UFA Eve Fireworks

3 Huge moves today in the NHL. I thought I'd give you my take as an outsider on this moves.

Starting with...

Gomez and 2 minors for Higgins, McDonagh and 2 minors

The first gut reaction was great deal for the Rangers. They needed serious cap room and Gomez had a very mediocre year. You hate to see that out of 30+ year old guys because you don't know if that is the start of the decline. Getting out from under 4 more years of a 7 million plus cap hit is a great move. It almost makes up for the idiocy of giving him the contract in the first place.They recouped nicely with Higgins and McDonagh (my personal draft favorite a couple years back). They will have to sign Higgins, but they easily pick up 4 million dollars in the deal.

What are the Habs thinking? Is it that hard to get guys who want to go to Montreal? Gainey really needed to kick the tires on the top UFAs before making a deal like this. I can't imagine that Gomez and his contract were in great demand. Giving the Rangers the cap room gives them more firepower at the contract table.... they are in the same conference, Habs, hello? Some will say that Monteal has a lot of cap room... true. But why this deal at this time? They want to make a huge splash, but they have no farm system and they traded there best defensive prospect in this deal. Would you sign Scott Gomez to a 4 year 7 million dollar contract this summer?

Big bonehead move on the Habs here. Terrible move. Terrible cap management. Terrible.

Jay Bouwmeester to the Flames for 5 years. 6.6 a year. This is a pretty decent contract for both sides in this one. The Flames should be ecstatic to get a player like him locked up long term. The Flames have been one of the best constructed teams since the cap and they continue to do so. The question now is can a team afford Iginla, Phaneuf, J-Bo and Kipper on the same squad. If they do Jokinen is certainly gone next year, forget about forward depth. They'd love to ditch Sarich and his contract at this point. Nobody will take it though. So an interesting scenario is... do they trade Phaneuf. They will not be short on takers. They could get an army of good young players for him. This is how you succeed in the cap. I'd wonder of Scotty Howson would kick the tires on a possible move for Phaneuf. 5 more years, 6.5 per. It'd cost either Filatov, Brassard, or Voracek to start. Other team would offer more.

Great move by the Flames. Although it puts them close to the cap all their good players have good contracts and when that happens they still have trade value.

(Not Confirmed) Heatley to Edmonton for Cogliano, Smid, and Penner.

This is supposedly pending Heatley waive a no trade clause. Terrible move for Ottawa. Great move for Edmonton if it goes down. Cogs has heart, Smid is inconsistent and Penner has a fat contract to go along with his fat body. I'd rather keep my 4 million than take Dustin Penner. Dany Heatley should land at least one impact player at he does not in this trade. Penner was healthy scratched at a point last year. He did improve, but just saying.

Heatley at his salary number is a great value, but Dany really screwed his team. When a trade demand gets public, the power shifts from Ottawa to everyone else. If Dany were quiet about it, Murray could shop him and get a much better return "Dany Heatly is available OMG." This really reminds me of the Thornton move. 3 B-/C players for an A. That trade didn't work out for Boston, although they recovered. I would have honestly rather have Higgins and McDonagh as a return and Heatley is far superior to Gomez. Somebody wasn't talking.

If it goes down Big Winners: Rangers, Flames and Oilers. Big Big Big Losers: Canadiens and Senators.

It's as if some teams still don't know how the Cap works.

What do you think of these fireworks? Might they effect the Jackets? FIRE Away!