Welcome Back...Again

Erik Cole decided to dip his toe into the free agent pool, take a look around the market and see what might be out there for him. Well it seems the water was a bit on the chilly side and he decided that the comforts of home were a bit too much to pass up.

After a few hours on the open market, Cole returned to the Carolina Hurricanes, signing a 2 year deal totaling $5.8 million with the team who drafted him (3rd round/1998), and with whom he has spent all but a few months of his 7 year NHL career. The new deal will pay $2.8 million in 2009/2010 and $3 million in 2010/2011. This represents roughly a 25% pay cut from his previous contract with the Canes, that paid out at $4 million per season.

Cole was traded from Carolina to the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 2008 (in exchange for defenseman Joni Pitkanen), but returned to the Hurricanes in February of 2009 in a three team deal that sent forward Justin Williams from the Canes to the Los Angeles Kings. In 17 games with the Hurricanes to finish the season, Cole had 15 points (2 goals/15 assists), and provided a spark that helped the Canes surge to a 12-3-2 finish and their first playoff appearance in 3 years.

Once considered one of the most feared power forwards in the NHL, with a lethal combination of speed, size and physicality Cole had his best season during the Cane's Stanley Cup season of 2005/2006. He tallied 59 points (30 goals/29 assists) in just 60 games. Unfortunately, Cole missed the last 22 games of that season after suffering a broken vertabre in his neck after a blindsided hit into the boards from Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik (booo!). Cole made a dramatic return to the ice for the last two games of the Stanley Cup finals against Edmonton, and skated the Cup around the RBC Center with his teammates. In the offseason following the Stanley Cup run Cole signed a new 3 yr contract with the Hurricanes at $4 millon per season. Unfortunately, since his injury, Cole's production has slowly but steadily dropped off - 61 points (29G/32A) in 2006/2007 (71 games), 51 points (22G/29A) in 2007/2008 (73 games), 42 points (18G/24A) in 2008/2009 (80 games).

Heading into free agency, it seemed 50/50 at best that Cole would return to the Canes. It was obvious that GM Jim Rutherford wanted to resign him, but the question remained whether or not Cole would be willing to accept the pay cut that Rutherford and the Canes were sure to require. Over the last weeks and days speculation and rumor had centered around Cole and fellow UFA Chad LaRose, and which of the two the Canes could afford and should push to resign. Rutherford repeatly stated that he wanted to get both back in the fold - assuming that could work out the price.

After signing Cole this afternoon, Rutherford had this to say (from Canes Now):

Erik clearly had an instant impact on our team when he returned to Carolina in March...He has been an important piece for our franchise for a long time and we are pleased that he has decided to remain at home in Raleigh.

Today, Cole is back with the Canes and LaRose appears to be out the door for greener pastures.

Welcome home Erik. Again.

-m

Hossa To Chicago

Lots of action already today in the first few hours of free agency, and I'm sure I'll post a recap later tonight, but perhaps the biggest signing so far, at least in my opinion, is Marian Hossa to the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm envisioning a line of Hossa, Kane and Toews and I'm glad the Blackhawks are in the West. Hossa was considered one of, if not the, most sought after forwards in free agency.

Hossa emerged from this past season as a bit of a goat as he left Pittsburgh to sign with the Red Wings for less money and what he viewed as a better chance at a Cup. Of course that turned to egg on his face when the Pens came back to beat the Red Wings in 7, and Hossa was left to watch from the sidelines again as his former teammates lifted the Cup. To add insult to injury Hossa virtually disappeared in the finals, after scoring only 6 goals in the entire playoffs. Now he is off to Chicago and one of the best up and coming young teams in the league.

TSN is reporting that it is a 12 year deal averaging out at $5.2 per season. The deal is incredibly front loaded, with Hossa taking in about $52.3 over the first 8 years and only $3.5 million over the final 4. Which I guess make sense as Hossa will be 38 yrs old as he heads into the last 4 years of the deal. Not sure where this leaves Chicago in regards to the cap, but they've definitely been spending freely over the last two years after over a decade as being percieved as one of the cheapest teams in the league.

The Blackhawks also signed one of Hossa's Detroit teammates today, inking defenseman Tomas K0pecky to a 2 year deal at $1.2 million per.

-m

ULTIMATE FRANCHISE: Canes #2

So I had ESPN on in the background as I was obsessively following the free agency live blogging on TSN and Canes Country (someone take this computer away from me now before I hurt myself), and Sportscenter was running this bit about ESPN The Magazine's annual Ultimate Franchises fan poll.

Wait a minute...What did he just say?

Under the category "fan experience" the Carolina Hurricanes come in at #1 out of 122 professional sports franchises? Sweet. I gotta check out this list.

So I go online, and though navigating the whole list is a bit wonky, I find that the Canes are ranked #2 over all in this year's survey. Wow! That's a move up from #17 last year. We are second only to the LA Angels of Anaheim. If my math is correct, that makes the Canes the #1 ranked franchise in the NHL. Other NHL teams in the top 10 - Detroit Red Wings at #4 and Washington Capitals at #6. The survey criteria includes affordability, quality of coaching, fan relations, commitment of ownership, stadium or arena experience, team success and "bang for the buck." So there.

#122 on the list? You guessed it...the LA Clippers.

Normally I could not care less what ESPN says, especially when it comes to their coverage of hockey in general (all kudos to Barry Melrose, who I respect a lot, and appreciate the 3-5 minutes of air time he gets once or twice a week during the season), or more specifically their coverage (natch) of the Hurricanes, but this fan vote in The Magazine makes me proud.

Of course we all know that the Canes are #1, but to see this sort of national recognition, well, it leaves me a bit...flumoxed??

Go Canes!

You can read the full survey recap on the Canes HERE.

Have fun searching for your favorite team(s).

I'll probably spend a few hours geeking out over this once I'm through with geeking out over free agency. Heck I might even have to buy a copy of the magazine. Yikes!

-m

Door Left Open For Cole; LaRose and Babchuck, not-so-much...

Canes Now is reporting that Erik Cole's foray into the free agent pool might be short lived. Canes GM Jim Rutherford said today that, while there are no guarantees at this point, Cole might be back with the Canes:

Erik is working hard to work with us...He'll still go into free agency but has said he will not stay out there long if he does not see a big deal he can get...I don't think we're far apart with Erik. We've had several good conversations in the last 24 hours in Erik's case. I see his point of view. He's willing to take a pay cut but wants to see if there's a big deal out there. There's not the same frustration with Erik.

[NOTE: Is it just me, or does Rutherford stating this publicly, in the media, severely hamper Cole's ability to get a "big deal" out there? If he is saying that Cole has admitted he is willing to take a pay cut in Carolina, does that not temper the amount of money another team would be willing to offer? Wiley public negotiating for sure, but I know if I was Cole's agent I would not be too happy right about now. ]

That last line, referencing "frustration", seems squarely directed at the LaRose camp. As is this little nugget:

I'd like to sign both, Rutherford said. My position has changed. I only have so much (money) to do it. If we can do it within those numbers, we'll do it.

I've got to wonder if there might be some sort of lingering animosity left over between LaRose (or his agent) and the club after last year's drawn out negotiations and arbitration?

There also seems to be a significant snag in negotiations with RFA defenseman Anton Babchuck. The Canes offered Babs a qualifying offer of $1 million, the same salary he made last season. But apparently the 25 year old Babchuck is not interested, wants a raise and could return to Russia (again) . Sigh. I was really impressed with Anton's development this year, his playoff performance not-withstanding, and for whatever reason he's always been a favorite of mine. So much potential there. He's still a young guy and I would love to see him continue to develop under the all seeing Eye. But the guy definitely seems to be high maintenance.

Hell, the Canes actually gave him a break in accepting him back into the fold and providing him with the opportunity to play quality minutes, after he skulked off to Russia two years ago. Now, here we go again. I got to wonder if this is the kid, or if he is just getting bad advice from his agent. He has already screwed up his arbitration status by leaving for a year. Sure he might be worth a bit more than $1 million a year, but signing this offer now allows him to PROVE that again next season, continue to develop at the NHL level, and to make even more money down the line. I don't see how returning to the KHL (again), helps him at all in the long run, except in theshort term pocket-book of course. Just seems a little short sighted as a negotiating ploy.

Rutherford did not seem to have much patience as he summed it up this way:

We have an issue with Babchuk.

Ok.

Now, any word on Ruutu?

-m

Deadline Deals

Catching up with a few of the big moves that went down in advance of the free agency deadline:

Sedin Twins Stay In Vancouver: This one was starting to look bleak for the Cannucks as rumors were swirling that the twins (Daniel and Henrik) were looking for contracts in the 10+ year range at around $6-8 million per. As it turns out, they got their $6million per, but for only 5 years. Got to see this as a win-win. Hard to imagine the Sedins anywhere other than Vancouver, and the Cannucks did not have to completely mortgage their future. Now Vancouver turns their eyes (and hearts) towards Luongo.

Bouwmeester Signs With Calgary: A lot of eyebrows were raised when Calgary may a deal at the draft sending Jordan Leopold and a 3rd round pick to Florida in exchange for the rights to negotiate with Jay Bouwmeester. A big gamble that paid off for the Flames when the much coveted 25 year old defenseman inked a deal yesterday for $6.68 million over 5 years. Calgary now has, on paper, one of the most impressive D-corps in the game with Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr patroling the blueline in front of Miika Kiprosoff. Now it will be interesting to see if they are able to keep all three, or whether one of them become trade bait. Also will be interesting to see who they have left at forward once the dust settles. Iginla can't score every goal.

Scott Gomez to Montreal: Habs GM Bob Gainey came into the free agency period with enviable cap room available looking to retool the Canadiens who seem to have stagnated a bit after posting the best record in the East just two seasons ago. Well, he apparently thinks Scott Gomez is the answer as his top line center as he just took a sizable chunk out of his cap space with Gomez' $7.35 million per year salary through 2013/2014. The reactions to this so far have been all over the place, with some Habs fans screaming that Gainey got hoodwinked by the Rangers' Glen Sather, with others praising the bold and proactive move. Time will tell. Gomez has a huge contract and has not lived up to expectations on Broadway (coming off his worst point production of his career), but does bring playmaking skills and Stanley Cup experience. The deal consisted of Gomez, winger Tom Pyatt and defenceman Mike Busto going to the Habs in exchange for Christopher Higgins and three defensemen (including the Candiens 2007 1st round draft pick Ryan McDonaugh). Higgins was a popular and gritty performer in Montreal, but was hampered by injuries for much of '08/'09.

Pronger To Philly: This one is old news but thought I would comment on it anyway as it is a big one. Probably the biggest deal coming out of the NHL draft and definitely the biggest on Day 1.
Chris Pronger is a guy you love to hate - would love to have him on my team, but boy to I hate him on another. And the guy always seems to have a chip on his shoulder when playing against the Canes. Pronger is a former member of the franchise, having been the #2 overall pick in the 1993 draft by the Hartford Whalers. The Whale traded Pronger to the St Louis Blues, for Brendan Shanahan, two years later. The one (or in this case 2) that got away? Pronger has spent most of his career in the West, meaning the Canes only faced him once or twice a year. Now they get to face him 4-6 times a year in Philly. The Flyers paid a high price in this deal, essentially mortgaging their future in a grab for Cup glory in the short run. Anaheim sent Pronger and forward Ryan Dingle to the Flyers in exchange for Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, two first round picks and a conditional third round pick. Holy crap, that's a high price to pay. Don't get me wrong, Pronger is a great player, a hall-of-famer, but he is also a free agent at the end of 2009/2010. The Flyers could very well have just given up 3 first round picks (Sbisa was Philly's #1 pick in 2008, and is highly regarded) for a one year rental. Not to mention that the Ducks get Lupul back into the fold (he was their #1 pick in 2002, #7 overall). If the Flyers win the Cup, it will all be worth it of course. Time will tell. Bold move either way.

-m