Battle Of Hudson

Now NHLLine.ca is reporting those words, and we’re going to stick our necks in the ring for them.

We’ll make it fun. If Souray signs here, we’ll link NHL Line to the site.

If he doesn’t, we’ll ban any reports that come from them from being posted on our site.

Let’s see what happens.

A 2-way contract with the Leafs for the goalie who couldn’t win to get them into the playoffs.

Happy trails, Clemmer.

Per Kuklas Korner.

Sean Hill to the Wild. They don’t think Sean “Knowingly took any banned performance-enhancing substance. “

Made an offer sheet to Thomas Vanek for 7 Years, $50 Mill, but Darcy Regier and the Sabres immediately matched it.

Normally I’d introduce myself to the faithful Battle of New York readers, but we’ll have to save that for another time. Any introduction I could offer would be grossly overshadowed by the huge free agent signings of Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie. As you can see, I am an Islanders fan and a pessimistic one at that.

At first news of these signings I could already hear the snickering from the Ranger fans and the comments from every other hockey know-it-all mocking the Islanders for overpaying to land an aging, past his prime free agent and an under-achieving, diminutive center with attitude problems. I decided to let the dust settle and do some homework before rushing to judge Garth Snow’s first free agent signings.

$9 million dollars over 2 years is a lot of money to you and I, and it would probably net you a nice house in Syosset, a Land Rover, and all the Ralph’s Italian ice you can eat. To other NHL franchises who don’t have the cap room (I’m looking at you Vancouver) this is also a lot of money. But for the Isles who lost 5 of their top point producers from last year and had the money and cap room to spare, it’s a good a deal. No really, that’s not sarcasm, it’s a good deal. Argue all you want about Jason Blake being younger and the Isles losing him for only $500K more and that Guerin is older, but the reality of it is, signing Bill Guerin to this contract is a good deal. The Rangers and Flyers have already gone out and proved that in the “New NHL” teams are going to shell out top dollar to the higher end Free Agents, so the Islanders are just following suit.

Billy Guerin is a solid contributor. He’s a goal scorer and is good to light the lamp about 25-30 times a year. I’m leaving out his two 40 goal seasons with the Bruins as I’m pretty sure I could pot about 15 goals in the show if I was playing on a line with Joe Thornton as my center. Even if Guerin is turning 37 in November, he is still durable and his track record will prove he’s a shoe in to be in the line up every night. Not to mention if this signing doesn’t work out, the San Jose Sharks showed that a team will shell out a prospect and high pick for Guerin’s less then stellar playoff services. I actually like what Garth Snow has done here, it’s not a quick fix, it’s not that long of a contract, and if its not the right fit Guerin can be shipped out for future parts.

Let’s move on to Andy Hilbert’s one time Michigan Wolverine teammate, Mike Comrie. Once again, everyone is going to focus on his price tag ($3.375-million), his lack of consistent production and games played, his lacking defensive game, and we can’t forget his bad attitude. I’m hesitant on liking this pick up, but there is an upside with Ted Nolan who has proven in the past he can get the best out of his players. Is Comrie an ideal first line center? No, Not at all. But was Derek Plante or Brian Holzinger for Buffalo back in ’96-’97? I think not. With any luck and Ted Nolan cracking the whip, Comrie may just turn out to be a nice pick up who uses a solid year on the Island only to skip town next summer for a better deal. (Hey, I said I was a pessimistic Islander fan.)

These are baby steps Garth is taking and they are baby steps in the right direction. Both signings have potential and for Islander fans, that’s a lot more potential then we had a few days ago.

John Paddock has been named the new coach of the Otttawa Senators.

This move reeks of Jim Playfair to Calgary last year.

Expect Padock to be gone within a year.

Will Souray sign with the Devils? Yes or No? leave comments.

Still no new news to report other than that it’s about money and no-trade clauses and lots of that boring stuff.

Random rant: Anyone noticed how much Islander swag has been showing up in TV shows lately? Eric’s Isle hat during the Medeillin shoot was the most obvious. One you may not have noticed is Liz’s boyfriend Dean on 30 Rock owning a white Islander jersey. Liz has made references to trying to learn hockey on the show as well.

Good for the Isle.

1 Year deal, $2 million base salary with incentives.

The Red Wings go back to being first round fodder for a Western Canadian team again.

After signing Billy G. hours eariler, the Isles added former Senator/Coyote/Oiler Mike Comrie to the mix, signing him to a 1-year deal.

Also…

Jocelyn Thibault signed in Buffalo, whom also re-signed Andrew Peters.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard re-signed with Minnesota.

I’m sure Frank will want to talk about this.

The Isles have signed Billy Guerin for 2 years at $4.5 mill per year.