Christmas in July

Yesterday was the beginning of the NHL Free-Agency period, and there were some notable names that will be changing addresses for next season.  Jarome Iginla is moving to Boston, which is ironic, considering that he shot down a trade to Boston at the trade deadline last season, Stephen Weiss is coming back to the Detroit area for five years (he played in Plymouth of the OHL prior to being drafted by Florida in 2001), Nathan Horton is going to Columbus for seven years, where he will improve a team that is on the rise, and David Clarkson is going to Toronto.

The central point of activity happened in Ottawa, as longtime captain Daniel Alfredsson is leaving for Detroit for one year.  Replacing him is Clarke MacArthur, coming over from Toronto, but the biggest deal of the day was a trade.  Bobby Ryan, forever a name in trade rumors in recent years, was finally traded to Ottawa and in return, the Anaheim Ducks will get Jakob Silfverberg, prospect Stefan Noesen, and a 2014 first round pick.

The Sens lose a good amount of leadership in Alfredsson, but leadership should still be strong, with Chris Phillips, Jason Spezza, and Chris Neil, all Senator lifers, still around, and Erik Karlsson emerging as a new face of the franchise.  MacArthur was an alternate captain for the Maple Leafs last season.  The trade brings a perennial 30-goal scorer in Ryan, who had expressed dissatisfaction over not getting a long-term deal in Anaheim, and given that both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry were given long term deals, that meant Ryan's time wasn't for long.  Silfverberg had a decent rookie year last year, and has the potential to be a great two-way player.  Noesen is a similar player who spent last season rounding his game in Plymouth.  Both figure to help the Ducks in secondary scoring, with Silfverberg helping right away, as Noesen figures to start in the AHL.