We stand two days away from free agency (and the ensuing Brad Richards frenzy) and there’s been a lot of movement around the league. There were a few moves that limit the Stars’ options as well as a few moves that the Stars would be interested in. A quick update on the movement around the league.
- Dallas made a small move of their own, re-signing Brad Lukowich to a one-year, two-way deal. He’ll provide solid experience and be a good mentor for the young defensemen playing for the Texas Stars.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed a couple of defensemen in the past couple of days. Eric Brewer (4 years, $15.4 million) and Marc-Andre Bergeron (2 year, $2 million). A couple of interesting names left for the Lightning include fowards Sean Bergenheim (UFA) and Steven Stamkos (RFA). Bergenheim looks likely to be leaving Tampa and seems to be looking for a contract worth about $1.5 million a year. Meanwhile, the Stamkos situation is an odd one. Tampa clearly wants him back but they have struggled on hammering out a deal. Whichever team, besides Tampa, that wants to sign Stamkos will have to give up four (four!) first-round picks as compensation. If Stamkos hits the market, I would expect some team to at least drive up the price for Tampa to re-sign him.
- The Canucks also made a couple of moves with their defensemen. They re-signed Kevin Bieksa (5 years, $23 million) and sent Christian Ehrhoff (or at least his free-agency rights) to the New York Islanders for a fourth-round pick after he rejected a contract offer from the Canucks. Ehrhoff would have surely been the number one defensemen on the market in a very weak class.
- The Washington Capitals re-signed Brooks Laich (6 years, $27 million). Laich would have drawn offers from a lot of teams and might have been the second-most sought after forward after Brad Richards.
- Pittsburgh seems to be hoping for a blast from the past as they have offered a contract to Jaromir Jagr (reportedly for 1 year, $2 million). Jagr has spent the past three seasons in the KHL, averaging around 22 goals, 28 assists and 48 points per season. They also re-signed Pascal Dupuis (2 years, $3 million).
