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July 1st is an important day in the NHL. Yes it's Canada Day, the Day Canada celebrates the enactment of the British North America Act in 1867, but it's also the opening of free agency. That storied time when teams vie for overvalued and overhyped free agents in an effort to give your club that missing ingredient that will soon lead to hoisting the Stanley Cup.This year's crop was definitely more quality than quantity than we've seen in recent years, but that didn't keep things from being active on Sunday. While the big names of Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, and Martin Brodeur did not make a decision (Brodeur re-signed for 2-years and $9.5 million this morning), a lot of guys ended up in new sweaters, while several guys re-upped with their previous teams. The big winner for day 1 on defense was Florida's Jason Garrison heading home to BC to join the Canucks with a hefty 6 year deal. On the offensive side of the puck, former Islander P.A. Parenteau inked a 4-year deal with the Avalanche. Both guys have only 1-2 years of NHL success so seeing the amount of years they got on their contracts was a bit of a surprise. Here's a look at what has shaken out so far, and a link to the TSN UFA Tracker
| DATE | NAME | POS | FROM | TO | Total | Years | Avg/Yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2 | Hedberg, Johan | G | New Jersey | New Jersey | $2.8M | 2 | $1.4M |
| Jul 2 | Brodeur, Martin | G | New Jersey | New Jersey | $9M | 2 | $4.5M |
| Jul 2 | Ebbett, Andrew | C | Vancouver | Vancouver | $600K | 1 | $600K |
| Jul 1 | Crabb, Joey | RW | Toronto | Washington | $950K | 1 | $950K |
| Jul 1 | McGrattan, Brian | RW | Nashville | Nashville | n/a | 1 | n/a |
| Jul 1 | Scott, John | D | NY Rangers | Buffalo | $600K | 1 | $600K |
| Jul 1 | Hendry, Jordan | D | Washington | Anaheim | $600K | 1 | $600K |
| Jul 1 | Garrison, Jason | D | Florida | Vancouver | $27.6M | 6 | $4.6M |
| Jul 1 | Desjardins, Cedrick | G | Colorado | Montreal | n/a | 1 | n/a |
| Jul 1 | Blunden, Mike | RW | Montreal | Montreal | n/a | 1 | n/a |
| Jul 1 | Souray, Sheldon | D | Dallas | Anaheim | $11M | 3 | $3.66M |
| Jul 1 | Rome, Aaron | D | Vancouver | Dallas | $4.5M | 3 | $1.5M |
| Jul 1 | Tootoo, Jordin | RW | Nashville | Detroit | $5.7M | 3 | $1.9M |
| Jul 1 | Samuelsson, Mikael | RW | Florida | Detroit | $6M | 2 | $3M |
| Jul 1 | Hamilton, Ryan | LW | Toronto | Toronto | $600K | 1 | $600K |
| Jul 1 | Allen, Bryan | D | Carolina | Anaheim | $10.5M | 3 | $3.5M |
| Jul 1 | Salo, Sami | D | Vancouver | Tampa Bay | $7.5M | 2 | $3.75M |
| Jul 1 | McClement, Jay | C | Colorado | Toronto | $3M | 2 | $1.5M |
| Jul 1 | Aucoin, Adrian | D | Phoenix | Columbus | $2M | 1 | $2M |
| Jul 1 | Mason, Chris | G | Winnipeg | Nashville | $1.25M | 1 | $1.25M |
| Jul 1 | Parenteau, P-A | RW | NY Islanders | Colorado | $16M | 4 | $4M |
| Jul 1 | Hordichuk, Darcy | LW | Edmonton | Edmonton | $850K | 1 | $850K |
| Jul 1 | Boulton, Eric | LW | New Jersey | NY Islanders | n/a | 1 | n/a |
| Jul 1 | Parros, George | RW | Anaheim | Florida | $1.85M | 2 | $925K |
| Jul 1 | Zanon, Greg | D | Boston | Colorado | $4.5M | 2 | $2.25M |
| Jul 1 | Brookbank, Sheldon | D | Anaheim | Chicago | $5M | 2 | $2.5M |
| Jul 1 | Prust, Brandon | RW | NY Rangers | Montreal | $10M | 4 | $2.5M |
| Jul 1 | Newbury, Kris | C | NY Rangers | NY Rangers | n/a | 2 | n/a |
| Jul 1 | Haley, Micheal | C | NY Islanders | NY Rangers | n/a | 2 | n/a |
| Jul 1 | Bouillon, Francis | D | Nashville | Montreal | $1.5M | 1 | $1.5M |
Zach Parise came out yesterday and said his decision will be made today, and hopefully the same thing holds true with Suter. Once that does, other dominoes should begin to fall like Matt Carle, Bryce Salvador, Alex Semin, Ollie Jokinen and possible trades involving Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan.
It definitely should be an interesting Monday which we'll recap tomorrow for you.
@StoneyinCO
