Not sure about the Nittymaki deal, I think the Sharks are driven by money at this point. Nittymaki got $2M per year which is a big savings over Nabokov’s $6M. All the other goalies ‘higher’ on the wish list are being signed for bigger money.

Sorry to see Manny Malholtra leave, but he went from $750,000 to $2.5M per year with a no-trade in Vancouver…good for him!

I think this deal will be just fine, as long as the D gets shored up. We need someone who can skate well, block shots, and isn’t caught out of position all the time (I’m looking at you Murray!). Volchenkov sounds like he would be a good fit for the team, but I really don’t know anything about him or if it’s even still possible to sign him, especially considering there is still a possibility of signing Seto, which begs the question: Which would you rather have, Seto back in teal or a quality defenseman (or two)?

Speaking of defense, I just noticed that Mike Rathje is on the market…anyone interested?!

Not really. He is a decent D man, but I think he’s a little old and too prone to injury. At any rate, he is not what I would hope for in a defensive acquisition.

I agree Volchenkov would have been a great addition to the Sharks but he signed with NJ for 6 years at $25.5 Mil. We still need to sign Seto and need at least one D-man. It sound like Doug Wilson will acquire a D-Man via trade rather than free agency. The only trade bait I would use is Mitchell and Huskins. I would like to keep Logan and McGinn. Training camp will be interesting to see what rookies can make the line-up and if Joslin can stay full time. Frazer McLaren takes Jody Shelly’s place on the fourth line. Man did you see Shelly’s contract with Philly? 3 years, 3.3 Mil and a no-trade clause. He looks way too natural in a Flyers jersey. I keep hearing Owen Nolan’s name as a 3rd line right winger, I guess to replace Manny. I wish we could have kept Manny as well, but to triple your salary, you can’t pass that up.

I am mourning the loss of Zybnek Michalek, great defenseman. Congrats Pittpen, you got yourself a good one!

@puckgal @pittpenn - some say Pittsburgh made the best moves with the two defensive signings. We supposedly need better defense buy haven’t done anything yet.

Wow, sorry I saw this thread so late. I was quite happy to see the two signings by Pittsburgh, but they did spend a nice chunk of change on both of them as well. It looks like another season of extremely limited wingers. Defense wins championships? I hope.

Thanks Puckgal. Honestly, I don’t know much about Michalek as I very rarely was able to watch ‘Yotes games. Hopefully he’ll turn out to be a great addition.

What the heck is up with the Kovalchuk fiasco? If this guy makes more than $8 mil/yr he is way over paid IMO.

I wrote this post on my blog a little while ago, but this seems like a good pace to share a link: http://unrulytravller.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/hockry-free-agency-and-the-san-jose-sharks/
My feelings haven’t changed, but the pool of available d-men sure has.

@unruly - nice posting, I think we’re all waiting for the same thing….