While people clamor for the marquee moves (see: Brad Richards) on free agent frenzy day, July 1 is often like a buffet. Teams load up on the nourishment they need but then they often see other tasty things available (Chinese food and pizza and BBQ ribs ... why not?) and add them to their plates.
That kind of bloat might cause some salary cap indigestion, but it gives fans and writers more to chew on. With each minor signing, Friday’s hopeful frenzy might get less and less frenetic. To keep you up to date with the moves that fail to earn their own headlines, here are some of the smaller contracts handed out to pending free agents.
- David Jones signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche reportedly worth a very reasonable $2.5 million. Jones bested his totals from the previous three seasons combined in 2010-11, scoring 27 goals and notching 45 points overall. That 27-goal mark tied him for the team lead with Matt Duchene. It’ll be interesting to see if Jones can duplicate (or even improve upon) those numbers as Colorado hopes to bounce back from what became a lousy season.
- For whatever reason, the Vancouver Canucks decided that Andrew Alberts earned a two-year deal worth $2.45 million. Alberts must have a pretty good agent because that’s a nice haul for a flawed defenseman such as himself.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t know if Jaromir Jagr will be on their team after tonight, but rugged winger Arron Asham won’t be going anywhere. Asham signed a one-year deal worth $775K, which is a healthy raise from his previous $700K salary.
- The Montreal Canadiens locked up defenseman Yannick Weber to a two-year deal reportedly worth $1.7 million overall. After playing three games with Montreal in 2008-09 and five in 09-10, Weber appeared in 41 games last season, compiling one goal and 10 assists for 11 points while averaging 16:34 minutes per contest.