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How is the Cap going up going to solve anything? It would only lead to stupid GMs overpaying even more for mediocre talent. Most of the franchises aren't in cap trouble because they have Franzen, Lidstrom, Pav and Zetterberg on board, but because of ridiculous contracts like the one for Brian Campbell.

After spending his rookie season in a mainly understudy role with a veteran- laden Bulls team, the 18-year-old Guelph native wasn't expecting to be a go-to guy in the playoffs. But with star centre Shawn Matthias on the sidelines with tonsillitis, the door opened for Johnston in Belleville's first-round series against the Peterborough Petes and to say the youngster barged over the threshold would be an understatement. Johnston scored three times in five games to surpass his entire regular- season goal total of two. Plus, two of Johnston's goals in the Peterborough series were game-winners. http://www.nhlentrydraft2008.com/featuredP...p;featureID=250 He's a Red Wings Fan, Yzerman his favourite player.

The Detroit Red Wings used the 151st overall pick to draft the Central Scouting Service's 123rd-ranked skater, 6'4," 186-lb. centre Julien Cayer in the fifth round. Cayer played for Northwood School in New York State during the 07-08 season, posting 56 points in 42 games. Cayer was born in Quebec, but he's heading to Clarkson University, where 2007 draft pick Bryan Rufenach is playing. Cayer told the NHL Network that he went to high school in New York State to improve his academics and his English before heading to college, and he is in fact going to Clarkson this fall. He says that the Red Wings like his speed, shot, and his potential as a power forward, but they want him to get stronger physically. Cayer says that he had no clue who would draft him, and once his name got called, he was pretty happy, to say the least. http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2008/06/wi..._julien_ca.html Sounds good.

TFP: Kings close to moving Brad Stuart and Ladislav Nagy. . .

if you are familiar with sopcast-streaming, you might wanna try the "VP4/The Game" Link here http://golf.cautela.nl/nhl/15812-hockey-to...-streaming.html not the best quality but it does the job.

dammit!

hudler + pick for comrie

well, mark hartigan has been called up along ericsson. coincidence?

Other options than Howard in 08/09 could be Ilja Bryzgalov (UFA) Christobal Huet (UFA), Jaroslav Halak (RFA) Al Montoya (RFA) Of course there's Kiprusoff but that one could get ugly moneywise. Especially if you imagine the Devils looking for a successor to Martin Brodeur.

Eklund today: Peter Forsberg. Yesterday in Nashville I put out that Peter has officially said he would only return to one of three teams...The Flyers, Avs, or Preds. It is very possible that the team with the best shot may indeed be the Preds. Peter made several friends in Nashville, liked the area, and did indeed say to the Preds staff as he was packing up, "Hope to see you in the Fall." Peter is alot of things, but one thing he is not is a person who just says things to be nice or without a reason. I had a few people in the Preds organization confirm with me as the day went on that they would not rule it out at all... I am also hearing that the Red Wings will get into this, but I have yet to hear Peter say that he would go there. However, he is tight with Lidstrom, and his closest buddy is out in Vancouver...Naslund. http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=8688

Here's a transcript of the interview ".... having more depth in our lineup with Kopecky and Drake, and probably Maltby on our fourth line--that's a heck of a fourth line--so when you look at our group, we're pretty excited." Seems like Babcocks expects Kopecky to be a regular part of the line-up, which leaves Hudler and Grigorenko battling for a place. Filppula - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Samuelsson - Zetterberg - Hudler/Grigorenko Franzen - Draper - Cleary Drake - Kopecky - Maltby Gotta love that third line!

They stil need to sign somebody to reach the cap minimum. Moving Jovanovskis huge contract won't help with that (except they trade him for Brad Richards which is not going to happen).

Expect Sopel to be picked up by the Islanders, the Sabres or the Sharks. Or basically any other team that tried on Souray and came short. Would I like to see him in Detroit, hell yes! I won't get my hopes too high though. As for Lindros: If we are going to gamble on an injury prone star player, I see us going for Forsberg. I still would like Kenny to trade for Mike Knuble, he'd be the perfect fit here. And since Philly needs to dump some salary it's not too unrealistic.

That's why adding Markov or Sopel would be a good choice at this moment. Anyway I expect both of them to join a team that came short in the Souray negotiations. Maybe Buffalo, NYI or San Jose. There is still a lot of money out there for decent players like Danny or Brent.

Looks like a marvel comic. Don't like it too much.

Don't forget about guys like Stempniak, Backes, Jackman and Boyes. They will only get better. A really nice mix of talent and veterans that the Blues have got there.

Since the Flyers are in need to dump some salary I was wondering if trading Samuelsson and a 3rd (or even a 2nd) for Mike Knuble was an option? Knuble has two years left on his 2.8 M contract, so he comes at a reasonable price and doesn't have an effect on the Zetterberg deal. He has size, is a good hard worker and a descent scorer plus he is still connected to the area (he plans to settle down in Grand Rapids). Holland talked about the possibiliy of trading with a team in cap trouble. So what do you guys think?

Zetterberg enters the UFA market in 2009/10. His Cap number will not go up before that season.

I don't expect him to even enter the UFA market. The Flames will lock him up during the season.

Ilja Bryzgalov, Christobal Huet, Matt Cooke, JP Dumont or Ryan Malone do sound like reasonable additions. Still dreaming of Brian Rolston and David Legwand in a Red Wings Shirt. Most likely i'll have to keep dreaming. Anyway the Wing's needs are not clear by now. To many vague factors: Is Lidstrom retiring? If not: How much of a Hometown discount is he willing to accept? Is Howard finally NHL ready? What's the situation with defensive prospects and Chris Chelios?

He still had 19 and 20 goals on an awful Maple Leafs Team. If you want to add some solid scoring and a Power Play upgrade, O'Neill should be a good choice. Of course the Fear Of Flying issue needs to be discussed. He has to be aware of the Wing's schedule before he signs the contract.

Teams with Cap trouble should basically include PHI, NYR, ANA, TOR and maybe OTT. Which forward could possibly be involved in trade? Mike Knuble? Matt Cullen?

What Holland actually said was: "We would like to add a top-six forward, but we're probably not going to be able to because of what's on the market, our cap space now and our plans for the future." and: "We'd like to add an NHL veteran up front to help our depth before training camp and we'll also bring in some minor league defensemen." That doesn't necessarily mean being done with FA-Singnings. Guys like Martin Gelinas, Jeff O'Neil or Arron Asham are still possible additions. Holland doesn't rule out to acquire a forward via trade before training camp either. "Holland will continue to look at the open market until training camp, and he'll talk to other clubs who may be in cap trouble to see if he can swing a deal." http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2007/07/wx...ospect_cam.html

Eklund lists 29 Players ready for arbitration. Among them Sean Avery, Michael Ryder, Derek Roy and Lee Stempniak.

There is about 8 million left and only Hasek, a forward and maybe a depth defensman to sign. If you really want to go for Guerin on a one year deal, you might as well throw some cash at him. The Islanders and some others teams got their pockets full and seem quite desperate to sign somebody like him. No chance we can grab him at 2.5.