So the Mighty Ducks got Scott Niedermayer for four years and $27 million (login info.). Not that money was the issue. Niedermayer said he just wanted the chance to play with his brother, Rob.
What I find most interesting, other than the parade of hockey talent to the Left Coast, is that Niedermayer asked the Devils for a five year, $45 million contract in 2004. The Devils said no way and Niedermayer got a one-year, $7 million in arbitration. Obviously, the Devils never got to pay him. But if they had just given him the $45 million contract, with the 24% rollback, they could have had him locked up for five years and $3.42 million per.
The moral of the story? Great defensemen are tough to find but worth it. If you have one, hold him close. Don't give him the chance to wander out to California. Because you'll never, ever see him again. Except when you play each other.
Also joining Niedermayer in Cali? Jeremy Roenick.
I know Sidney Crosby was on THE TONIGHT SHOW last night, but I bet Roenick will be hosting it within three years. And he'll have his own sit-com within a year or so.
I'm guessing it'll be Roenick and Jose Canseco. They'll play two faded athletes who now run a dry cleaning business. And did I mention one of their sisters died and left them a baby? And the other one's teammate died and left them a black son? And uh oh. Did I mention they each married women with a family. Of teens! And did I mention the dry cleaning business?
Trust me.
It's gold. Pure gold.

Too.
Much.
Hockey.
News.
Every time I click over to a hockey news site, I'm gasping. It's a rollercoaster.
Brian Leetch is a Bruin. Why? Because that's where he wanted to play.
I firmly believe Leetch was only looking for a decent team in a familiar city.
Boston fits both requirements.
Plus, the Bruins are getting one of the game's best offensive defenseman. Teams around the league are signing solid, tough, defensive defenseman, but I think in the new NHL, you're going to need more guys like Leetch. Defenseman who are really more defensive forwards. Guys who can jump into the play to score. Guys who aren't scared to rotate down to the net. Defense will always be a key part of hockey, but as the league emphasizes (and over-emphasizes) offense , defensive teams are going to suffer.
Meanwhile, Mike Modano is still trying to figure out if he wants to be a Star (login info.). The contract Modano is weighing is crazy. Modano gets paid for the last two seasons, even if he retires. Meaning the Stars, in their infinite wisdom, could in theory, lose their top forward, and then not have the cap space to replace him for two years.
Trust me. The next lockout will focus on owners not paying players who aren't playing for them anymore.
Over on Long Island, the Isles made some uncharacteristically smart moves, signing Miroslav Satan and flipping Michael Peca to Edmonton for Mike York.
The Islanders will hopefully find two things in Satan: a consistent scorer and someone to finally get Alexei Yashin going. Giving up Peca, they lose a lot of grit and toughness, but gain a little bit of youth, since York is four years younger than Peca.
I'm just pretty shocked this isn't the typical insane Islander trade, where they send away four up-and-coming all stars and get back a sack of teeth.
And what can you say about Forsberg to Philly? The team is completely reinventing itself. The hulking John LeClair is gone. The gigantic Jeremy Roenick is expected to be traded. The bruising (and bruised) Eric Lindros is long gone. The Flyers are moving away from brute force and trying finesse (as they sort-of, kind-of tried when they got Mike Comrie for 20 minutes in 2003). It's just kind of sad they're evolving on the shoulders of a guy who hasn't played a full season since 1995.

Things are picking up a bit in terms of signings.
The Thrashers signed center Bobby Holik to a three year/$12.75 million deal (login info.).
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Devils offered Holik the same money, but he saw Atlanta as more of a winner. It's an interesting move for the Thrashers. They're getting grit and depth, presumably to protect Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk from checking lines. Is Atlanta closer to being a playoff-bound team?
Maybe. But more because of Bob Hartley behind the bench. Holik will help, but his salary is taking up almost 10% of the cap. He better be really effective.
The Flames seem to have a much better idea of how to work the cap. They signed both Darren McCarty and Tony Amonte for $1.7 million per season over two years — combined. That's a fantastic deal. McCarty will be a natural with Chris Simon, and Amonte, while no longer an offensive force, certainly won't heart anybody on the second line. Great picks and very cost-effective. It's pure Moneyhockey.
Over in LA, the Kings signed Pavol Demitra for three years and $13.5 million (login info.). Every year, LA gets more serious about launching a freewheeling, pure-offense system. Demitra will fit in nicely. They also signed goalie Jason LaBarbera, who tore up the AHL last season. Watching him play a few games in New York, though, he looked awkward, with horrible instincts. I'm not sure if the AHL tear was a fluke, or if he just got crazy stage fright when he was called up, but I hope LA is exploring other goaltending options.

So the first day of free agency was a bit quiet.
The Florida Pathers signed Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk (login info.).
I really get the feeling Roberts and Nieuwendyk wanted to a) still play together and b) play someplace warm. After all, they're not getting any younger.
Oh. But there's good news for those of you in non-NHL markets. According to Newsday's Alan Hahn, the NHL is closing in on a US cable deal. Hahn reports that ESPN is back in the mix. It's a tough call. ESPN is established, but has no interest in the NHL. I'm hearing ESPN wants to start an ESPN3, just so they have someplace worse than ESPN2 to stick hockey. Comcast, also reportedly in the mix, will probably be impossible to find on most cable systems. As I type this, Outdoor Life, the channel Comcast is reportedly considering to be the NHL's cable home, is on channel 122 and showing an hour block of ALL-STAR BBQ.
The good news is that there seems to be room to give Chris Chelios his own cooking show.

You have to love the return of hockey season if for no other reason than it means the return of hockey rumors.
Larry Brooks has a couple of good ones (login info.). Like the Red Wings are very interested in Nikolai Khabibulin as their next goalie. And Boston might be looking to trade Joe Thornton, before he walks out on them next season as an unrestricted free agent. Interestingly, Brooks also says Eric Lindros is in the mix for Boston.
Brooks had an interesting column Friday, taking the Rangers to task for never using Bobby Holik as the checking center that he is. Holik's contract was bought out by the Rangers this weekend, thus creating an interesting cycle. The insane bidding war for Holik three years and two seasons ago was one of the reasons the league had to lockout its players to assert cost control. GMs knew Holik was talented and knew Holik was a huge part of New Jersey's various Stanley Cup runs. What no one seemed to understand, except New Jersey GM Lou Larmoriello, was how to use Holik successfully. He wasn't (and isn't) a player that's going to lift a bad to average team out of its doldrums. A good team using him to shut down better team's top lines is going to find him pretty handy to have around. But to sign him as an offensive playmaker and then be upset when you don't get results? It's just a waste.
Lindros is in a similar situation. Teams looking to him as a number one center are going to be very disappointed. Lindros is quite capable of playing a tough, offensive game, not unlike Thornton's, but his health will always be a huge question mark. It's not realistic to expect 82 games out of him. He played 81 in 2002-03 and had one of the worst seasons of his career. So any team that signs Lindros to save their franchise is going to wind up disappointed. But a team that signs Lindros for depth? That's going to be a happy team. Imagine Lindros working just a few minutes a game, just to keep the rust off, but being taken off the leash in the playoffs? It's an expensive risk, but if it pays off, the returns are immense.
In other rumor news, Steve Simmons says Alex Kovalev is interested in a return to Pittsburgh. Simmons also says members of the NHLPA are mad they weren't consulted about Ted Saskin being promoted in the wake of Bob Goodenow's resignation.
For the record, Goodenow's big sin wasn't caving on the lockout. His big mistake was not understanding how his constituency would react to the lockout. Intellectually, the players knew they had to be prepared to not play for a few seasons to break the league, but emotionally they weren't ready. And that's how the league was able to get the concessions they wanted. Goodenow's major job was to understand his players. He didn't understand how much they wanted to play, so he was forced to negotiate from a position of weakness.
Saskin has his work cut out for him.