Freeze the Puck will change over the next few days, beginning with the removal of wordpress in the URL.

This website will become accessible by visiting: http://www.freezethepuck.com. For further updates check back.

My apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Updated version can be found here:

Freeze the Puck’s new home

Thanks to the Yahoo Sports! NHL Free agent tracker for the help with players’ names.

~Updated on July 7th, 6:02 PM EST~

**Van Ryan will sit out the 2010-2011 season due to an injury.

* Denotes the player signed with the team he played with during the 2009-2010 season.

Updated version can be found here:

Freeze the Puck’s new home



Thanks to the Yahoo Sports! NHL Free agent tracker for the help with players’ names.

~Updated on July 7th, 6:00 PM EST~

As usual with the Devils, Hedberg signed for one-year, but received a no-trade clause in his contract. The contract, worth $1.1 million, seems a bit excessive for a goaltender to back-up Brodeur, but Tom Gulitti reported Lou Lamoriello saying the plan remains for Brodeur to play less games (though they say that every year), and with Hedberg the Devils have a bit more experience in net than they did with Danis.

Hedberg played in nine seasons previously, posting a 123-114-14 (ties)-15 (SO) in 293 games. His overall goals-against-average is 2.93 and his save percentage is .900.

Brodeur could likely rest more with Hedberg playing more, but will the Devils really rest Brodeur? It always seems that the Devils try to rest Brodeur more and more each year, but it never works out.

For now though, the Hedberg contract seems a bit of a head-scratcher. Nevertheless, the Devils signed a backup goaltender while still trying to hunt down Ilya Kovalchuk.

Henrik Tallinder

As a 31 year-old Swedish defenseman, Tallinder comes into the Devils’ organization as an able-bodied mentor for the possible Swedish rookies that might crack the lineup (Jacob Josefson, Mattias Tedenby and Alexander Urbom).

Tom Gulitti reported that Lou Lamoriello said Tallinder became an option (and almost a necessity when Paul Martin left for the Pittsburgh Penguins).

Gulitti also added the possibility of more changes on the blue line for the Devils. A veteran defenseman might leave, but Matt Corrente will likely play in the NHL.

Unfortunately, Martin’s departure left a huge hole in the defense corp for the Devils.

Knowing Lou Lamoriello though, that hole would not remain empty for long. In fact, Lamoriello signed former Ottawa Senators defenseman, Anton Volchenkov.

Volchenkov signed a contract for six years, worth $25.5 million total. The Russian 28 year-old played eight years for Ottawa before he signed with the Devils yesterday.

His stay-at-home defensive style fits perfectly with the mold of the Devils’ defensive style. The one area that he does not fill that Martin filled is the puck-moving ability. Now of course any defenseman can move the puck, but as a stay-at-home defenseman, Volchenkov lacks that extra push to add offense.

In June of 2007 though, the Hockey News voted Volchenkov as the fifth best defensive defenseman in the game today.

Tom Gulitti reported his thoughts on the Volchenkov acquisition and commented on the shot blocking that seems to take a toll on Volchenkov.

However, Volchenkov seems like a great piece for the Devils.

All the signings of today:

• Danny Sabourin signs with the Washington Capitals (NHL.com)
• Tim Jackman signs with the Calgary Flames (NHL.com)
• Raitis Ivanans signs with the Flames (NHL.com)
• Nathan Lawson re-signs with the New York Islanders (NHL.com).
• Nathan Guenin becomes a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL.com).
  
• Trevor Frischmon re-signs with the Blue Jackets (NHL.com).
• Kyle Wilson and the Blue Jackets come to turns (NHL.com).
• Jason Strudwick re-signs with the Edmonton Oilers (NHL.com).
• Pavol Kubina becomes a Tampa Bay Lightning for the second time in his career
• Cody McCormick re-signs with the Buffalo Sabres for one year ($550,00). (NHLUpdate/TSN)
• Christopher Higgins signs with the Florida Panthers for one year, worth $1.6 million. (Darren Dreger)
• Matt Climie signs a one year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. (Norton Sports)
• Mark Eaton becomes a new member of the Islanders for two years, $2.5 million a year. (NHL Update/Katie Strang)
• P.A. Parenteau signs a one year contract with the Islanders. (Allan Walsh)
• Milan Juricina also becomes an Islander for a year. (Allan Walsh)
• Warren Peters signs a (two-way) two-year contract with the Minnesota Wild. (Michael Russo)
• Drew Bagnall also signs a (two-way) one-year contract with the Wild. (Michael Russo)
• Sami Lepisto and the Phoenix Coyotes agree to a one-year contract. (Sergey Kocharov)
• Al Montoya gets a one-year contract with the Coyotes. (Sergey Kocharov)
• Steve MacIntyre and the Oilers sign a one year contract. (Edmonton Oilers)
• Brad Winchester signs with the St. Louis Blues again. (St. Louis Blues)
• Nikolai Kulemin re-signs for two years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, contract worth $2.35 million each year. (Darren Dreger)
• Zenon Konopka signs a one-year deal with the Islanders. (Katie Strang)
• Andrew Ebbett joins the Coyotes for a one-year deal. (Sergey Kocharov)
• Brandon Prust signs with the New York Rangers. (Jeff Marek)
• Niklas Persson signs a one-year (two-way) contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Erik Erlendsson)
• Matthew Lombardi will play with the Nashville Predators for three years, $3.5 million each year. (Darren Pang)
• Trevor Smith signs with the Anaheim Ducks. (Kevin Allan)
• Ryan Craig signs in Pittsburgh to play for the Penguins. (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Kyle Quincy signs with the Colorado Avalanche for two years. (James Mirtle)
• Daniel Winnik also signs with the Avalanche for two years. (James Mirtle)
• Mike Weber re-signs with the Sabres. (NHL Update)
• Alex Giroux signs with the Oilers. (Ryan Rishaug)

Check back over the next few days for all the updates, especially what the New Jersey Devils do. Please leave comments with any moves that I may miss. Thank you, and please be sure to give credit to the person originally reporting it.

The first time a source receives credit, the link will go to his Twitter account. Also, the red font denotes moves involving the Devils or Devils players.

• The New York Rangers signed Martin Biron (Goaltender). TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported the deal is for two years, with $900,000 per year.
• Darren Dreger reporting Daniel Paille re-signed with the Boston Bruins for two years.
• Derek Stepan signed with the Rangers (via Jeff Marek).
• Rangers re-sign Erik Christensen (via Jeff Marek).
• Sergei Gonchar to Ottawa for three years plus a no trade clause (Darren Dreger, Bob McKenzie).

• Braydon Coburn re-signs in Philadelphia. (Jeff Marek)
• Alex Tanguay back to Calgary for one year. (Bob McKenzie).
• Alex Steen for four years re-signs with the St. Louis Blues (Jeremy Rutherford).
• Anton Babchuk gets a one-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes (Jeff Marek).
• Jessie Winchester signs for two years with the Ottawa Senators. (Bob McKenzie)
• Martin St. Louis signs a four-year contract extension to remain with the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Bob McKenzie)
• Rod Pelley re-signs with the Devils. (Tom Gulitti)
• Vladimir Sobtko signs with the St. Louis Blues for one year, worth $750,000. (Andy Strickland).
• Zbynek Michalek signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins for five years worth $20 million. (Darren Dreger).
• Alex Auld signs for one year ($1 million) with the Montreal Canadiens. (James Duthie)
• Colby Armstrong signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs for three years, three million each year. (Bob McKenzie)
• Antero Nittymaki signed by the San Jose Sharks for two years, $4 million total. (Bob McKenzie).
• Sean O’Donnell gets a one year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. (Bob McKenzie)
• Joel Perrault signs a one-year contract (one way) with the Vancouver Canucks. (Bob McKenzie)
• Manny Malhotra signs with the Canucks for three years, $7.5 million total and no trade clause. (Bob McKenzie).
• Derek Morris re-signs with the Phoenix Coyotes for four years worth $11 million. (Bob McKenzie).
• Jody Shelley signs with the Flyers for three years, $1.1 million each year. (Bob McKenzie)
• Joey Crabb signs with the Maple Leafs. (Darren Dreger)
• Dan Ellis becomes a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning for two years. (Bob McKenzie)
• Paul Martin signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins for five years, $25 million. (Scott Burnside)
• Derek Boogard signs with the New York Rangers. (Darren Dreger)
• Tony Lydman travels to play with the Anaheim Ducks for three years at three million a year. (Bob McKenzie)
• Coyotes sign Ryan Whitney for two years, six million total. (Bob McKenzie)
• Curtis Sanford signs with the Canadiens (Darren Dreger).
• Kurtis Foster will play for two years with the Edmonton Oilers, earning $1.8 million each year. (Bob McKenzie)
• Dan Hamhuis signs for six years, worth a total of $27 million with the Canucks. (James Duthie)
• Vinny Prospal re-signs a one year deal with the Rangers worth $1 million. (Larry Brooks)
• Saku Koivu for two years will play with the Ducks, contract worth $5 million total. (Pierre LeBrun)
• Henrik Tallinder signs with the Devils for four years, each year worth $3.75 million. (Bob McKenzie)
• Jeff Tambellini signs with the Canucks for one year. (Justin Bourne)
• Anton Volchenkov becomes a member of the Devils for six years, worth $25.5 million, with a no trade clause. (Jay Grossman)
• Johan Hedberg signs a one-year contract, $1.1 million, with the Devils. (Jay Grossman)
• Eric Nystrom signs with the Minnesota Wild for three years ($1.4 million per year). (Pierre LeBrun)
• Adam Burish signs for two seasons with the Dallas Stars. (Bob McKenzie)
• Dustin Boyd signs a one year deal with the Canadiens for $650,000. (Darren Dreger/Bob McKenzie)
• Colin Fraser reaches a deal with the Canucks for two seasons. (Darren Dreger)
• Matt Cullen signs for three years with the Wild. (Bob McKenzie)
• Blackhawks and John Scott reach a two-year deals. (Bob McKenzie)
• Olli Jokinen returns to the Calgary Flames for two years worth $6 million total. (ESPN)

(February 9, 2009 - Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images North America)

TSN reports the deal is worth three years and a total of eight million.

At age 26, Clarkson will head into his fourth full NHL season with the Devils. In 216 NHL games he recorded 40 goals, 42 assists, and 438 penalties in minutes.

Clarkson missed half of last season with an injury to his ankle.

The Devils originally signed Clarkson as a free agent in 2005 to bring him into the league. He spent the 2005-2006 season in the AHL playing for the Albany River Rats before switching farm teams (when the Devils did). He played for the Lowell Devils and the New Jersey Devils in 2006-2007.

To begin, the cut off for many leagues in Canada begins January 1st. Thus players born in the beginning months of the year (January, February, March) get an advantage (in size, accessibility to better coaches, players, etc.).

For the full details check out Gladwell’s book, but when he heard about the possible connection between birth month and likelihood of making it to the NHL, he began doing research of Junior players and NHLers.

Gladwell concluded the following about players’ birth months in the NHL and Juniors:

January, February, March: 40%

April, May, June: 30%

July, August, September: 20%

October, November, December: 10%

With the draft possibly introducing new players into the NHL, Gladwell’s statistics were put to the test.

Below is a table of the draftees from the first round of the 2010 NHL draft.

Then, by following Gladwell’s pattern of January-March, April-June, July-September, October-November, this table shows the percentages of players drafted in the first round. Eight players of the first round were born in the months of October (1991) to December (1991).

As predicted by Gladwell, January (1992) to March (1992) had the most with ten players.

Those percentages do not match Gladwell’s predictions exactly, but then again, these players have yet to make it to the professional level.

Additionally though, Gladwell’s statistical evidence came from Canadian players. In the first round, Canada produced 15 players. And each group of months produced the exact same percentages as the overall first round (from the above table).

With the entire draft included though, the numbers better fit Gladwell’s discussion.

The Canadians of the entire draft had a decent model when compared to Gladwell’s numbers. The January to March and April to June numbers flip-flopped with Gladwell’s.

Keep in mind these numbers are all based on 181 players in the draft because 29 players were born earlier than October 1991.

However, Gladwell’s numbers still could come true with these draftees.

Nevertheless, Gladwell does not imply that having a birthday early in the year will guarantee a spot in the NHL. In fact, he does clarify that hockey players earn their way into the league, but at a young age their birthday rewards them with access to better opportunities.

Nearly one-third of the draft picks from the first round were born in 1991. They became the oldest of this crop because they were the youngest in their year, and thus the “smallest.”

In all honesty, many of these players drafted this year have a chance of making it to the professional level. But that extra help they received at a young age could make the difference between becoming an elite player and a player only lasting a few more years in hockey.