Intriguing First Day of NHL Free Agency

As many people celebrated Canada Day, many NHLers enjoyed dreams of new beginnings. Here in Washington, the Caps re-signed Mike Green (four years, $21 million) and added Jose Theodore (two years, $9 million).

The goalie's signing was directly linked to two others. Cristobal Huet, who shined during his brief stint with the Caps, took the money and ran to Chicago for four years and $16.875 million. (Apparently, Huet didn't want to return to the Caps after all -- or at least strongly gave off that impression.) Olie Kolzig signed a one-year, incentive-ladden deal with the suddenly-scary Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Caps still need to re-sign Sergei Fedorov, Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrisonn, Eric Fehr and Boyd Gordon. And I'm sure GMGM has something up his sleeve from the unrestricted market.

Kolzig joins another former Cap, Jeff Halpern, under new Tampa coach Barry Melrose as well as recent additions Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Vinny Prospal, Radim Vrbata and Adam Hall. And don't forget that some guys named Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis also play down south. Oh yeah, they also drafted Steven Stamkos. As of right now, the 'Ning would be my pick to challenge the Caps for the division title.

The New York Rangers made a splash by adding Wade Redden and keeping Michal Rozsival, while the New Jersey Devils went back to the future by adding Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik. The New York Islanders even got into the fold when they signed Mark Streit.

The biggest name to sign yesterday was Brian Campbell, who joined Huet in Chicago (eight year-deal worth $56.8 million). The Hawks should be close to a playoff spot this coming season.

Marian Hossa and Mats Sundin remain the biggest names out there -- and much more is sure to go down today.