Special Canada Day Update

In the grand sports writing tradition of 'you cannot judge drafts/trades/free agent moves until much later than the first day but I will try anyway' articles here are some first day grades for Canada's teams (yes, even the sens but don't worry, they are not getting any closer to a parade down...the 416? what street is near the Corel Centre?)

These grades look only at the UFA moves, no holding on to RFAs, and how they address the teams' needs.

The sens replaced Zdeno Chara and Domink Hasek with Joe Corvo and Martin Gerber. As long as the sens are replacing top line NHLers with a journeyman and a Lalime-in-waiting they should stop making fun of the Leafs. Grade: F

The Canucks have replaced Jovocop and Baumgartner (we had one of those once, not a good experience) with Willie Mitchell. Their big move was made in getting a real # 1 in Luongo. However, they now have lost 2 big parts of the team that was only a # 1 away from serious Cup contention. Grade: Incomplete - still lots of work to do.

The Stanley Cup Finalist Oilers (that will most likely be their official team name this year)apparently do not believe that Jussi Markkanen's run in the Finals was the signal that he was ready to be a # 1 so they re-signed Dwayne Roloson. They have soldified their goaltending at a decent price but how good will Rollie the Goalie be at 39? Grade: B-

The Flames added Andrei Zyuzin at a decent price. This is a decent replacement for the departed Jordan Leopold minus the offensive upside. Zyuzin joins an already deep rearguard but the Flames need more offence. Grade: C

The Habs were quietly observing Canada Day (by painting fleur-de-lys all over town I bet) and were focused on signing their RFAs so they did nothing in terms of upgrading. However rumours (and a lot of habs' fans) have Arnott considering the Canadiens. Until then...Grade: F