Washington signs UFA goaltender Jose Theodore to a 2 year deal worth $9 million (bad move washington letting huet go).
Phoenix signs UFA defenceman Kurt Sauer to a 4 year deal worth an average of $1.75-million a year
Minnesota Wild sign UFA forward Andrew Brunette to 3 year deal worth $7-million.
Colorado signs UFA goaltender Andrew Raycroft to a 1 year deal worth $800,000.
Colorado signs UFA forward Darcy Tucker to a 2 year deal worth $4.5-million.
Toronto signs UFA defenceman Jeff Finger to a 4 year deal worth $3.5-million a season.
according to tsn.ca

looks like the Avs are setting themselves up for a rebuilding year.

a little off topic but marion hossa just signed a one year contract worth 7.4 mil for detroit (bye bye pittsburgh).
yeah i would think colorado is rebuilding there are going to be alot of new faces this year for the monsters.

I wonder if Hossa will settle with any team or if he's going to make a career as a mercenary. Pittsburgh basically just rented him for the postseason, but this will free them up to sign Malkin to a long deal (even though he totally choked in the cup finals).

that's exactly what pittsburgh did they gave malkin a 5 year extension, cant remember for how much though.
i think hossa will play out his year in detroit and cut and run for a long term deal if detroit doesnt win the cup or maybe if detroit does a back to back maybe he will sign with detroit long term but who knows.

well, the Avs certainly will be tough to play against! they already had ian laperriere, scott parker and the cody's (mccormick and mcleod). now they have darcy tucker too.

i just hope that if joe sakic doesn't come back (retires or signs elsewhere), they have enough scoring depth. otherwise they may be putting too much pressure on young kids (i.e. jones and hensick) to make up the difference.

free agency is still relatively young though and there are players to be had...

i think the monsters will be WORLD's better than they were last year. with guys like sertich coming in (if he doesn't stick in denver) we should be in good shape

cody mcleod is a sub par fighter and will probably remin playing on the 4th line with whoever is going to be on it next season.
as for colorado being tougher next season, yes they will and it will be a whole different monsters team this upcoming season.
joe sakic shouldnt come back but probably will, who they need to get rid of is forsberg, he is injury plagued and you just dont know what you're going to get from him on a nightly basis.
i'm sure philly was glad to drop his sorry behind.

Don't forget about the signing of Per Ledin. He's a Swedish agitator and already a fan favourite in Denver. Funny guy who's gritty and who always drives hard to the net. Maybe a little like Tucker but a lot of guys including myself are even more excited about seeing him with the Avs than about seeing Tucks. The Avalanche will be a punching team but we'll rely on the former Monster's like Jones and Hensick heavily. It's going to be an exciting season for both clubs. Can't wait. Go Avs, go Monsters!!!

It's gonna be tough, I hate Tucker and have for years. But the Avs have some serious grit in their lineup which is good considering the Ducks roster and Phoenix signing McGratten, Fedoruk, Hale, and Carcillo already in the fold. Should be a fun division this year. We need a little more scoring but younger, tougher and faster seems to be the MO.