You say Setoguchi, I say Yamaguchi

Well, I don't know where Brian Burke keeps finding money to spend ("Hey, Samueli's going to jail! Let's blow all of his cash!"), but apparently the Ducks have signed Mr. Yamaguchi to a one-year, $870.5k contract. If you're looking for a cheap, not-very-productive fantasy defenseman, you may have to search under his lesser-known surname, Hedican.

But hey, he's only a dozen games shy of his 1,000th regular season game. We may as well have some reason to celebrate this year (Positivity!).

Go Ducks.

Stoll Signs 4-Year Deal

Deal: 4 years, $3.6 million/year (or $100,000 for every point he scored last year)

Dean Lombardi loves injured guys. First it was Alyn McCauley and Dan Cloutier, then Michal Handzus, and now Jarret Stoll. The hope is that you pay the player less than what he would have normally made if had been healthy the season prior and then reap the benefits when he rounds into form. So far that hasn't quite worked out for the Kings: McCauley played only 10 games and then had to retire because of a knee injury, Cloutier was the 11th plague, and Handzus was terrible last year. I guess Lombardi is hoping fourth time's a charm.

The deal boils down like this: if Stoll plays like he did in 2005-06 and get somewhere around 60 points a season over the life of the deal, it's a steal. If he plays like he did last year, slow and tentative, then the Kings will have over $7 million dollars invested in their bottom line centers. It's a risk, and one that I'd normally tip my hat to, but the Kings have already been burned by this gambit a few times before. I'm wary of investing this much money into someone before there is proof he's fully rehabilitated. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Right now, though, I'm nonplussed.


Oh, and is anyone concerned that Stoll now has a multi-million dollar deal to go with his model fiance and an lavish LA lifestyle? And that he went to New Zealand in August instead of, you know, training? I'm not encouraged.

Dumpster Diving

Two rumors to chase down: the Kings want to sign a 40 year-old coming off open heart surgery, and they want to trade for a guy that you'd think just underwent open heart surgery.

Also, Mike Brophy does a good job outlining why Kings' fans shouldn't be jumping off bridges. It's kind of amazing how people bitched and bitched that the Kings have never rebuilt properly and now they're whining because we haven't been good in 2 years. What the fuck did you think rebuilding meant?

Oh, and here's quick little bit on Colten Teubert, Kings' new draft pick and douche bag. I have a feeling this guy is going to get way too much credit over the course of his career. I feel bad but I kind of hope Brown crushes him during training camp.

***

I haven't written much on new coach Terry Murray because what can I say? I don't really know his style of coaching in the "New NHL" and I haven't seen him make a mistake yet. So I'll leave it up to you guys, then: what would you like to see Terry Murray do most with this team? Install a trap? Work on Kopitar's defensive game? Keep lines together for more than 2 minutes at a time? Let me know in the comments.

What's the Deal With O'Sullivan?

Everyone's freaking out because Patrick O'Sullivan hasn't yet signed. To recap: O'Sullivan had a break out of sorts last year, tallying 53 points in 82 games while also showing good hockey sense on the penalty kill. When you factor in just the time he was playing with Kopitar and Brown, he had 34 points in 40 games. Naturally, he's looking around at the league's situation and is seeing dollar signs. Why wouldn't he look at Jeff Carter's contract and think that seems about right for him? They're the same age, they had the exact same point totals this season, they both played on the penalty kill... they're kind of spitting images of one another. Of course, O'Sullivan doesn't have the track record Carter has and he hasn't shown what he can do in the playoffs, but the argument is there for his agent to exploit. The Kings, on the other hand, are hoping to sign O'Sullivan to a cheaper deal because they have to sign Kopitar and Johnson next year and others down the road. This all leads to an impasse that looks like it might take a while to resolve.


I think the hold-up doesn't necessarily involve O'Sullivan, but instead involves Anze Kopitar. We've heard his name in rumors recently and I think the reason isn't that he's getting traded, but that Lombardi is trying to get him locked down to a long-term deal. When you're dealing with restricted free agents, you want them to look at their value in relation to the team. If they're looking at their value in relation to other free agents, you're going to run into a problem. If the Kings can lock Kopitar down, they can then set the ceiling for every other free agent with whom they negotiate. A player isn't going to presume they're more important than Kopitar and will be less likely to demand more than him. Plus, signing Kopitar gives the team financial security and lets them know who the cornerstone is going to be in the future.


This is just some harebrained* theory of mine, so don't take it as gospel. I'm just saying that signing Kopitar first before their other restricted free agents makes a lot of sense and I wouldn't be surprised if Kopitar was pursuing it. Make O'Sullivan weigh his worth compared to Kopitar, not to other restricted free agents. Does this make sense or is the heat getting to me?


*I always thought it was "hairbrained," but then when I thought about it that didn't make sense. Like, they think with their hair? But then I thought even more about it, and "harebrained" seems stupid too. Are rabbits known for being stupid? They just kind of eat carrots and fuck all the time, and that seems pretty smart. I wish I could do that. I need to go lie down and think about this.

Brian Willsie Will Not Die

Brian Willsie signs a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche. Man, wouldn't it be awesome if he fought Ivanans?

Steve Montador is a Duck

According to Hockeybuzz Steve Montador signed a $900k contract. Montador is a defenseman, who recently played for Florida.

This move is expected to be a sure sign Schneider will be moved.

Anybody know anything about Montador?

Summer Battle of Northern California reading

Sharks coverage on BOC has dropped off a little since the end of the season, and the fact that Northern California has essentially been on fire for 3 straight weeks does not appear to be a major factor. Drawing on a flaming Wild Wing and a thick low lying layer of smoke for inspiration, here is a short recap from Sharkspage of what has gone down in the land of cheap software and expensive offensive defenseman:

• Max Giese of Sharkspage posted a very thorough 2008 Sharks Entry Draft (ptII) review article, with contributions from several NHL scouts and a few comments by other draft related sources. The first part of the Sharks 2008 Draft Review written by yours truely is available here. Included in that post is a video clip of Darren Pang expressing shock that Phoenix Coyotes first round selection Viktor Tikonov spoke English. Yes, San Jose residents can occasionally be accused of speaking English.


• Free agent defenseman Brian Campbell signs 8-year, $56.8 million contract with Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers sign Patrick Rissmiller. Judas, thy name is Brian Campbell. One problem many fans in San Jose have with what went down is the fact that his departure was a foregone conclusion. Instead of feigning that taking $7+ million with Chicago, Atlanta or Ottawa was a difficult decision, acknowledge the fact beforehand and fans have more respect for you. Campbell is tremendously gifted with speed and skating ability matched by few defenseman in the NHL. He also basically evaporated against Calgary and Dallas in the playoffs. If you are brought in to spark the Sharks transition and move the puck on ice, and you consistently hesitate and take it back behind your own net, there are going to be questions. Major questions for Chicago next season: how effectively will he be on defense, will he transform the Blackhawks power play, and how well will a young team respond to Campbell in a leadership role.


• San Jose Sharks sign defenseman Rob Blake to 1-year deal adding a power-play quarterback, report Sharks are pursuing Tampa Bay's Dan Boyle. A number of Kings fans are noting Rob Blake's declining production over the last season. In San Jose he will play a much different role, as the Sharks will have three solid defensive pairings they can use in any situation. Blake will be counted on more to bomb shots on net from the power play than to provide a #1 defensive role. I have a feeling with Marleau, Thornton, Pavelski, Clowe, Cheechoo and Michalek fighting for rebounds, Blake's numbers are not going to look too bad after 2008-09.


• Veteran defenseman Craig Rivet traded to Buffalo for 2009, 2010 2nd rounders. This is a trade that had to be made for salary cap considerations, but one that nobody likes north of the grapevine.


• Dan Boyle, Brad Lukowich, and Sharks general manager Doug Wilson discussed the recent trades on a conference call with local media.


• Sharks Trade Analysis: Blake, Boyle and Lukowich add missing pieces of the puzzle for Sharks power play and playoff problems. A lot of words essentially boil down to the fact that Boyle could have a bigger impact in San Jose than the brief Campbell experiment, and Rob Blake is the type of proven veteran who has been there and done beat up a lot of Anaheim Ducks.


• Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff signs 3 year, $9.3 million contract. This shores up a large chunk of the Sharks blueline for the foreseeable future, but salary cap issues could force a trade for Kyle McLaren. The future beyond Rob Blake is also a little less clear with Matt Carle, Ty Wishart and a 1st round draft selection headed to Tampa. AHL rookie Derek Joslin should be next in line, and will take more of a leadership role in Worcester this season. Hard hitting Boston College fresheman defenseman Nick Petrecki, who won a National Championship this season, remains as the Sharks top overall defensive prospect. The Sharks may need him to regulate at HP Pavilion before the end of his four year run in college.


• Sharks hire Stanley Cup winning Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Todd McLellan to be the 7th head coach in San Jose franchise history. Some fans were a little irrated at the lack of questions asked by the media at the press conference, there is a hand held 6 minute video of McLellan answering questions from the AP's Greg Beacham, a local television reporter, and from Tony Khing of the Sharks included in that post. One rumor has Trent Yawney as a possible assistant coach.

That is all I have for now. War Sandis Ozolinsh for President.

B-Mo! Burke upgrades through West Coast Exchange

UFA forward Brendan Morrison reportedly is signing a one-year contract tomorrow with the Ducks. I haven’t heard the salary figure [UPDATE: TSN says 1 year, $2.75 M; thanks Mike in OC!], so I won’t get detailed into budget repercussions just yet. Still, here's three marginally useful thoughts I had:

B-Mo won the Hobey Baker award in 1997. Actually, Morrison becomes the fifth Hobey Baker winner in Anaheim’s history, joining former Ducks Tony “the Circus*” Hrkac (1987), Kip Miller (1990), Paul Kariya (1993), and Jason “K-Rog**” Krog (1999). Looking at the list of historical winners, I have to think that the Ducks hold the odd record of having the most games played (923) and points (784) from Hobey Baker winners. Other notable winners include Chris Drury (1998), Ryan Miller (2001), and Matt Carle (2006).

B-Mo was once part of a trade for Alexander Mogilny. It’s not that significant, really, but for some reason I sort of enjoy knowing about young brushes with greatness, like when Pahlsson was traded for Ray Bourque. What’s actually meaningful, though, is that Morrison debuted as a New Jersey Devil. He knows his defensive responsibility, that’s for sure, and may even have a reunion of sorts with Scott Niedermayer.

B-Mo, of course, centered the West Coast Express. The Yankee Canuck wrote a timely tribute post to the members of that high-flying line (including a link to Morrison scoring a triple-OT goal), and I couldn’t resist quoting this ironic part: “We all share in common the wonder of what could have been if (a) Dan Cloutier and (b) Marc Crawford had been just a shade better at their jobs...” The Humming Giraffe is going to miss B-Mo as well. Between all-star scoring wingers Naslund and Bertuzzi, Morrison was a more-than-serviceable centerman who not only chipped in points, but largely served as a defensive conscience for the line as well. To put it in 90s Ducks terms, B-Mo served as the “Rucchin” of that line.

Overall, I’m pretty excited; Morrison represents a much-coveted top-six forward. I can’t call it a “great” signing until I know what the salary is, but I think Morrison fits fabulously roster-wise. Getzlaf-Morrison-Pahlsson-Marchant/Carter is a pretty solid set of centers (especially if Getzy decides to win some faceoffs). This team still looks to be short a Selanne up front, but generally I like where this Burkie swan song team is headed.

Of course, it should be recognized that so far this offseason, Ducks fans have only seen the pleasant side of summer business. Until now, it’s been all roses. Good players have been brought in or re-signed (Niedermayer, Perry, Morrison, Hiller), and less-good players have been let go (Weight, Bertuzzi). It’s about time to brace for the harder choices—getting rid of good players. If it means a final year of Pronger and Niedermayer, though, I’m fully aboard.

Go Ducks.


* Also acceptable is “the Jerk-Ass”, but you have to say it kind of funny and make it rhyme with “circus”.
** Patterned after the “K-Rod” nickname given to Angels phenom Francisco Rodriguez.

Ducks to Sign Brendan Morrison and other musings of a Ducks fan

According to the O.C. Register, the Anaheim Ducks will announce tomorrow the signing of Brendan Morrison. He supposedly wants to reunite with Brian Burke (awwww). He is also expected to center the second line. He better be coming here cheap, because I don't see this being a good financial decision. Plus hopefully after knee surgery he doesn't suck.

Maybe if we wait a little longer we could ink Mats Sundin too, he seems to not know what the hell he wants to do. Oh well, I have officially given up on free agency for the Ducks. We're too close to the cap to have any fun anyway.

Please Teemu, Come Back!!!!!!!

In other Ducks news: Bettman (no it's not a mis-print, I mean the homo, not the super hero Batman) decided to play referee to the Brian Burke vs. Kevin Lowe fight. Citing that the men should "play nice" to which reportedly Lowe tossed a hissy fit saying California has no hockey market and was sent to the corner. Burke is rumored to have teased Lowe asking "Who's the moron now?"

I doubt its over, but damn its fun having my GM is better than your GM fights.

(I mean no offense with the gay reference above. If anyone would like me to remove it, I will.)

Oh yea, Hey Earl, I stole your Burkie and Lowe image for my article about it on Bleacher Report, its hilarious. Hope its ok, if its not, I'll change it.

What a Difference a Few Days Make

Only a few days ago Sharks fans were wondering what Doug Wilson was doing (or not doing) as every team in the league seemed to be doing something in Free Agency. I mentioned here how I was glad Wilson was being fiscally responsible as other GM's were throwing money around. Well, in the last 24 hours the Sharks have 3 new D-men and (if I am doing my math correctly) 4 Stanley Cup rings. To summarize:

-Sign Rob Blake (1 yr/5mill): overpaid for an aging D-man but it will be nice to have a D-man who will shoot from the point. (I can picture Kings fans now "but who knows where the shot is going?")

-Trade Matt Carle, Ty Wishart and picks for Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich: At first I was happy about this trade, but including Wishart is a hefty price. I was thinking Wishart was one of the closest we had to being brought up and given a chance. Wilson must have a lot of faith in youngsters Petrecki, Joslin and others. For the 2nd year in a row, Mike has gotten one of his favorite players on to the Sharks (JR, now Boyle). NO! we better not be getting Forsberg next. The random Dan Boyle superhero action figure he bought on eBay a few years ago needs to be brought out.

-Trade Craig Rivet for two 2nd rounders: I figure this is a salary dump. Lukowich bascially fills the role of Rivet at 1/2 the price. Rivet makes 3.5 per while Lukowich makes 1.65 then 1.8.

All of this movement and I don't think Wilson is done. If the rumored signing of Bret Hedican is true, that would give us 8 D-men. Here are the proposed lines as I see them.

Thornton-Cheechoo-Michalek
Pavelski-Marleau-Setoguchi
Mitchell-Grier-Clowe
Roenick-Goc-Shelley

Blake-Vlasic
Boyle-Lukowich
Ehrhoff-Murray

Hedican?-McLaren

Nabby-Boucher

Not a bad lineup. Kudos to Doug Wilson. It is up to you boys!!!!

Avery, the unsavory

Be careful what you sign for, Golden Brett

Apologies for the lateness on yesterday's big BoC signing (today: Rob Blake...HAHAHA) Sean Avery. Not since Mike Ribeiro signed a contract extension have I been so compelled to break this thing down in a "Good News - Bad News" format.

Bad News

The term is four years. Sure, Avery is not especially old and four years isn't exactly a Wade Redden/Ryan Malone/Alexei Yashin type prison term. But for years, the name Avery has been synonymous with instability (along with scandal and boiling hatred). In an ideal world, Avery would be on a perpetual Teemu Selanne plan of 1-year contracts.

Good News

The Stars were already a tough team to play against, but Avery gives the Stars the potential to have four borderline power forwards. Avery and Steve Ott serve the purpose of distracting the opposing team with borderline hits, face washes (and in the case of Avery) a whole lot of irritating yapping. Add them to former Selke winner Jere Lehtinen and garbage goal expert Brendan Morrow and you have a very, very nice collection of sandpaper guys.

Bad News

The Stars have little to no cap room remaining, so that $4 million per year won't be going to a guy who can put some pucks in the net. Honestly, the Stars would be lucky to squeeze 20 goals per year out of that thick-skulled fashionisto.

Good News

In some ways, he's a one of a kind combination of versatility, acidic douchey-ness, moderate offensive ability and solid defense. He's even got a slight bit of Claude Lemieux in him, with 5 goals and 12 points in 18 career playoff games.

When Claude Lemieux is your ceiling, you're not exactly "standing on the shoulders of giants."

The verdict:

Avery isn't quite the "missing ingredient" but he's an interesting addition. His versatility will be useful since the Stars have a couple injury-prone forwards. Really, he could be a good fit with every line. He could help give Morrow and Ribeiro some valuable space. He could give Brad Richards and Loui E a big body and crease crasher to go along with two dipsy do dunkeroos.* He could even center a line with Steve Ott and thus allow Mike Modano to skate alongside Richards.

Of course, he has an incredibly high chance of getting injured for huge chunks of his contract. And an incredibly high probability of getting kicked out of Mike Cuban's private box. It seems almost certain that he'll infuriate a Dallas debutante.

He might just be what he is: an injury prone player with a 20-goal ceiling and a penchant for suspensions, stupidity and bad penalties.

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued.

* - Scientific term via Dick Vitale.

Rob Blake stays in the BoC

Well, I have no idea how this affects the Dan Boyle fiasco, but apparently the Sharks have signed Rob Blake to 1 year, $5 million deal.

1 year doesn't mean getting Boyle is out of the question, as Boyle has a long long long deal. We'll see.

Update 3:17 PM: How am I supposed to write boring articles about closet door installation and freight payment systems when all this craziness is going on? The San Jose Mercury News' Dave Pollack confirms that the Sharks are still in the Boyle hunt despite the cap hit from Blake. How many Kings fans will drive up Highway 5 just to boo Blake at the Shark Tank?

Ladies and Gentleman, Sean Avery!

Sean Avery is coming back to the division, signing a 4-year, $16 million dollar deal with the Dallas Stars. (Can a team have too many 3rd liners? I guess we'll find out.) Ladies of Dallas: prepare to get jerked off to.

Full disclosure: Avery said the exact same thing to me once.

Sometimes, less is more

Jeff Finger. $3.5 million. These two things should never go together...*

But on this day, just about anything could happen. Sharks fans might be disappointed that they missed out on Brian Campbell (ridiculous $7.1 million price tag) and Wade Redden (being paid $6.5 million until he's 37 years old by the always stupid New York Rangers), but honestly, the money that's flying around has been mind numbing.

Bad players are getting paid; good players get ransom money. I wrote glowingly about Brian Rolston, but christ, at $5 million a year he better score 120 goals for the Devils over the course of that contract (not going to happen).

Redden was my choice for the Sharks, but he would have been an albatross considering the multitude of young talent on San Jose's roster.

Maybe, after being spurned by Campbell and Redden, the Sharks can stumble onto a guy who might be nearly as good for MUCH more value (like, say, Ron Hainsey).

• The Stars let Niklas Hagman go to Toronto on a $3 million per year contract. Hagman has some skill, but the Stars might as well save their money on a player who can raise their ceiling...not just keep the team at the same level.
• It should be interesting to see where Todd Bertuzzi lands. He's almost been a jinx the last two years: the Red Wings won a Cup the year after he left and the Ducks won a Cup the year before he came.

I'd say there's more to it than that, but then again, Bertuzzi's kind of a piece of shit.

• Could Khabibulin and his hysterical face-twitch (and hilarious contract) be making his way to Los Angeles? If the hockey gods have a sense of humor, then I say yes.

The Kings would be much better off taking a gamble on Ray Emery. And not just because I'd have the opportunity to make insect eating jokes.

* - Jeff Finger is so anonymously mediocre, I'm not even certain that's actually him. God, the Maple Lea(ves) are fucked.

Day 1: Sharks left Empty-Handed

Today was the 2nd most exciting day of the year (only to trade deadline day). I am thinking that NHL GM's were fooled into thinking that Free Agency lasted only 1 day and all shopping had to be completed today. Going into today I was already thinking that Brian Campbell was signing elsewhere. All last week we heard "family issues" and "wanting to be closer to home." Sure Chicago is closer to Ontario than San Jose but don't tell me that 8 years and 56+ million dollars didn't have anything to do with that. I actually applaud Doug Wilson for not shelling out that much money. That being said, Chicago looks like they will have a pretty good team next year. But note to Campbell, don't look for a comfortable reception when you come back to the Shark Tank next year. Signing closer to home in the eastern conference is one thing, but signing in the west for supposedly the highest offer just makes you look greedy.

Other random thoughts from Free Agency Day 1:

-Where is all this money coming from? I know the salary cap is going up once again, but some of these deals are obscene.

-Did Vancouver really offer Sundin 20 mill for 2 years?

-Sean Avery should sign with Colorado. Can you imagine a line of Darcy Tucker, Ian Laperriere and Avery? That would be the most annoying line ever.

-Dale Tallon is funny. He kept saying how he was keeping Khabibulin even after the signing of Huet. Um, yeah he really wants a cap hit of 12.375 for his 2 goalies.

-Who are Jeff Finger and Mark Streit and why are they getting big money? (Yes, I really do know who they are)

So my plan going into free agency was:

A: sign Campbell
B: sign Redden if Campbell screws us
C: trade for Zidlicky

I hope Doug Wilson has a plan G and H since all his early options are gone.

So the Sharks lost Campbell, Rissmiller and signed.........um

That being said, I still have faith in Doug Wilson but the declaration to us season ticket holders of spending money doesn't look so truthful right now.

Brad Stuart Re-Signs With Detroit

4 years, $3.75/year. This is weird; does this mean that Ken Holland actually made a bad decision, or does this mean I'm an idiot for thinking Brad Stuart sucked? I guess he fits in well with the Red Wings because he can run around doing whatever while the rest of the team plays perfect defense. Oh well, I'll just assume I'm smarter than Ken Holland. I mean, he didn't get promoted to late-shift manager at 7/11 in only 3 years, did he? I think that's some kind of record.

Kings Free-Agent Wish List: Mike Commodore

The Kings are probably going to be pretty quiet this off-season. They have claimed that they're going to make a commitment to youth (thank God), so it's likely that the forward spots are going to be taken up by guys from Manchester. Goaltender is also pretty well sewn up, what with Labarbera healthy (for now) and Ersberg soon to be locked up. Bernier, Zatkoff, and Quick are all there as well, ready to step up and give the Kings an actual third option in case one of the top two guys get hurt. These two areas are pretty set, for better or worse.

Defense, on the other hand, needs a little work. The Kings have Lubomir Visnovsky, Jack Johnson, Tom Preissing and Peter Harrold under contract for the upcoming season. That's 4 spots, spread out like this:

( )-Johnson
Visnovsky- ( )
Preissing-Harrold

It's common knowledge that the Kings are going to sign Rob Blake this season, hopefully for about $2.5 million dollars. Here's what I don't know: where the hell is he going to play? The Kings put him with Jack Johnson at the end of the year but they probably won't want to do that again because they want Johnson playing on the right side. He could play with Lubo, but that leaves a pretty big hole on that left-hand side next to Jack. What the Kings need is a defensively responsible left-side defenseman, who can play with Johnson in a shutdown role and also play on the penalty kill. There's only one guy I know who fits that description: Mike Commodore.


Mike is 28 year old and played most of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes before getting traded last year to the Ottawa Senators. He didn't play that well with the Senators, though, so he's going to be available on the free agent market. Commodore is big (6'4"), not afraid to get dirty, and is unique. A team like LA could use a giant red-haired defenseman. He gets caught out of position sometimes (like every defenseman not named Lidstrom) and he doesn't provide any offense, but the Kings don't really need him to. Signing Mike Commodore would make the Kings defense a lot better because he would fit perfectly.

These are the main obstacles to signing Mike Commodore:

He would require a longer deal. The Kings already have Lubo and Tom Preissing signed to multi-year deals and might be handcuffed in the future when guys like Thomas Hickey and Colten Teubert start moving up. The solution to that? Well, I don't really have one, other than to say, "Who cares?" If we have a young defenseman ready to move up, well then we just trade Tom Preissing. He's a Puck-Moving Defenseman® and has a good contract, it'd be easy to let him go.

He might cost too much money. The Kings need to be very careful about how they spend their money in the coming years; if guys like Jeff Carter can make $5 million dollars a year, how much can Patrick O'Sullivan get? Dean Lombardi may choose to not sign anyone because it puts the future of the team at risk, and I guess that might be the right thing to do. I don't know how much Commodore would cost, but I'd say about $3 million a year could do it. That's about double what he made this year and before you scream that it's too much, bear in mind that Brad Stuart got $3.5 last year.

Pictured: Commodore, Stanley Cup, a dinosaur

He probably wouldn't want to play here. And there's the rub. Los Angeles has never really held much cache for free agents (or at least the right kinds) and Commodore may spurn the Kings in favor of a team that, you know, might actually make the playoffs. However, the Kings are a team on the way up (because they can't really go down) and maybe that can lure Commodore. Plus, Commodore is a showman and Los Angeles is quite the stage. Being a fan favorite in Los Angeles is better than anywhere else; hell, watch how much money Ronny Turiaf is going to make this off-season. I hope Commodore looks deeper than last year's standings when making his decision.

So, there you have it. The Kings should sign one free agent this off-season (well, two if you include Blake) and that free agent should be Mike Commodore. He fits the Kings' needs perfectly and he gives the team some personality. He's young enough to be a part of the team when they make the playoffs and he'll provide some size and edge to a defense that sorely needs it. Hopefully he'll want to sign here and we can welcome "The Ballroom" to Los Angeles.


(If you're wondering why I didn't mention Drew Doughty, who will probably make the team next year, it's because I doubt the Kings will put him into a major role next season. He's 18 and I think having him play with Rob Blake would be a little too much. I see him rotating with Peter Harrold and Tom Preissing on that third line. Despite what some people have said, Teubert won't make the team and will play in Juniors for another season. Hickey probably will too, which sucks for him.)

Honest or Polite?

There was a brief blurb in the Canadian Press from Larry Kelly, agent for Brian Campbell:

Campbell, a talented puck-mover and swift skater, will likely fetch the most on the open market if he doesn't re-sign with the San Jose Sharks before July 1. There are family reasons that may dictate Campbell moving back East but nothing is written in stone at this point.

"It's a very difficult decision because he's been treated so well in San Jose," his agent Larry Kelly said Tuesday.

"We stay in contact and we continue to communicate," Sharks GM Doug Wilson said Tuesday.

Some Sharks fans have already figured Campbell is a goner, but I'm going to take this one at face value. Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, and a few others have publicly stated their intention to go UFA. If Campbell were to do so, I'm pretty sure Doug Wilson would put out a public statement about it if Campbell's agent didn't do so himself.

If it's family reasons, well, you can't really argue that. If he's just being polite with Sharks fans but has a hidden agenda, well, he wouldn't be the first player to do that (see: Ed Belfour). Somehow, Soupy seems to be of a little better moral fiber than Mr. One Billion Dollars, so I'm guessing he's probably legitimately weighing the Sharks' Cup chances and quality front office versus wanting to stay on the east coast.

Countdown to July 1: Someone save Brian Rolston

Like many of you, I'm suffering from severe hockey withdrawal. With the draft and July 1 Sweepstakes coming up, there's still a solid two or three weeks of juicy storylines.

With that in mind, I thought I'd take a look at some of the most interesting free agents of the Summer of 2008 and define them as a good or bad idea.

Sadly, this first free agent might not even hit the market on July 1. Until otherwise, let's assume he might test the waters...

Good Idea: Brian Rolston

If Rolston's game had a slogan, it would be "Hossa, without the hype." He brings a lot of the same qualities (skating, defense, hockey IQ) along with leadership skills, clutch abilities and a frickin' wicked shot (see the YouTube clip for an example).

He's the sort of forward who would be receiving Buccigross-on-Drury type man crushes by the hockey blogosphere if he wasn't playing for the blander-than-Gumbel Minnesota Wild. I'd beat the Wild down for their Warholian machine of an offense some more, but Wild fans deserve some legit respect.

Seriously, do you think Minnesota fans would have allowed prime playoff seats to go unsold like the Red Wings fans did? There's plenty of semi-valid explanations for the Red Wings not selling out every game, but maybe we should relocate Hockeytown to Minnesota. Just a thought.

Jacques Lemaire and Andy Warhol: basically the same fuckin' guy, eh?

ANYWAY, back to Rolston. The thing that strikes me about him is that I could see him becoming a key ingredient in any of the BoC teams (cap/budget permitting).

He could be a leader and defensive presence on a young, impressionable Los Angeles Kings team that needs better leadership than the "Hey kids, maybe some day you'll be grandfathered into a hockey team" example that Rob Blake is providing.

With Dallas, he'd be the perfect compliment to Brad Richards, a player who's had line mates like Michael Corleone had trustworthy brothers. Seriously, that guy has been slumming since the Lightning won a Cup (although one of his teammates in Tampa was named Ouellet, which is pronounced Wallet. This is undeniably awesome). So yeah, Rolston would be a great fit with the Stars.

What does she have to do with Rolston? It'll make sense later. Kinda.

He could be the missing piece for the Sharks, although it would be hard to imagine the Sharks being able to cough up Rolston-level dough. He could give Joe Thornton a thunderous shot to set up or give Patrick Marleau a line mate who might help him to, you know, suck less. Either way, he probably would become a leader of a team of almost-leaders.

Finally in Anaheim, he would give the Ducks secondary scoring that The Rotting Corpse of Doug Weight and the Floating Bear Todd Bertuzzi could not provide.

Why try to go after the sexiest choice in Mats Sundin when you could get a sneaky sexy choice in Rolston?

Hossa is the big breasted blonde hogging the headlines. Sundin is the cougar being tempted into hockey infidelity by a few eligible pool boys. Rolston is that chick from SuperBad with the cute bangs (except I don't want to see him naked).

Chances are, he'll just stay with that by-the-numbers crew in Minnesota. But it'd be interesting to see what he'd accomplish on a more explosive team. You never know...

Who's up for a little game theory?

Kuklas Korner has a piece today on soon-to-be-UFA Ryan Malone and how Columbus might trade for his rights Philadelphia-style in order to get a pre-July-1st negotiating window:

An NHL source said that Malone has been low-balled twice by the Penguins and is ready to leave July 1 as an unrestricted free agent. Malone’s rights could be traded before that day, of course, and the Blue Jackets are a likely destination.

The source said the Penguins have already made the Blue Jackets an offer for Malone’s rights.

Now this is a move that puzzled me when Philadelphia did it last summer with the Nashville Predators (Hartnell and Timonen), and it's a move that puzzles me still today. For certain, I can understand Nashville's and Pittsburgh's motivation -- why lose a player for nothing July 1st if some team is willing to pay assets mid-June? As for the other parties, I really fail to see what the benefits are for Ryan Malone or the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I threw together a simple game theory table together below that oversimplifies the choices of Columbus and Malone, but essentially Columbus has a choice: outbid 29 other teams for Malone, or not. Malone also has a choice: sign before July 1st, or wait.

	Malone will sign before July 1st	Malone won't sign until July 1st
CBJ will offer the highest bid	CBJ loses a draft pick unnecessarily	CBJ loses a draft pick unnecessarily
CBJ will not offer the highest bid	Malone loses salary unnecessarily	CBJ loses Malone, both sides are indifferent to the trade

I've included some loose payoffs where the decisions intersect. If Columbus is willing to pay more for Malone than anyone else, there seems to be no benefit to make a pre-July trade; they can win his services on July 1st without surrendering a draft pick. If another team is willing to pay more than Columbus, however, then there is no benefit for Malone to sign with the Jackets in June.

In other words, there is no great reason I can see for Columbus to trade for Malone's negotiating rights, at least with the payoffs as I've structured it. At best, both sides are indifferent about the trade (if Malone signs elsewhere July 1st), but in all other outcomes one of the parties is worse off because of the trade.

Now I know I've made some strong assumptions here (NHL teams act rationally, or that Malone only considers dollars when making a UFA decision), and I haven't considered all the payoffs: one thing that Philly did get from its trade-and-sign last year was an improved perception from the UFA class ("Those Flyers are serious about winning"), which may have helped them land Briere. Still, even with the turnaround success of the Flyers, I'm dubious as to what advantage they gained by the Nashville trade. Couldn't they have signed Hartnell and Timonen on July 1st, kept their draft pick, and still had that success?

What do you think? Is there a hole in my logic? Comments are open for your criticisms.