Recapping A Busy Monday

Yesterday was a pretty busy in the NHL for a Monday in August. So let's recap on what happened:

• The Detroit Red Wings signed veteran defenseman Ruslan Salei to a one year contract with a $1.1 million cap hit. The move was a depth move, and I looked at what will likely be Detroit's roster in the previous blog. However, it was pointed out by others that Salei and other new Wing, Mike Modano, may not be the best of friends: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=17949205

• The Philadelphia Flyers organization and tough guy Riley Cote made a unique move. Cote, who didn't get much playing time last year, especially under new coach Peter Laviolette, retired from the NHL to become an assistant coach of Philadelphia's AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. This is unique for several reasons, one being that Cote is 28 years old and had another year on his contract with the Flyers. That's quite young for a coach, particularly a professional coach. And it helps Philadelphia as they no longer have to worry about Cote's (small) cap hit. The Flyers are a team that needs cap relief in any way possible. Still, a fascinating move.

• The Anaheim Ducks officially signed winger Teemu Selanne to a one-year contract. The more interesting part of this is Selanne's $4.5 million cap hit. Seeing as how he's only playing because he wants to win (supposedly) and how he's trying to get his good friend Paul Kariya to sign with Anaheim, one though he would have been fairly cheap to re-sign. Apparently that wasn't the case. Also, if the Ducks do sign Kariya too, I wouldn't be surprised if they explored trading unsigned Bobby Ryan for an elite defenseman as they continue to retool their defensive corps.

• And finally the biggest news of the day: A private arbitrator ruled that Ilja Kovalchuck's crazy contract with the New Jersey Devils was indeed a bad contract and thus the contract has been officially rejected. This makes Kovalchuck an unrestricted free agent again, however it seems impossibly that he doesn't work out a new contract with the Devils who already held a press conference where Kovalchuck said that he was happy to be a Devil for life. Still, it means that his cap hit will likely be considerably higher than the $6 million it would have been with the previous contract, which will mean New Jersey will have to move some players in order to fit under the salary cap. Should be interesting! I'll post another blog regarding my opinions on the rejected contract.