Free agency opens up tomorrow and we’ll see which teams will be paying too much right away and then see if the decision is vindicated by Christmas. Sadly, Robert Esche will be shown the door by Philly as Biron was shored up before the end of the season and Niitymaki in the last month. The salary cap has been raised to $50 million and change. This gives the Flyers some room to land an experienced center to help out Gagne and if Pitkanen is dealt, maybe another defenseman and/or third-line forward.
The bigger and funnier news is the Preds’ current owner bailing on the Blackberry guy. Seems he didn’t want to be tarred and feathered as all five Nashville hockey fans drove him out of town. Rumor has it, the team will be sold for much less so it can be moved to Kansas City, another place that failed to support the NHL in the Seventies. Ever heard of the Kansas City Scouts? Course not, they bailed after two seasons for Colorado and finally settled into New Jersey as the Devils. KC was the first city the Penguins talked to in the blackmail campaign on Pittsburgh; and if the PA legislature doesn’t approve the subsidy (NHL welfare), the new arena will be delayed. Why is the Preds’ owner taking less? The other element of the rumor has to do with Bettmann pulling it in KC’s direction because he wants to bring hockey back there. Other than trying to keep the conferences/divisions the same and attempting to create a inner-MO rivalry, I’d say the NHL needs a new commissioner who’d concentrate on getting hockey back on ESPN and the NHL network in the US.