AGRI Biz

As the 2010 NHL Entry Draft has now come and gone, and with absolutely nothing resembling a major trade going down during the two-day event (the second of which resembled something a tad more lively than a narcolepsy convention), the countdown to free-agency (July 1) is now made all the more exciting. Major names like Marty Turco, Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Kovalchuk remain unsigned and there are a slew of ...

Earlier this weekend, I wrote about the way the Islanders had fared after day one of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles. Today, I present to you their final grade after rounds two through seven. As we already know, the Islanders selected Nino Niederreiter with their fifth overall selection in the first round, and would go on to trade both of their second round selections (35th and 58th) ...

Today as reported by the Vancouver media and TSN.com, the Canucks made a qualifying offer of $1.6M to Shane O’Brien. Mason Raymond, Tanner Glass and Jannik Hansen have also received qualifying offers. No amounts were disclosed at the time of this writing. That is good news as the Canucks move forward to secure their young talent but $1.6M for a number six D-man in O’Brien is a steep cost, especially when a ...

Only three days remain until Christmas for diehard hockey fans. Noon, Thursday, July 1, any NHL player without a contract is fair game to sign. After two seasons of signing high priced busts, like Darcy Tucker, Ryan Smyth, and to a lesser extent Scott Hannan, the Avalanche craftily signed Craig Anderson to a contract that made him the 22nd highest paid goaltender in the league. Anderson then went on to ...

In a minor deal with the Coyotes, the Avalanche acquired forward Daniel Winnik in exchange for a 4th round draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Winnik, selected 256th overall by the Coyotes in 2004, has played three NHL seasons with Phoenix. In the 2009-2010 season, Winnik scored four goals and 19 points in 74 games, while recording 104 hits. He ranked third in the Coyotes in penalty kill time, ...

While most fans were experiencing a post-NBA Draft hangover and noticed little else around the world of sports on June 25, a number of hockey teams just got a lot better. On June 25-26, the NHL Draft took place and the future of the league was brought to the forefront. With struggling teams picking up potential future stars early in the draft, there are a number of players that could make an ...

The Flyers goaltending search continues. According to ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun and E.J. Hradek, the Flyers were granted permission from the Dallas Stars to negotiate with soon-to-be unrestricted free agent goalie Marty Turco. However, Turco turned down a three-year $6 million contract from the Flyers. "Traded texts with Turco this morning who confirmed the Flyers' offer but said he wanted to see what was on the market ...

Well, there were no first through third round entry draft picks for the Canucks this year, but they did get a player in Keith Ballard who can play top minutes on the one through four D-group and step in right away. That’s more than you would have gotten with the No. 25 pick. This trade was precipitated due to the fact that the 25th pick that they did have and the players that ...

It’s officially three days before the free agency period starts. The draft is over. The die has been cast on the players that the Minnesota Wild selected and it’s now a waiting game to see how they progress. But what do they look like initially? Let’s take a look, shall we? Round 1, Pick 9 – Mikael Granlund, C, HIFK Finland – I already mentioned what I think about this pick. Let’s ...

From Thursday through Saturday of last week, the San Jose Sharks took major steps toward shaping their future. First of all, there was the NHL Draft; for a look at that, see Shark-Infested Blogger . But there was significant free-agent news, as well. (For a look at play-by-play announcer Randy Hahn's insights on that topic, see my interview with him.) Unrestricted free agents Patrick Marleau, ...