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The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the Los Angeles Kings are now officially out of the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes. The Kings are said to have sat down with Kovalchuk on Wednesday in hopes of revisiting contract talks and coming to some sort of deal. Unfortunately, it appears as if Kovalchuk’s demands are just too high, which has resulted in King’s general manager Dean Lombardi pulling the plug on a deal. The reality ...
Less than a week ago many Los Angeles Kings' fans were falling all over themselves in anticipation of landing prized free agent sniper Ilya Kovalchuk.For L.A. Fans, the hype was short lived as Kings general manager Dean Lombardi recently told reporters that despite his best efforts, he was unable to get Kovalchuk to commit to Tinseltown. With the addition of Kovalchuk the L.A. Kings would have been one of the ...
With a little over $2.5 million in cap space available to them and with the Leafs still needing one, maybe two legitimate top six forwards to help round out their lineup, shouldn’t defenseman Jeff Finger be bought out already?For months now numerous on-line writers and sportscasters from coast-to-coast have speculated that, given the Toronto Maple Leafs depth on defense, that Leafs general manager Brian Burke should, and likely would, either ...
According to Mark Everson of the New York Post, the New Jersey Devils appear to be the front runners to sign unrestricted free agent Ilya Kovalchuk. Everson cites a source that suggests the deal will be for $60 million over seven years, which is far less than the New York Islanders rumored deal of $100 million over 10 years. Kovalchuk, who was rumored to be headed to the Los Angeles Kings last ...
The Edmonton Oilers announced Saturday that they have signed perennial AHL star Alexandre Giroux to a one-year contract worth a reported $500,000. Giroux, who stands 6’3” and weighs in at 205 pounds, was originally taken in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft (213th overall). He has spent most of his professional hockey career in the American Hockey League where he has amassed over 300 goals in 636 career ...

Ilya Kovalchuk Balks At Joining L.A.; What Now?

Posted: 4th July 2010 by Mark Ritter in NHL
After tons of speculation suggesting that highly sought after free agent sniper, Ilya Kovalchuk was going to sign with the Los Angeles Kings, the L.A. Times is reporting that they were informed by Kings’ general manager Dean Lombardi that Kovalchuk would not be headed to Tinseltown.“We took our best shot to meet his (Kovalchuk’s) needs and the teams”, Lombardi wrote to the L.A. Times via email.At this point there are ...
After weeks of negotiating, the Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they have signed winger Nikolai Kulemin to a two-year, $4.7 million contract. The deal is somewhat of a compromise to what Kulemin was originally asking for—believed to be in the $3 million per season range. Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke had said all along that he had no intention of paying first line money to ...
Several hockey sources (including Helene Elliot of the L.A. Times) are reporting that the Los Angeles Kings and Ilya Kovalchuk are talking deal. The biggest stumbling block is, of course, money, with Kovalchuk believed to be asking for a long term deal in the $10 million per year range. The Kings finished the 2009-10 season with a 46-27-9 record, good enough for sixth overall in the Western Conference. ...

NHL Free Agency: Is Calgary Going Down in Flames?

Posted: 2nd July 2010 by Mark Ritter in NHL
For those of you who grew up in the 80s, you’ll remember the movie Back To The Future. Well, given the Calgary Flames latest free agent signings, that’s exactly what they are doing—going back in hopes of a great future. Flames general manager Darryl Sutter signed both Olli Jokinen (who signed a two-year, $6 million contract) and Alex Tanguay (who signed a one-year, $1.7 million contract), in hopes that ...
With news hitting various sources around the internet that the Philadelphia Flyers have acquired former San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov’s negotiating rights one has to think that, in order to do so, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren will need to slash some salary.Clearly, given Nabokov’s three successive 40 plus win seasons and his overall pedigree I think the Flyers will be looking to sign Nabokov for as much as $5 ...