Happy Birthday Canada, Go Riders Go and let the bidding wars begin.
July 1, could be one of the most exciting days in Canada for the entire year, for sports enthusiasts like myself in any case. The CFL season starts with the Roughriders getting a chance to beat Montreal with 12 players and prove the pre-season means nothing and that the green and white are legit this year. Also the NHL and NBA free agent seasons begin and it's Canada Day, which always makes for a good time.
There wasn't as much action on draft day as expected as far as trades go in the NHL, but that should change for a month starting Thursday.
Although July 1 is Canada Day and July 4 is Independence Day, July could be called the month of the Russians, since some of the country's best hockey players are free agents and likely to find a new home.
The salary cap prevents teams from buying all the all-stars from the bargin bin so there should be plenty of players packing their bags and set to move.
One of the biggest deals made will detemine where Evgeni Nabokov ends up. The Sharks' goalie, who has proved to be one of the best regular season goalies in the past five seasons, will be wanted, but for just how much is the question. He choked with the Russians in the Olympics and underachieving in the playoffs again appeared to be the last straw. With Nabokov out the Sharks will be looking to wheel and deal for a star goalie. They didn't hesitate to re-sign Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau, whom I hoped would be around for Toronto to go after, so the Sharks must be convinced they are a goalie change and a couple defenceman away from beating the Blackhawks. Marty Turco, Martin Biron, Chris Mason and Dan Ellis are likely the front-runners for the job in San Jose if they choose to go the way via free agents to fill the position.
As big of a buy as it would be to get Nabokov, the best item on the auction block is Ilya Kovalchuk. The Kings want him badly, but the New Jersey Devils aren't ready to part ways with him just yet. That could produce a bit of a bidding war as both teams realized what a top 10 scorer will do to their team - contender from pretender. Kovalchuk could be the highest priced player.
The Kings have also groomed their own Russian star so they may want to focus on re-signing Alexander Frolov. He will latch on somewhere else and play on the top two lines. He may not be as flashy and offensively gifted as Kovalchuk, but he will get the job done.
Other Russians of note who can still contribute offensively once the big guns are bought at the market and delivered will be Maxim Afinogenov and Vyacheslav Kozolv.
Sergei Gonchar is the biggest defenceman on the market who may be moved and like in all levels of hockey, there just aren't enough good puck moving defenceman to go around. Gonchar, another Russian, could see some good cash handed out from teams with cap space if Pittsburgh can't find a way to keep him.
Anoton Volchenkov doesn't play the same style as Gonchar, but he is a Russian defenceman who would be a welcome addition to any team in the NHL. Volchenkov blocks shots and plays against the others teams' stars night in and night out. As for the what the rest of the world has on the market, Volchenkov's teammate, Jason Spezza, won't be a free agent, but was rumoured to be on the move, leading to the question: what is in the water in Ottawa that their superstar forwards want out?
The Boston Bruins had two star goalies on their team last season, as Tim Thomas had a Vezina-winning season in 2008-09 and sat on the bench behind the newly emerged Tukka Rask. Somehow Boston never seems to have an issue with goaltending. Andrew Raycroft had a stellar rookie season, Manny Fernadez was pretty good, Thomas won the Vezina and Rask is ready to perform on the big stage like every other former Maple Leaf prospect they have given up on and dealt away for next to nothing.
Marc Savard may be taking his injury problems elsewhere, but when healthy he is still the most underrated player in the NHL. Tomas Kaberle for Savard would be an option now the Bruins made a deal for Nathan Horton. Who knows just which way Brian Burke will go with Toronto. Maybe he will bring in Sean Avery to be an assistant captain beside Dion Phaneuf and bring back Darcy Tucker just because he wouldn't have a problem beating the snot out of Avery on a daily bases. Talk about dressing room controversy. Maybe they could have a reality series there to take some heat off the Stanley Cup drought.
I don't want to get into the issue of the Leafs' drought, so I will leave you this week before I get on the topic of John Ferguson Jr. and fill up four more pages on how he wouldn't make a good general manager for a senior hockey league team.
Have a good Canada Day.
