The NHL Thread

[LBF]

Canadiens send Halak’s rights to St. Louis

Say goodbye to the Montreal Canadiens goaltending controversy and hello to Jaroslav Halak as a member of the St. Louis Blues.

The giant-killers of this year’s NHL playoffs have sent Halak’s restricted free agent rights to St. Louis. RDS was the first to report the deal.

The Blues announced via Twitter that they gave up two prospects:

•Centre Lars Eller, drafted 13th overall in 2007.
•Right winger Ian Schultz, drafted 87th overall in 2008.
The 25-year-old Halak supplanted former first-round draft choice Carey Price during this year’s playoffs. Slovakia’s netminder at the 2010 Olympics led the Habs to upset wins over first overall Washington and defending champions Pittsburgh before Philadelphia upended the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference final.

But the presence of Price and the expected huge contract demands of Halak apparently led new Montreal general manager Pierre Gauthier to send Halak to the Blues.

More to come.

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Read more: http://sports.nationalpost.com/categ...#ixzz0r8mCDkOp
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interesting...

[Dr. James Naismith]

Ugh ... while I understand the reasoning in getting rid of Halak, this is going to set the Canadiens back a bit. Price is a dud, much like how Emery was in Ottawa. All the talent in the world, but their meathead mentalities have ruined them for the most part.

Great move for St. Louis though.

[LBF]

meh, i still believe in price i mean he
s like 6'3", 220 just stand in the net.

[Dr. James Naismith]

meh, i still believe in price i mean he
s like 6'3", 220 just stand in the net.

True, he has a piss poor attitude and when your like that, places like Montreal and Toronto are the last places in the NHL you want to play. Everything he does is analyzed under a microscope. The Habs keeping Price doesn't make sense in my opinion.

[LBF]

ya, but halak is two years older than him and you hadn't even seen him until this year's breakout perfomance.

so, i mean price does have more potential whether he can capatalize on it is the question.

[Dr. James Naismith]

So puckheads and Leafs fans, you happy with the Versteeg deal last night? Great move by Burke, but the Leafs still need a centre.

Just read that my Sens signed Gonchar to a 3 year deal. Considering his age I really hope his body can hold up another couple seasons, but I don't think he'll be overworked like he was in Pittsburgh over these last couple years. Regardless, great mentor for a young defenseman like Karlsson and Kovalev will no doubt be happy to have one of his good friends on the team too.

[Dr. James Naismith]

Another strong signing from Burke and the Leafs with Colby Armstrong: http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=326253

OK, now I'm starting to get jealous.

[LBF]

the nuckle heads are starting to make some nice moves hamhuis, malhotra,ballard

[LBF]

After flirting with the Los Angeles Kings and returning to the Russian league KHL, Ilya Kovalchuk has decided he is a Jersey Boy after all. The high-scoring left wing ended 19 days of free agency and re-signed with the Devils this morning, according to the team.

Kovalchuk and Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello will hold a joint press conference tomorrow at the Prudential Center.

The 27-year-old Kovalchuk was the biggest free agent in this NHL class of unrestricted free agents and some think one of the biggest to ever hit the market in recent history.

Kovalchuk, who has twice scored 52 goals in a season, was looking for a long-term deal, according to sources. In February, he turned down a seven-year $70 million deal and a 12-year, $101 million deal to resign with the Thashers, the team that drafted him in 2001. He made $7.5 million last season.

No details of his deal with the Devils were immediately available.

After parts of eight seasons with the Thrashers, and after he turned down deals to resign, Kovalchuk was dealt to the Devils on February 4. He finished the season with the Devils, playing the final 27 regular season and five playoff games with the Devils.

Kovalchuk, who scored 10 goals and had 27 points with the Devils, had 41 points last season. After just one playoff appearance in his seven full seasons in Atlanta, Kovalchuk got his wish to return to the playoffs with the Devils. It didn’t last long, however. Kovalchuk scored two goals as the Devils were bounced in the first round by the eventual Eastern Conference champions, the Flyers.

The three-time All-Star has scored 338 goals in his eight seasons.

Kovalchuk, who officially became a free agent at noon on July 1, went to Los Angeles last week with his agent. Several reports had him close to signing with the Kings, but he left without a deal in hand. Over the weekend, Kovalchuk was said to be mulling his decision between the Devils, Kings and an offer from St. Petersburg of the KHL in his native Russia.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ho...#ixzz0u99AD5oV

[MangoKid]

I mean a 17-year contract? There's no way this guy plays until he's 44. I say the NHL has a right to void it. There has to be a term limit in regards to contracts. There are a lot of 10-15 year contracts popping up everywhere

[LBF]

man, i swear the blackhawks re-signed one of there defenceman to a 20 year contract. i read it i'm going to google it.

[MangoKid]

I don't know how smart it is that the Hawks walked away from Niemi. Signing Turco and losing all those dudes = possible first round exit.

[Dr. James Naismith]

The Hawks walking away from Niemi is crazy. Turco is washed up and I have no clue what's going on with that franchise now. I mean I understand they had to off load talent (cap reasons) in order to retain players like Sharp, Toews and Kane, but this ridiculous.

[MangoKid]

Think your Sens might swoop in on Niemi, Doc?

[Dr. James Naismith]

Nah, we'll go with Elliot and LeClaire again. Bad luck continued for Pascal. If he can stay healthy I think he's starter material. As is Elliot as he proved last year.

I think Murray's only looking to add one more Top 6 forward and then his summer is done. Names mention alot here in Ottawa are Kariya and Marc Savard. Both I would love to see in a Sens uniform.

[LBF]

i see niemi going to tampa, montreal, colorado, dallas, edmonton needs him but are locked into khabibulin, rangers, those are the teams i see in the running.

[MangoKid]

Tampa is interesting, but they just threw money at Dan Ellis and they still have Mike Smith under contract as well. Edmonton is another intriguing place, that is, if Khabibulin doesn't recover from all his injuries. Dallas just gave big money to Lehtonen (and drafted Jack Campbell), so that's out. If Price holds out in Montreal, he could go there.

The Islanders is a possibility; but here's another place where no one mentioned: Washington.

[LBF]

game 7 boys!!! who's taking it?

[RaptorsFan4Life]

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/clip483900#clip483900

Live Vancouver riot. Crazy ****.

[RaptorsFan4Life]