Andreas Lilja

When the clock struck noon on July 1, very few things were certain. One thing that was: the Philadelphia Flyers were going to make headlines. Paul Holmgren and company certainly didn't disappoint, landing future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr, forward Maxim Talbot, and defenseman Andreas Lilja and dealing away winger Kris Versteeg. 

With the dust from day one settling, its time to take a look at how the Flyers fared in free agency. 

With this morning's trade bringing Francois Beauchemin to Anaheim, the Ducks are currently carrying nine defenders with them.  For a team with some outstanding blueliners like Lubomir Visnovsky, Toni Lydman, young Cam Fowler and now Francois Beauchemin, what defender is the best one for GM Bob Murray to trade away?

1. Andy Sutton

As of earlier today, Anaheim announced that Andreas Lilja has officially been added to their active roster, and as a result they have opted to send down 20-year-old Luca Sbisa to the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL.

Andreas Lilja, who played the previous five seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, adds more of a Veteran presence to the Anaheim blue line.  Last year he played in only 20 games with the Red Wings and tallied two points (1+1=2) and four penalty minutes. 

Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal reported that Steve Tambellini will not put Sheldon Souray in the minors until the last second in hopes of making a trade.

Tambellini also does not want to carry three goaltenders for long, as he attempts to trade either Jeff Deslauriers, or Devan Dubnyk. Should that fail, expect him to demote one of them to the minors.

For some time now there has been growing concern over the state of the San Jose Sharks blue line as the twentieth year of Sharks hockey draws ever closer. The blue line was the clear weak link for the team in the Western Conference Finals last season, and the loss of veteran and Hall of Famer Rob Blake to retirement further degraded a unit which was already vulnerable.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils finally signed Kovalchuk. Their number one priority is now out of the way. Now the Devils must shed some salary to fit Kovalchuk's contract. The Devils are $3 million over the cap. This means that the Devils will most likely need to move $4-6 million of salary before the season commences.

On Wednesday, the Detroit Red Wings announced that defenseman Andreas Lilja will return to the lineup on Monday, March 1, against the Colorado Avalanche.

Lilja has been on long-term injured reserve for nearly a year after suffering a concussion in a fight with Nashville's Shea Weber last February.

Though never a game-breaker by any means, Andreas Lilja has filled a valuable niche in Detroit over the past five seasons, that of a large, dependable, stay-at-home defenseman.