to be just scratching the surface of his potential. He has more offensive skill than Jere Lehtinen, is tall and uses his size well, and is one of the best young defensive forwards the league has seen in a while. He's not going to score 100 points, but we could see another fantastic campaign out of him. As for Bartecko, he worked hard after being sent down early last season and earned another shot in the big leagues. He didn't disappoint upon his return. Look for the Bartecko, Handzus, Demitra line to re-unite this fall and, barring injury, be even better than last year.
Sept. 9, 2000 Chris Therien ( signed by Philadelphia, 4 Years, No Financial Terms) - Therien isn't really a strong fantasy d-man. He will put up marginal goal and assist numbers, but if you're league uses categories like +/- and PIMs he may be slightly more valuable.
Sean Burke (signed by Phoenix, 1 Year, No Financial Terms) - Looking for more strange happenings? We reported earlier today that the Coyotes were talking with Burke after talks with Nikolai Khabibulin appeared to hit a snag. Well, it looks like it was a pretty big snag. Burke has signed on for a year. With the opportunities for a #1 job out there (Ottawa and Pittsburgh for sure), either the money or the situation must have looked very promising. We still think that once the sale of the Coyotes is finalized the Khabibulin deal will get done. If that's the case look for Burke to get some decent time early (especially if Khabibulin doesn't get much of a training camp workout) and then pick up a game a week during the remainder of the season. That said, check back with us throughout training camp to see what happens in goal for the 'Yotes.
Sept. 8, 2000 Buffalo also resigned forward Denis Hamel and d-man Jason Holland. No terms were released on either contract. Both players are struggling to find a role on the Sabres. It's possible that if Peca remains unsigned through the start of the season that Hamel could find some 4th line duty. Regardless, neither will likely produce very much this year. Erik Rasmussen (signed by Buffalo, 1 Year, $485,000) - Rasmussen has never delivered the two-way play that the Sabres and fantasy owners have expected. After a great 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs, many felt he had finally arrived, but he had a mediocre year in Buffalo last year and could get stuck on the 4th line again in 00/01.
Georges Laraques (signed by Edmonton, 3 Years, no financial terms disclosed) - This is a relief for the Oilers. Laraques really came into his own last year as an enforcer with some skill. Don't look for Gretzky-like numbers, but it's possible he could hit double digits in goals and assists while racking up some decent PIMs.
Sept. 7, 2000 Jason Woolley (signed contract extension, no terms disclosed) - Woolley agreed earlier in the summer to accept the Sabres qualifying offer - so he was already in camp. But this deal will put his mind at ease and let him concentrate on hockey.
Andrei Skopintsev (signed by Atlanta, no terms disclosed) - Skopintsev was behind a logjam of promising young d-men in Tampa. The Thrashers aren't nearly as deep and Skopinstev will have a shot at making the team (at least as a 7th d-man). Vladimir Tsyplakov (re-signed by Buffalo, 1 Year, no financial terms) - Tsyplakov, an unrestricted free agent signed a one-year contract Thursday that will keep him in Buffalo for this season. This is good news for the Sabres as it will provide them with a solid, yet unspectacular winger with some decent offensive capabilities. He had six goals and 19 points in 34 games. Assuming the Mike Peca is signed to start the season look for Tsyplakov to join him and Vaclav Varada on the Sabres 3rd line.
Sept 6, 2000 Peter Buzek (resigned by Atlanta, terms undisclosed) - Buzek was the Thrashers lone representative at the All Star Game last year. He is an offensively skilled d-man but it's still up in the air whether or not he can lead a powerplay. He will likelybe paired with Tremblay on the first PP unit. His defense is not the greatest. Combine that with being on a second year team and this leads to a terrible +/-.
Johann Davidsson (signed with Vancouver, terms undisclosed) - Davidsson spent last season with the Ducks and Islanders before becoming a free agent in July. He's only 24 and could make the team with a good camp. At very least he'll give Harold Druken and Josh Holder a good fight.
Sept 5, 2000 Matt Cullen (re-signed by Anaheim, 1 year, no financial terms) - Cullen has never been able to meet the expectations people placed on him. Many felt that he would be the center for Kariya and/or Selanne allowing for the devlopment of two exceptional lines. The experiment failed with the two superstars going back to the #1 line centered by Steve Rucchin. Cullen's chances are running low. Unless he performs well right out of camp Balmochnykh or Kohn could push for 2nd line duty.
Rem Murray (re-signed by Edmonton, 3 years, $3.3 million) - Murray, coming off a poor year, is a solid two way player. His season was interupted by two serious injuries limiting him to only 44 games.
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Copyright 2000 Puckjunkie Inc. All Rights Reserved Photographs courtesy of BBS |
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