2012 NHL Free Agency Open Thread

[The biggest rush as a GM] is July 1 and doing the deal; those pressure points, those deadlines where you have got to $%!& or get off the pot.

— Former Edmonton Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, in “Behind the Moves”

As a wise man once said, you have to know when to hold ’em, and when to fold ’em. Some general managers will rise to the challenge of high-stakes NHL poker today, and others will make critical errors. This is the time when the executives step to the fore

Coverage of all the festivities can be found on NHL Network starting at 11 a.m. Central, for what should be an entertaining day. We’ll update the text here to reflect signings around the league, but if something directly affects the Preds, those will go into their own separate posts.

So curl up and join in all the fun – what else are you going to do, go outside and melt?

UPDATES

11:00: Scott Clemmensen re-signs with the Florida Panthers. That’s one fewer back-up goalie for the Preds to consider.

11:02: Benoit Pouliot re-signs with Tampa for 1/$1.8M. Nice little deal.

11:05: Flyers have signed “former-Predator” Mike Leighton…again. One fewer back-up option for the Preds.

11:19: Winnipeg has re-signed D Derek Meech. zzzzzzz

11:36: Jonas Gustavsson signs with Detroit for 2 yrs/$3M. The lanky Swedish goaltender will look to make good on his mythical potential for the Red Wings. To this point, though, he hasn’t shown much, so Preds fans can look forward to lighting him up. That’s one less back-up goalie for the Preds to sign, too.

11:45: David Moss signs with Phoenix for 2 years. We don’t know the terms yet, but it can’t be much coming off a season in which he only played 32 games. A really nifty bottom-6 guy. I hate seeing Phoenix get better.

12:12: Carolina signs defenseman Joe Corvo for one year, $2 million, and Justin Peters to a 2-years, $1.075 million contract to back up Cam Ward.

12:28: More minor moves – center John Mitchell goes from the Rangers to the Avalanche, and defenseman Mike Lundin signs with Ottawa. If things don’t perk up I may doze off…

12:34: Zenon Konopka signs with Minnesota for two years. He’s a scrappy guy, but not very effective. This will be his fourth team in four seasons.

12:43: Guilliame Latendresse takes his powerful (but fragile?) game to Ottawa, while Colby Armstrong, who was just bought out in Toronto, signs with Montreal. That’s a real reach for the Habs.

12:45: Bingo! Here’s a biggy, Ray Whitney goes from Phoenix to Dallas (a team which is itching to spend a few bucks and make a resurgence) for two years, $9 million. That’s a nice boost since they traded away Mike Ribeiro to Washington.

1:00: Adam Burish signs with San Jose for 4 years, while Anaheim picks up MMA specialist Brad Staubitz, adding to the “chippy” factor in the Pacific Division.

1:07: The New York Islanders sign Brad Boyes for one year, $1 million. Can the one-time 40-goal scorer refind his touch on Long Island?

1:18: The Islanders add another: defenseman and penalty box frequent flier Matt Carkner. The part-time Isles fan in me can’t get particularly excited for this one, but the Islanders are nothing if not always wanting for more defense.

1:36: Arron Asham signs with the Rangers for 2 years, $2 million, effectively becoming Brandon Prust’s replacement as fourth-line tough guy. You may remember him from this craziness.

1:39: Tanner Glass signs with Pittsburg for the Jordin Tootoo special — 2.2 for 2. He’s a decent defensive-zone specialist to fill out their bottom-six. I guess this takes Pittsburgh out of the Parise sweepstakes, right? Right??

1:49: Filip Kuba goes to Florida for 2 years, $8 million. Seems like a lot for Kuba, who was terrible without Karlsson this season.

2:47: The Canadiens have signed Brandon Prust for 4 years, $10 million. Yikes. He’s just like Paul Gaustad, except for the whole faceoffs thing…

3:00: The Jets get Ponikarovsky for 1 year, $1.8 million. That’s a really good deal for Winnipeg, and this marks what seems like the 5th straight season I hope the Preds grab Poni and don’t. Also, Hordichuk re-signs for a year with Edmonton.

3:05: And there goes another plugger — Parros to Florida for 2 years. I wonder if McGrattan will be back in gold next year?

3:11: Here’s a big one: P.A. Parenteau goes to Colorado for 4 years, $16 million dollars. That’s a pretty reasonable price. I know some people wanted Parenteau on the Preds, but he’s a guy who broke into the league at age 27 and was largely a product of playing with John Tavares. I think last year was a career year for him.

4:26: Catching up on some stuff: The Red Wings have signed Damien Brunner, a 26-year-old Swiss pro, who plays right wing. The Blue Jackets have also signed the super old Adrian Aucoin to a 1 year, $2 million deal. That’s a nice stop gap option on defense.

4:30: The Leafs have signed crappy PK-specialist Jay McClement to a 2-year, $3 million contract. This does make the Gaustad deal look a little worse, though McClement’s not a very good faceoff guy.

4:34: Florida just gave Sami Salo a 2-year, $7 million contract. That’s a pretty steep per-annum value for a guy who’s probably a third pairing defenseman at this point in his career.

4:46: Anaheim signs defenseman Bryan Allen for three years, $10.5 million. He’s not a bad option at all, the kind of supporting character who plays an under-appreciated role on teams.

Here’s a breakdown of where the Preds currently stand roster-wise, using data from NHLNumbers.com: