Check back periodically this weekend to get fantasy reactions on each trade or big signing that comes down. Monday will begin the process of recapping the draft itself once the prospects have been selected. We’ve also got another extended live blog coming next week for free agency.
Posted at 1:10pm ET, June 27
What happened: Defenceman Jim Vandermeer shipped to Phoenix for the feisty Brandon Prust, who returns to Calgary.
Fantasy impact: Vandermeer has two more years at $2.3M, so this is part of the cap-clearing process to get Jay Bouwmeester inked to a deal. If the Flames can’t sign JB, it’ll free up money elsewhere. Andre Roy is a UFA next week, so Prust should be in line to get the sort of big PIM totals you’d expect from him in standard leagues.
Posted at 1:05pm ET, June 27
What happened: Teemu Selanne will come back for the ’09-10 campaign.
Fantasy impact: He’ll turn 39 next week, but Selanne can still skate and he can still score. Adding Joffrey Lupul to this team only helps Selanne’s chances for another successful offensive campaign and it may well be Andrew Ebbett between them if last year’s second half is any indication. If Selanne can stay healthy for a full season then he could pot another 35 goals or so to add to the 579 career markers he has already tallied.
Posted at 1:00pm ET, June 27
What happened: Joe Sakic has told Colorado about his intentions for next season.
Fantasy impact: Unfortunately, we don’t yet know if he’s coming back or not and won’t until next week at the earliest. He may not be an elite fantasy performer anymore, but he can still be a steady performer that’ll likely be available in the middle rounds of most drafts.
Posted at 10:54am ET, June 27
What happened: Calgary acquires exclusive negotiating rights with Jay Bouwmeester in exchange for UFA-to-be Jordan Leopold and a third round pick.
Fantasy impact: Bouwmeester is 25 and is about to become an unrestricted free agent. Michael Cammalleri ($3.35M) is going to become a UFA and will be due a raise, while Todd Bertuzzi ($1.95M) is also set to become a UFA. Also consider that on the back end, Adrian Aucoin is about to turn 36, he made $4M and is about to become a UFA along with the traded Leopold, who made $1.5M. So there’s some potential cap space to sign JS, although the Flames would still need to fill those holes. Adding JB to the blueline with Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr would be a good thing… provided JB isn’t eating up a really huge portion of cap space that limits the team elsewhere. Phaneuf has a cap hit of $6.5M himself and JB is coming off a deal that saw him paid just shy of the $4.9M mark. They wouldn’t deal Phaneuf after signing JB, would they? Anything’s possible. Tough to gauge the fantasy impact of this potential move until we know if JB actually signs and who else moves because of that signing, but adding Brent Sutter to this team should at least help JB’s +/- climb upward from the zero mark. Hitting the 40+ point plateau really shouldn’t be an issue wherever the blueliner ends up.
Posted at 7:09pm ET, June 26
What happened: Chris Pronger & Ryan Dingle to the Flyers for Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa and two first rounders.
Fantasy impact: How is Ray Emery looking in net headed into next season now? Nice move Philly. Pronger has one season left at $6.25M, while Lupul is under contract for another four years at $4.25M. The Ducks save some cap space, while also addressing the secondary scoring issue with a bright young scorer that is already familiar with the organization from his prior tour in Southern California. Lupul should get much more quality ice time in Anaheim, which only helps his value. Pronger may give a boost to Kimmo Timonen, while potentially hurting Braydon Coburn’s offensive value for the time being. Pronger himself is a stud wherever he goes, so no boost or devaluation either way. His departure certainly helps Ryan Whitney. Sbisa, who has some offensive skills, still has a few guys ahead of him on the depth chart when it comes to racking up points on D. This move doesn’t hurt or help his long-term value in keeper leagues. And yep, it’s the second time Lupul and Pronger have been traded for each other… dating back to that forced Edmonton deal.
Posted at 6:48pm ET, June 26
What happened: Dave Bolland and Hawks agree to five-year, $18M deal.
Fantasy impact: The 23-year old centre had 47 points last season in his first full year in the NHL, playing mostly with Martin Havlat and Andrew Ladd. Bolland has offensive talents, no doubt, but his fantasy value is still so-so right now in his two-way role depending on what else the Hawks do down the middle this summer… if anything.
Posted at 5:45pm ET, June 26
What happened: Scott Niedermayer has apparently said yes to coming back for another season.
Fantasy impact: Good stuff. This will start the trickle down effect with Anaheim’s defensive unit, possibly meaning Chris Pronger is dealt. Will Jean-Sebastien Giguere be traded as well, or instead of Pronger? Ideally that’d be the case, but finding a taker for JSG’s heavy salary may be another thing altogether. Nieds, by the way, can still produce really well for poolies and he’ll be another fairly high pick in single season leagues in the fall.
Posted at 2:52pm ET, June 26
What happened: Nothing to this point. Just over four hours until the draft starts though and the rumours are flying.
Fantasy impact: My keeper league’s draft begins at the same time as the NHL’s version and John Tavares has already been claimed as the number one overall pick when the fun begins. Team Nichols has no picks in this draft. The first rounder (10th overall thanks to this year’s win) was surrendered to get Alex Radulov last fall, while the second rounder was part of a multi-player deal to land Henrik Zetterberg.