First up is the team from Budapest who ended up signing 10 players, spending a total of approximately 20 million dollars. They did make some important additions in signing Mike Knuble, Slava Kozlov and Ray Whitney. Look for all 3 to get serious minutes in the upcoming season. A few of the other players were brought in to fill out the roster but Todd Marchant and Jim Slater should be able to contribute to better overall team play. Ray Whitney and Mike Knuble were both signed to 3 years 6 million dollar contracts. Lets hope neither retires on Budapest before their CCHL contracts run out.
Next up is the darling of the dance, Karlstad. One simply has to look at their roster for next year and be impressed with the talent they have assembled. Lidstrom, Niedermayer, Pronger, Kuba are an amazing top 4. Of those impressive 4, Pronger was brought in on a 3 year deal paying him 11.6 million per season. Scary talent and scary expensive as Lidstrom is being paid more than 14 million per year. Then again Karlstad has a huge bankroll so they can probably afford such expenses, at least for a season or two. They also signed Patrick Elias in a bidding war with Linz. Karlstad might be missing a piece or two up front but they are clearly loaded for bear.
River cities also made a splash signing Tony Lydman and Cory Stillman. Certainly not difference makers but they will plug important holes in the lineup. The team also signed Jan Hedja and Radek Bonk spending a total of over 11 million dollars a season. Will it improve the win loss column ? only the sim knows for sure.
The current champs in Quebec made some important and prudent signings, taking advantage of our new walkaway rule. The team was able to sign 6 players spending approximately 8 million in doing so. Matt Cullen has proven himself a solid checking center, Robert Lang was having a nice season before getting injured, Chris Osgood once again got little love yet played in another NHL finals. Doug Weight adds additional depth, while Brian Potier and Aaron Ward should see playing time on the blueline.
Linz made a good run of it in the second half of last season. Going into the UFA rounds they made some significantly large offers on players like Rafalski and Patrick Elias only to see those two players sign for even more money elsewhere, namely in Calgary and Karlstad. Although losing out on what was most likely their prime targets they did manage to sign 6 players including defensemen Roman Hamrlik, Greg DeVries and Karlis Skrastins. Up front the signed Peltonen, Satan and Sundin all somewhat of a gamble move but perhaps they will be rewarded in doing so. The team did spend over 23 million dollars in doing so however.
Niagara Falls a team that has had to watch its finances very closely for the past year or so made some smart and affordable signings as they return from the brink of bankruptcy. They spent about 4 million dollars and signed Tomas Holmstrom, Tom Poti and Brendan Shanahan who should all see ice time in the upcoming season. Niagara now has the happy problem of having too many healthy bodies in camp. So step up and make them an offer !
Thunderbay is a team who has been acquiring large numbers of draft picks and minor league talent. In the UFA round they signed 5 players, but the big news was the huge signing of Sheldon Souray for 12 million dollars a year for 3 years. Thats big money folks and Sheldon should be a large percentage of their total salary commitment for the upcoming season. All I can say is wow, that was a bit of a shocker. But kudos to the team as they got the guy they coveted. The team spent over 18 million dollars adding Dean McAmmond, Jay McKee, Ethan Moreau and Sam Pahlsson to the roster.
