Lots and lots of signings

Tons of stuff went down yesterday. There's going to be a lot of new faces on teams this season...

First and foremost, the Canes signed center Jeff Hamilton, formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks, to a two-year $800,000 contract.

Let me take this moment to point out that this is why I hate the NHL's current schedule - I have absolutely no idea who this dude is because the Canes haven't played the Blackhawks in a year.

Anyways... he had 39 points last year - a good number on the Blackhawks team - but the kinda scary part is that the guy looked to be a career AHLer before last season. Is this supposed to be our third line center? Or is this just getting more depth on the team? Personally, I'm thinking there's still something bigger waiting for the Canes.

As for the rest of the league: whoa! That's a bunch of signings!
- Ryan Smyth went to the Avalanche for 5yrs/35.25 mil ($6.25 mil per year).
- Rangers signed Scott Gomez for 7yrs/51.5 mil ($7.35 mil per) and Chris Drury for 5yrs/35.25 mil ($6.25 mil per).
- Flyers got Daniel Briere for 8yrs/52 mil ($6.5 mil per).
- The long-awaited Joni Pitkanen trade went down - Oilers traded Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul for Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson.

And there's some others, too - I just don't feel like typing them all out. NHL.com's summary of the day is here.

The moral of today's story is: If you want more money - go to the New York Rangers!