Adrian Dater weighs in on goalie Jose Theodore opting to hit the open market rather than re-signing with the Avs. Dater says the Avs deserve a little bit of a hometown discount for saving Theodore's career. While I understand that, I don't think the Avs would have given a contract based on last year's .910 save percentage and 2.44 goals against if he had put up numbers like 2006-07's .891 and 3.26. It's frustrating, but it's a business.
Speaking of business, I like how the cap keeps going up. In another year or so, players will be better off than they were before the lockout. And don't forget, before the lockout, no one got 10-year deals.
Over in New York, Marty Straka may or may not have left the NHL to play in a Czech league. Straka lost some speed last year but watching him in New York, I've been really knocked out by his play. Obviously, he has offensive talent, but he's great defensively, too. I don't think he'll be back with the Rangers next season, even if it turns out he hasn't signed in the Czech republic, and I'm going to miss watching him.
Also, do the Sabres have the inside track on signing Penguin defenseman Brooks Orpik? Maybe. His brother is a Buffalo prospect. That's pretty handy.
Finally, I wish there was video on this Brett Hull hole-in-one from Wednesday. I picture him slapshotting it in.

Steve Zipay has an interesting item: "With the trade of Olli Jokinen, a person close to Jay Bouwmeester told Newsday that the defenseman wants out of Florida. Unsure whether — or when — the Rangers can get him here, but boy, if the deal was right, JayBo would be a high-quality get..."
I'm not sure why he wrote in the style of Larry King. He usually doesn't do that. Bouwmeester in play is very interesting, though. You can see why Bouwmeester might want out of Florida. It sounds like they won't be very active in the free-agent market, meaning they probably won't be much better than last year. And given their Jokinen-ectomy, they could even be a lot worse.
Speaking of Florida, former Wild center Wes "Milk Carton" Walz joined Barry Melrose's coaching staff in Tampa. I'm not sure what Walz's responsibilities will be but he was a great defensive forward, so hopefully he can impart that to the players. Although if I'm in Tampa, I'm a little concerned about this statement:

I still feel like a Minnesota Wild player, I still feel like I'm part of that organization, and I guarantee I'll be wearing a Wild T-shirt underneath my suit behind the Lightning bench. I still feel part of the family in Minnesota.

Who doesn't want to hear their new assistant coaching pining away for his old team?
Also, Brian Rolston's agent isn't returning phone calls from the Wild, a good indicator the unrestricted free agent wants to test the market. Or, it could indicate his agent uses Verizon.
Hey yo!
But seriously. Why wouldn't Rolston want to gauge his value? New Jersey and New York are supposed to be interested in him (going back to the end of the regular season), and I'm sure there are plenty of others. If Minnesota is low-balling Rolston, he should see what else is out there.

The Flyers continue to revamp their defense, trading for Janne Niskala from Nashville.
Unlike previous seasons, Philadelphia doesn't seem to be going after the big free-agent names (although we'll see what happens with that next week). Instead, the Flyers, who made it to the second round of the playoffs, are modestly upgrading their slow blueline. Even trading away forward R.J. Umberger might not dramatically reduce their offense if Simon Gagne is healthy next season.
Jean Lefebvre weighs in on Alex Tanguay's time with the Flames. Lefebvre points out Tanguay's numbers dipped last season because of his use as more of a two-way forward. Tanguay killed penalties and spent less time on the powerplay. The sad part is, Lefebvre wonders if Tanguay being a more versatile player, but one who isn't putting up gaudy numbers, made him feel he wasn't earning his salary. When will people finally feel solid defense has contract value?
What the heck is Joe Sakic doing that he doesn't know if he'll return to the NHL until after July 1? Is he waiting on a package or something? One of the many reasons I hated Mark Messier during his second twirl through New York is that he would pull this same thing every season, not revealing if he was coming back until late in the summer. Of course, when Messier pulled this, there was no salary cap. Now, with the Avs forced to put money aside for a player who might not show up, Sakic could torpedo the Avs before the season even starts.
How far has goalie Andrew Raycroft fallen? He won the Calder at the end of the 2003-04 season and yesterday, just four years later, he was placed on waivers. I always wondered if the pressure of winning the Calder followed by the lockout got into Raycroft's head. He really never got to prove he deserved the trophy and maybe that froze him a little bit.
Kevin Allen has a nice story about new Tampa coach Barry Melrose. What Melrose lacks in coaching and technology skills he definitely makes up for in people skills.

There are some very interesting players in this year's free-agent crop. New York Ranger Sean Avery is expected to hit the open market, with Avery supposedly asking for between $3 and $4 million per year. Now I don't know what NHL GMs think about Avery, but on sports talk radio, blogs, and message boards, fans are asking how an enforcer can possibly be worth that much money under a salary cap. The only stat Avery's people really have is that the Rangers have a dramatically better record with him in the lineup (50-20-10 in; 9-13-3 out).
Sharks defenseman Brian Campbell is a similar type of free agent. He's supposedly asking for $6.5 to $7 million per year. Mike Harrington wonders if he's worth it. I'm sure Campbell will get his money, but it's a lot to tie up in an offensive defenseman who can't transition to a stay-at-home defenseman when needed. One of the things that most impressed me about the Red Wings in the post-season is that while they have a lot of offense on their blue line, all of those guys know when to put it away and just hold the zone. I'm not sure Campbell can do that yet.
I'm hoping Avery and Campbell will help at least a few GMs to stop looking at names and start thinking about value when it comes time to sign free agents.
Speaking of Avery, here is how he spent his internship at Vogue. Reading it, part of me wonders if he even wants to play hockey anywhere next season. He really seems to enjoy fashion.
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Tampa is getting ready. They signed Vinny "Boomerang" Prospal to a four-year, $14 million deal. Four years is a long time. Prospal will probably be traded at least three more times. And two of those trades will probably involve Tampa Bay.
The Lightning are also expected to name Barry Melrose as their new head coach today. Melrose last coached in the NHL in 1995. That's a long time to be out of the game. I feel like no one even matched lines when Melrose last coached. I hope he's not surprised when he notices that happening.

Wow. Kind of an exciting draft weekend. Although I am with Jeff Z. Klein in that I too find it a little annoying that you don't know if a team had a good draft for something like five years. That's why I like draft-day trades. They're way more immediate.
The Flames got Mike Cammalleri from LA and shipped Alex Tanguay to Montreal.It was a great move for Calgary, that let them get a little younger and a little cheaper, and Cammalleri, should he stay healthy, has a lot of upside. I think he has the ability to be a great playmaker, something the Flames could really use. The Flames kicked the tires on Olli Jokinen, but GM Darry Sutter said the price was way too high. As you may have heard, Jokinen went to the Coyotes, making Phoenix the big winner in the draft (according to USA Today's Kevin Allen). I thought Jokinen would have been a great fit in either Calgary or San Jose, but I can see him in Phoenix. They're trying to become one of those big Western Conference teams that swarm the net and pretty much smother goaltenders and opposing defensemen.
I was intrigued by the Flyers' moves to upgrade their defense, trading R.J. Umberger for a first- and third-round pick and then trading a lower first-round pick for the rights to defenseman Steve Eminger (from Washington). Philadelphia knew the big burn on their defense was how slow it was, so you can see they're trying to get faster right away.
I was also proud of St. Louis for picking-up goalie Chris Mason from Nashville. Mason has solid career numbers, with a rough ride last season. He can start and that gives St. Louis some options in goal, something they didn't have last season. Slowly but surely the Blues are becoming a respectable NHL franchise.