Jonathan Cheechoo

New Jersey Devils

Today, I will look further into the Devils' current cap situation. GM Lou Lamoriello must move more than three million dollars in cap space before the season commences to be under the cap. Who can he trade/waive? Let's see.

Eric Stephens of the OC Register is reporting that Ducks GM Bob Murray has been in serious talks with the Bobby Ryan camp to try and get him locked up for at least a few more years.

My take: This is a good move by the Ducks. Ryan needs the Ducks and they need him as they want to make the playoffs this season and without Ryan they don't have a good chance of doing that.

The Ottawa Senators are looking to continue their surprising success and join the league’s elite teams.

Last season’s playoff series against Pittsburgh showed that the Senators could hang with the previous season’s champs and also highlighted their areas of need in order to take the next step toward a Stanley Cup run.

Just like every team, it begins with finding the right mix of players and putting the right coaches in place to guide them.

In this article, I explain how buyouts work and clear up some confusion about the cap hit for buyouts. I'll use the recent buyout of Ottawa Senators forward Jonathan Cheechoo as an example.

The Ottawa Senators bought out the last year of Jonathon Cheechoo's contract this week, as expected. Cheechoo was owed $3.5 million for the coming season.

It happens every year, and 2010 will be no different. A player will enter the free agency market with high expectations for themselves. They'll set a price that their former team doesn't match, or had no intentions of even discussing with them. A few teams will nibble around with lower offers or shorter terms, but none will go quite where the man in question wants. As July 1 turns to July 2, days become weeks, and weeks become months, the bulk of the free agency activity will have finished.

It's funny when a player gets signed and ownership gets upset when the player plays the way that they have their entire career.

It's like getting angry at ice because it's cold.

Ottawa ownership is disappointed in the slumping Alex Kovalev, whose last goal going into Tuesday night's game against Montreal was Oct. 29. Owner Eugene Melnyk has been complaining his top players haven't stepped up enough.

Even though the San Jose Sharks have yet to win a Stanley Cup in the 17 seasons since their inception, their have still been a multitude of players who mean the world to the San Jose faithful.

Multiple playoff appearances, including major upsets in the team's first five seasons, and a current string of five straight playoff births have made for an extremely long list of fan favorites.

Whether its the team's first ever captain and current General Manager Doug Wilson, long time captains Owen Nolan and Patrick Marleau, or clutch goaltenders like Arturs Irbe and Mike Vernon, the list of producti

By Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

The deal that seemingly took a decade to complete is finally official. The Ottawa Senators traded Dany Heatley and a fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for former 56-goal scorer Jonathan Cheechoo (2005-06), Milan Michalek, and a second-round pick in 2010.

For Ottawa, it ends a long drawn-out saga that was sure to be a huge distraction at training camp and beyond. Sure, trading a player of Heatley’s talent will hurt, but the alternative of keeping him in Ottawa was never really an option.

Dany Heatley finally got a deal he was willing to accept.  It was announced this morning, shortly after he showed up at Senators' Training Camp, that the former two-time 50 goal scorer has been traded, along with a 2010 fifth round pick to the San Jose Sharks for Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek and a 2010 second round pick. 

In the second chapter (the first can be found at the following url: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/216835-san-jose-sharks-getting-out-of...) on what the Sharks must do to relieve their cap space, we take a look at which players are most likely to be traded, from least to most. There are seven players on the short list, and some pros and cons for each are listed.