NHL Update – June 25, 2011
FLAMES SIGN TANGUAY TO 5-YEAR, $17.5 MILLION EXTENSION
Flames trade Regehr, Kotalik to Buffalo
Smyth trade not a done deal
FLAMES SIGN TANGUAY TO 5-YEAR, $17.5 MILLION EXTENSION
The Calgary Flames signed forward Alex Tanguay to a 5-year, $17.5 million contract extension on Saturday.
The 31-year-old centre was brought back by the Flames for a second stint with the club last season on a one-year, $1.7 million contract. His new deal will come at a cap hit of $3.5 million.
While the Flames were able to find some cap relief by trading veteran defenceman Robyn Regehr to the Sabres, this signing eliminates any possibility of Calgary trading for Ryan Smyth – whose expected deal to the Oilers has not been completed.
Flames trade Regehr, Kotalik to Buffalo
Finally, it’s done.
After a couple days of speculation, the Calgary Flames have officially sent Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik and a 2012 second-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres, in exchange for Paul Byron and Chris Butler.
Deal was made official Saturday morning.
Regehr, late Friday night, waived his no-movement clause — after initially refused to waive it.
Robyn Regehr — a diehard Saskatchewan Roughriders fan to the core — called an audible Friday night on the proverbial line of scrimmage.
From his summer getaway on picturesque Christopher Lake, Regehr gave his approval to a trade from the Calgary Flames to the Buffalo Sabres.
With a no-movement clause in his contract, Regehr had right of refusal on any deal. After talking to new owner Terry Pegula and general manager Darcy Regier, the rugged blueliner told his agent J.P. Barry to give the Flames approval to make the move.
Smyth trade not a done deal
While several sources say winger Ryan Smyth is coming back to the Edmonton Oilers for Gilbert Brule and a fifth-round draft pick, general manager Steve Tambellini refused to confirm it shortly after the first round of the NHL entry draft ended at the Xcel Energy Center Friday night.
“There’s nothing I can give you at this point,” said Tambellini.
“It’s not done. If I had something, I’d give it to you.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that Brule was part of the equation in the deal for 35-year-old Smyth early in the evening from an impeccable source, saying Kings GM Dean Lombardi was trying to move the 24-year-old forward Brule and his $1.85-million US contract to another unnamed club.
Lombardi said later there was a legal “snag.”
The Kings didn’t want to add salary in a Smyth deal after he requested a trade for family reasons, hoping to come back to his native Alberta.
Lombardi spoke to Tambellini and also Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster. The Flames went hard after Smyth in 2007 when he was a free agent, with Calgary centre Jarome Iginla personally pitching him over the phone, but Smyth signed with the Colorado Avalanche.
Smyth was moved to the Kings for Kyle Quincey and two other trade pieces in 2009, and was their leading playoff scorer after a 47-point season as a top-six forward.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Smyth+trade+done+deal/5003893/story.html