Free Agent Madness

What a day for free agency! It seemed as though if you blinked, you missed a signing.

The 'Canes picked up Cory Stillman today. This is a HUGE pickup. Since the '97-'98 season, Stillman has had 20+ goal seasons with the exception of '99-'00 when he only played 37 games. There was quite a bit of concern as to who Jim Rutherford was going to pick up to fill the void left by Jeff O'Neill (when he was on top of his game), but it seems as though everyone has let out a collective sigh of relief. Sure, he hasnt tallied any 30 or 40 goal seasons, but Stillman came cheap. Before the lockout Stillman was awarded $3.8 million in arbitration. Today he signed a 3 year $1.75 million dollar per year contract. Talk about a bargain. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.

Rutherford has said that he has about $5.5 million to spend on two or three quality guys. He is looking for an offensive defenseman or a high scoring forward. Stillmans contract leaves us plenty of wiggle room. Also rumored to be signed is Roman Hamrlik. Hamrlik played under Coach Laviolette during his Islander days, so he wont be new to the style of coaching. He was the 1st overall pick in the 1992 entry draft (Tampa Bay), and he hasnt missed many games. Sure there are better offensive defenseman out there, but Aucoins lucrative $16 million for 4 year contract in Chicago set the bar too high for us to really pursue a defenseman in the upper echelon. He should come fairly cheap. I imagine we'll have a few more million to spare to throw at another player.

Around the league some pretty big moves happened past two days.
-Foote to Colombus
-Hatcher, Rathje, Therien to Philly
-Holik to Atlanta
-Aucoin to Chicago
-Gelinas (former Cane) to Florida
-Malik (former Cane) to NYR
-Amonte, McCarty to Calgary.

Still some big names out there. I hope tommorrow is just as busy and energetic as today!

I'm still hoping we sign Mariusz Czerkawski! At under a million, hes a STEAL.