Update: NHL Yahoo reports that the Buffalo Sabers have re-signed forward Mark Mancari to a one year deal. He has three points in ten games with the Sabers but in 288 games with the Sabers AHL affiliates he has amassed 283 points.
Fantasy Impact: As Mancari gains more ice time and experience look for him to gain more ice time with the Sabers. He has proven he can produce and be an asset for the teams he plays for but the young forward just needs that chance.
Update: NHL Yahoo reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed 19 year old Jerry D'Amigo. D'Amigo was currently playing hockey for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in the NCAA leauge. He officially lost his NCAA eligibility upon signing the 3 year entry level contract.
Fantasy Impact: This is a step in the right direction for GM Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple leafs as the team looks to rebuild with a new young core. He had 34 points in 35 games in his first season with RPI and looks to carry that momentum along with his youth to the Toronto Maple leafs this summer.
Update: ESPN reports that forward Craig Conroy will return to the Calgary Flames for his 16th NHL season signing a one year deal.
Fantasy Impact: Conroy had 15 points last season for the Flames in 63 games. He looks to build on that this season as well as be a veteran leader on the ice and in the locker room.
Update: The Buffalo Sabres have re-signed forward Mark Mancari to a one-year contract. Mancari was a restricted free agent who spent most of last season playing for Portland of the American Hockey League.
Fantasy Impact: The 2004 seventh-round draft pick led the Pirates with 74 points (28 goals, 46 assists) in 74 games to finish eighth in AHL scoring.
Update: According to a report, Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Chris Pronger says that his knee injury will not be healed in time for training camp next month. Speaking to csnphilly.com on Wednesday, the 35-year-old veteran blueliner said that he hurt his knee in the first game of the Flyers' playoff series against Boston in April. "Moving forward from there it was obviously an issue," said Pronger. "I had to get it drained a couple of times. It was pretty swollen through the course of the playoffs, but that's the nature of the game."
Fantasy Impact: Philadelphia opens training camp on Sept. 17, and begins the regular season on Oct. 7 against the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Update: The Chicago Blackhawks have resigned 26 year defenseman old Jordan Hendry to a one year contract. He played 43 regular season games and 15 playoff gamed for the Chicago Blackhawks on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
Fantasy Update: The young defeseman will most likely be a sixth or seventh choice defenseman with the depth on the blue line that the Blackhawks currently have under contract.
Update: NHL yahoo reports that Philadelphia Flyers forward and tough guy Riley Cote has retired at age 28. He is staying with the organization to begin his coaching career as the assistant coach for the Flyers AHL affiliate the Adirondack Phantoms.
Fantasy Impact: With the acquisition of tough guy forwards Daniel Carcillo two years ago and Jody Shelly this past off season, Cote looked to be the odd man out. With seven points and 411 in 156 games with the Flyers he would of had a tough test to gain consistent ice time.
Update: Tampa Bay Lightning Goaltender Dan Ellis said on his Twitter account that he feels that its unfair for the NHL to review front loaded contracts when they are already signed and approved by the league, like the case of Marc Savard, Marian Hossa and Chris Pronger.
Fantasy Impact: Though these contract investigations will not effect Dan Ellis or the Tampa Bay lightning it shows that some of the players in the league do not agree with he NHL's actions. This could have a serious negative impact during the next collective bargaining agreement that is to be negotiated in September 2012.
Update: After an arbitrator ruled in the NHL's favor of voiding Ilya Kovalchuk's contract with the New Jersey Devils, the NHL will Investigate the long term, front loaded contracts of Boston Bruins center Marc Savard, Chicago Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger and Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Fantasy Update: Marian Hossa and the Blackhawks would be the only pair to have a problem if the league voided these contracts because he is the only one to play under his currenty investigated contract. He was a free agent when he signed his 12 year $63.3 million dollar contract last summer, while all of the other players contracts are extensions to a previous contract.
Update: Less than a day after the arbitrator ruled in favor of the NHL voiding Ilya Kovalchuck's career contract ESPN reports that the New Jersey Devils are going to start over and try and renegotiate with the Russian winger.
Fantasy Impact: Now that the arbitrator has officially voided the contract Kovalchuk originally signed with the New Jersey Devils, he technically becomes a free agent all over again. Now the Devils will have to offer him a shorter contract in terms of years with a larger annual salary cap hit and possibly trade players to make cap space, which could reopen the doors for the teams with more cap room.