Signings Galore- Stewart To Avs, Price To Habs, Comrie To Pens

The Colorado Avalanche re-signed leading team goal scorer Chris Stewart to a 2-year deal yesterday, locking up yet another young forward into the Colorado arsenal. Many projections peg Stewart as a 70-point guy this upcoming season, which seems right considering he had 28-36-64 last season, and considering he will be playing with Paul Stastny. In other news, RFA Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens (also known as "Not Jaroslav Halak") signed a 2-year deal worth $5.5 million dollars. The cap hit is less than what Halak's is with the Blues, so hopefully that's comforting to those loyal to Montreal, if not only comforting to the organization's bottom line. Price has stated publicly that he's looking to rebound from a disappointing 09-10 season, but I'm not too confident that he'll be able to. Though I'm sure fans will see more effort from him at the start of the season, I think that a weak defensive corps will leave Price vulnerable. These vulnerabilities will be exploited, and the impatient fan base that already dislikes him will take the opportunity to jump on his back about it and never get off. So Montreal fans, if you want Price to be as great as you used to think he could be, be patient. As paradoxical as it might seem, the only way for you to meet those expectations is for you to let go of them.

Perhaps the most interesting signing though, was today's pick up by the Pittsburgh Penguins. They signed forward Mike Comrie, who recently married Hilary Duff, to a one year deal worth $500,000 dollars. The deal is a step down from the million or so dollars he made with Edmonton, but whose counting? Well I am, he made four million with the Islanders. Either way, the point is he's not. He's married to Hilary Duff, and his father is worth $500 million dollars (founded Canadian retail store The Brick), so he's not thinking too hard about his finances. What he is thinking hard about is the fact that he's going to get a chance to play with the league's best center. Though Crosby's been known to have trouble building chemistry with most linemates, I expect good things out of this duo. Comrie's a veteran player who knows his way around the rink pretty well. He's got a good hockey sense, and his hands are far from the worst in the league. After all, look at who Crosby's had to work with: Colby Armstrong, whose just a terrible offensive hockey player, Chris Kunitz, whose never exactly been a scoring stud either, and Bill Guerin, who had 21 goals last year at 39. I think that a player like Comrie, who knows that his future with the team is dependent on his ability to mesh with Geno or Crosby, will definitely be able to net at least 20 next season. Not that it matters, let's remember here folks, he is married to Hilary Duff. I don't think this guy ever needs to worry about anything again.