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JULY 3, 2009 (and updated 7/10) -- LOS ANGELES -- With the dust beginning to settle after a raucous July 1st, let's take a look at some of the notable signings, non-signings and related stories during the current free agent signing period:

Excellent moves:

Marian Hossa, John Madden, Tomas Kopecky climb aboard in Chicago, while David Bolland is a notable returnee.

Hossa is the big fish, obviously, and the first $59M is evidently front-loaded during the first eight seasons on a contract which runs for 12 years, and hits the cap at around $5.2M.  GM Dale Tallon seems comfortable having a large investment in Hossa and last year's top signee, Brian Campbell. 

Sami Pahlsson is gone to Columbus, but Tallon obviously thinks that investing $2.75M in one season worth of 2001 Selke winner Madden is an upgrade.  Pahlsson battled mononucleosis last season, and will be worth keeping an eye on in Columbus, a division rival of Chicago's.

After the Smyth trade followed the Scuderi signing, we had to move the Kings way up the chart to the very top.  Dean Lombardi: Hats off!

The Los Angeles Kings hid in the weeds during day one, then, late in the day Thursday, GM Dean Lombardi nailed a bullseye, securing Rob Scuderi for four years. 

A very astute move, landing the Cup-winning defenseman who saved the Penguins most notably in game six of the Stanley Cup Final, making saves on behalf of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury late in a 2-1 Penguins victory.  Scuderi's agent must have had a grin as wide as the Grand Canyon on is puss that day, and Tuesday, he maximized his asset as Scuderi, an American kid from Syosset, NY, secured a deal worth $3.4M per annum. 

It's scary to think of how many true defensive assets the Kings now possess, and Hockeytalk gives a big "two thumbs up" to Lombardi for bypassing bigger names with bigger price tags in favor of a developed pro in Scuderi, 30, who has many more years in his tank.  This is a signing with an eye toward immediate success.  Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Matt Greene and crew will be a formidable foe in the Pacific division in 2009-10.

Lombardi's next dazzling trick?  We're betting that he stays put in goal with Jon Quick and Erik Ersberg and lets his developing defensemen make them look good, like a good defense should. 

UPDATE: Ryan Smyth becomes a King, and at a low price as the Kings send Tom Preissing, Kyle Quincey and a 2010 fifth-round draft pick to Colorado.  Avs dump salary, happy to receive some young defensemen in return.  Not the worst deal for the Avs by any means, good for them to find a suitor for Smyth, who looks to put the genie back in the bottle after a couple of seasons struggling to recapture the magic on Long Island and in Denver.  Maybe Hollywood is just the fit for a veteran who will have a huge stockpile of youngsters to lead.  Knowing Smyth, he'll relish the opportunity.

Swift, surprising success:

GM Mike Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks want to great lengths--Sweden, to be exact--to sign the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, to five-year deals, to the tune of $30+M for each.  Very swift move, sidestepping the seemingly requisite long-term deal so en vogue these days.  Gillis is a former player agent and NHL player, so he's not easily fooled. 

Friday, Gillis added Mikael Samuelsson to his roster. Samuelsson, 32, recorded 40 points in 81 games last season and 10 points in 23 playoff games with Detroit this post-season.  He didn't make it full-time into the NHL until he was past his 28th birthday, so he's got a lot of tread on his tires.  The 3-year term to which he agreed is a tidy length, which is a plus.  The fact that he was a very capable forward on a Detroit roster stocked to the ceiling with capable forwards means that for $2.5M per, Gillis may have signed a sleeping giant.  Make no mistake, with a chance at more ice time in Vancouver, Samuelsson could easily top the 30-goal mark.  Why is Hockeytalk high on Samuelsson's prospects with the Canucks?  Consider: 257 shots on goal in 81 games last season; 249 in 73 during 2007-08; 376 in the 124 games during the two seasons prior.  Total: 882 shots on goal in four seasons with Detroit.  The guy's not hesitant with the puck, let's just leave it at that.

Solid:

Pahlsson (see above) and Mathieu Garon will bring some extra defensive support to the Blue Jackets lineup.  Garon will relieve Calder winner Steve Mason, who's heading into a sophomore season and will need a veteran backup for relief.  Pahlsson is preferred over Manny Malhotra, and will bring the Blue Jackets a tough checking line center (Pahlsson was a Selke nominee in 2007, the year he played an integral role in the Ducks Stanley Cup win).

I've got to applaud New York Ranger GM Glen Sather for finding a way to convert over seven million dollars in Scott Gomez's salary into the same figure for Marian Gaborik's services.  

Gaborik is oft-injured.  He missed 65 games in 08-09; only five during 07-08; 34 in 06-07 and 17 apiece in 05-06 and 03-04, the years sandwiched around the lockout. 

But the upside is enormous, considering Gaborik's 1694 shots in 502 career games; also, a 42-, 38- and three 30-goal seasons to date. 

UPDATE JULY 10: The signing of Francois Beauchemin to a 3-year, $11.4M deal by Brian Burke's Toronto Maple Leafs is one of the most astute pickups of the off-season.  "Beauch" has flown under the radar a bit compared to brighter stars such as Mike Komisarek, Jay Bouwmeester or Matty Ohlund.  But make no mistake: Beauchemin is the second-most cunning NHL free agent signing thus far, second to big shooter Mikael Samuelsson (Vancouver, above).  Both Samuelsson and Beauchemin are not the top earners, but will produce as much in any relative sense as the top-dollar guys.  Watch these two.  Signing Komisarek is another coup by Burke, as the former Canadien will have six opportunities each season to sting the Leafs' top Canadian and division rival.

Pretty good:

Carolina is takin' care of business, charity starting at home, returning Chad Larose and Jussi Jokinen to the fold for the next two seasons.  These two deals fly under the radar, but are bricks-and-mortar moves for this stable franchise that made it all the way to the East final earlier this spring, only to lose to eventual champion Pittsburgh.

08-09 Stats:

Chad Larose, 27 yrs.: 81GP: 19-12-31; +6/171SOG

Jussi Jokinen, 26 yrs.:  71GP*: 7-20-27; -10/101SOG
*(Carolina, 25 and Tampa, 46)

Jokinen came alive during Carolina's run to the conference final, matching his regular season output of seven goals, adding eleven assists for 18 playoff points.  Three of his seven postseason goals were game winners.

Jokinen and Larose (19 goals) are well-worth the $1.7M annual investment, a modest one by today's standards, especially for youngish vets like these.  Good move by Jim Rutherford to hold down the fort with these two hometown returnees.

UPDATE JULY 10: The signing of Saku Koivu is an excellent one for the Anaheim Ducks.  Koivu needs a change of scenery, and will now play alongside fellow countryman Teemu Selanne, a friend.  Koivu will be the second line center the club needed so badly.  On the negative side, the Ducks failed to re-sign Francois Beauchemin to play defense, settling for Nick Boynton from Florida, and will also hope to re-sign James Wisniewski, who plans to take his case to arbitration.  "Arbitration is ugly," says GM Bob Murray.

With the re-signing of Rob Blake, Kent Huskins and Ryan Clowe, San Jose looks like it's standing pat nicely through three days of activity.  Why not?  GM Doug Wilson can't let the critics define him; Loss to a resurgent division foe in Anaheim is not cause for panic, no matter how many observers expect the Sharks to be a Cup contender every season.  No need to blow up the roster here, just a bit of tinkering.  The club let Brian Boucher walk to Philly, but no big loss there.

Jury's Out:

Les Canadiens are the French-talkin' hockey equivalent of baseball's New York Yankees, a rich club that seems to need to spend as much money as possible, but to what end?  The signing of Brian Gionta ($5M per) is astute, but did the Habs really need to take $7M+ worth of Scott Gomez off the hands of the NY Rangers?  Was it absolutely necessary to pay Mike Cammalleri $6M per?  Adding Hal Gill and Jaro Spacek to the blue line were nice, albeit a bit pricey moves, but won't make anyone forget Mike Komisarek, who fled for the Leafs.  Money doesn't buy chemistry, and we wonder whether GM Bob Gainey is on his last legs, flailing away, throwing tons of money around in the hope of stirring up some chemistry?

Now that Ty Conklin has signed with the St. Louis Blues, does that guarantee them a Stanley Cup Final appearance?  Conklin has served as backup goalie for three of the last four Cup losers, Edmonton ('06), Pittsburgh ('08) and Detroit ('09).

Other than Conklin, we like the fact that GM John Davidson didn't go hog-wild this free agent season (or at least hasn't, so far).  The team could use some offensive production from its defense, but we like the fact that JD didn't break the bank for quick fixes.  The team made the post-season, and things are looking up in St. Louis.

Major pain: Dany Heatley:

Someone had the nerve to ask Ottawa GM Bryan Murray where Dany Heatley would be heading, now that he's invoked his no-trade clause and squelched a trade to his hometown, Edmonton, to play for the Oilers.

"Nowhere - he's an Ottawa Senator," Murray reportedly shot back, according to the Canadian Press.

Too bad for Ottawa's sake, considering that defenseman Ladislav Smid, also forwards Dustin Penner and Andrew Cogliano would have been headed to the Senators in return.  It would have been a major relief for Murray, who is having trouble finding a trade partner for Heatley, who has made no friends around the NHL GM club this summer, after publicly announcing his trade request.  The move has dramatically limited Murray's leverage.  Heatley's $7.5M contract extension has five more years to run, hence Murray's snappy (and welcome) retort.

...STAY TUNED...MORE TO COME

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