Free Agency Liveblog: 2010

by Anne


In 2009 I did a liveblog of the opening of free agency. It was a lot of fun at the time, and re-reading it was fun a few months later. So I'm gonna do it again if you're so inclined to check in or drop a comment.

11:06 Back from job interview. Went well. Hate job interviews. The person doing the interviewing knows exactly what you're interviewing for and your understanding is usually somewhat vague. Whatevs, it went okay and this guy was 1,000x more pleasant than the douche who interviewed me on Monday. Now I'm hungry.

11:09 I figure something has to happen today or soon. We're losing Lydman and Tallinder and the defensemen free agents are somewhat appealing today. Gonchar, Martin, and Kaberle (oh wait, he's not a free agent, but he is up for grabs) just to name a few. I'm still hungry, and we have $14 million in cap space? Really? Sweet.

12:00 Let the madness begin!

12:01 Marty Biron signs with the Rangers?! :( :(

12:02 Per Darren Dreger, Marty goes to the Rangers for two years at just under 900k per season. :(

12:03 Also from Dreger, Danny Paille signs with Boston in a two-year $2.15 million deal.

12:06 Never got anything to eat. Talking to my sister on the phone. Now I'm going to take the laptop downstairs. I expect 57 signings between now and then.

12:14 I loooves me some Danny Paille but that's a lot of $$$ for him.  Also, there were no signings between leaving my bedroom, starting lunch, and now.

12:18 Looks like Gonchar to Ottawa 3 years, $5.5 million per with a NTC.

12:27 In "Meh?" news Alex Tanguay to Calgary for 1 year and the Flyers re-sign Coburn. Whoop-dee-doo!

12:31 GareBear is on NHL Live and sounds like he has a cold. I'm sick of hearing him talk about the same things. Now we're on shootouts. Yawn.

12:34 Mahc Sahvahd is likely being traded today. It's being tossed around Regehr for Savard but it's being reported that Savard won't have his NTC to play in Western Canada... because he wants to come to Buffalo. Right? :D

12:48 Re-signings can be boring, like this one. Alex Steen signs an extension with St. Louis for 4 years. Whatevs. I like the Blues. Mostly because of David Backes, so whatevs.

1:02 Marty St. Louis signs a 4-year extension in Tampa Bay.

1:04 Paul Martin to Pittsburgh? Okay, I guess.

1:11 Now Zbynek Michalek to Pittsburgh as well.

1:13 Never ind about the Paulie Martin to Pittsburgh. That was an incorrectly reported trade. Eric Belanger is on NHL Live. He's cute, I'm not sure if we could use him, but at least he's pretty. Darcy?

1:18 Michalek to Pittsburgh is 5 years for $20 million. I'm not hopeful that Martin would come to Buffalo but it makes me feel better that it's still possible.

1:29 Alex Auld to Montreal for 1 year. Not really a huge deal to fix their situation, to be honest. That's a Darcy-esque signing.

1:35 A little piece of us all dies as Colby Armstrong signs with the Leafs for 3 years and $3 million per. :( Also, Niittymaki signs with the Sharks. Yikes, San Jose's goaltending isn't looking to snazzy.

1:39 I just shrieked and gasped. Sean O'Donnell signed with the Flyers :( I'm as bummed as I was when Sissy went to Montreal. :(

1:48 I'm so bummed out about O'Donnell and Armstrong. I figured O'D was going to stay in LA and Army would be back in Pittsburgh :(

1:50 Manny Malhotra to the Canucks. I suppose he'll do. He and Ballard can ATTEMPT to make up for the pretty lost when Big Bear left BC.

2:00 Derek Morris stays in Phoenix for 4 year, $11 million deal.

2:24 A little late on this because I was giving my dog a bath, but Jody Shelley to Philly (WOW, REALLY?) and someone named Crabb to the Maple Leafs.

2:25  Dan Ellis to Tampa Bay. Good place for him, he can play a lot more than he would in a lot of other cities.

2:29 Okay, now Paul Martin IS a Pittsburgh Penguin. I just tweeted this but I could see Andy Sutton as a Lydman replacement. Blocks a lot of shots and hits quite a bit.

2:38 Derek Boogaard to the Rangers. Wa-hoo. Life-changing signing, really.

2:47 Paul Martin got the elusive 5-for-25 deal. I jokingly tweeted about him getting that earlier, haha. Oh Paulie.

3:01 Toni Lydman to Anaheim. Although it was reported that Tony Lydman was signed there but I'm going to assume they meant Toni.

3:03 Lydman gets $9 million over 3 years in Anaheim. I hope he and Greener have fun pummeling each other into the boards.

3:15 Ray Whitney signs in Phoenix for 2 years, $3 million per. No chance was he coming to Buffalo, I'm not sure why people were pumping that rumor. He's made no secret that he wouldn't want to come here based on what some writers have said about conversations with him.

6:25 I went to see a movie. Whoops. I missed a few things, it seems.

6:27 The Sabres signed Jordan Leopold, Adam Burish to Dallas, Andrew Ladd traded to Atlanta, Chris Mason signs with Atlanta, Dan Hamhuis to Vancouver, Saku Koivu stays in Anaheim, Jeff Tambellini to Vancouver, Tallinder and Volchenkov to New Jersey, Kurtis Foster to Edmonton, and that about covers what I missed since Whitney signed in Phoenix.

6:31 Matt Cullen signs with the Wild.

6:38 Olli Jokinen back to the Flames, because that worked really well the first time... and Vinny Prospal stays with the Rangers.

6:39 Andrew Raycroft signs a 2-year deal with the Stars.

7:02 Edmonton agrees to terms with Collin Fraser who they traded for a few days ago. 2 years.

7:36 We've got 10 minutes until Darcy makes some random announcement. Probably that everyone but Jordan Leopold was too expensive and they might make a trade later.

7:59 Eric Nystrom signs with Minnesota for 3 years, $1.4 million per