At Least Caps Fans Won't Have To Spend Any Time Learning New Names And Numbers

The merry-go-round that is this summer's free agent market is going full tilt right now with "done deals" falling apart (Mike Modano to Boston, Alexei Kovalev and/or Marty Straka to Pittsburgh) and plenty of old names in new places. Oddly, none of the goaltenders have really moved yet. Maybe they're saving themselves for Friday. A brief recap of who went where:

Eastern Conference

• Atlanta signed center Bobby Holik and forward Ramzi Abid.
• Bruins fans will need to buy a program to figure out who's on the ice for the black and gold on opening night as the team welcomes defensman Brian Leetch and forwards Alexei Zhamnov, Shawn McEachern, Dave Scatchard and Brad Isbister, as well as re-signing winger Glen Murray.
• Buffalo signed defenseman Teppo Numminen. I don't like it for the Sabes.
  
• Carolina has inked forward Cory Stillman and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, who last played in the NHL in the 2002-03 season with New Jersey.
• The Panthers added winger Martin Gelinas and blueliner Joel "Kiwi" Kwiatkowski after their opening salvo of Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts.
• The Habs kept Kovalev and added speedy defenseman Mathieu Dandenault.
• New Jersey will try to replace Scott Niedermayer with Dan McGillis and Vladimir Malakhov.
• The Isles have been active, signing winger Miro Satan and defenseman Alexei Zhitnik (both late of Buffalo) and trading for forward Mike York and blueliner Brent Sopel.
• The Rangers have added a bunch of garbage, namely Straka, Marek Malik, Martin Rucinsky, Jason Ward and Ville Nieminen.
• Philly has made the biggest splash so far, signing überstud center Peter Forsberg and adding size and toughness on D with Derian Hatcher, Mike Rathje and Chris Therien. Jon Sim is another new Flyer.
• The Pens have inked defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who should have a staggering number of powerplay points this year, and tough guy Andre Roy in order to protect their investments.
• Not to be left out, the Caps have traded for checking forward Chris Clark. Sweet.
  

Western Conference

• The Ducks now have both Niedermayer brothers after signing Scott and re-signing Rob.
• Calgary signed forwards Darren McCarty and Tony Amonte and lost goalie Roman Turek to Europe (and by "lost" I mean "won't miss at all").
• The Blackhawks have actually spent some money, signing defensemen Adrian Aucoin and Jaro Spacek (who will be back for his second tour of duty in the Windy City), and center Marty Lapointe.
  
• Colorado signed center Pierre Turgeon and defenseman Patrice Brisebois after losing Forsberg and Adam Foote. That's what we in the biz call a downgrade.
• Speaking of Foote, he landed in Columbus as the Jackets have re-tooled their blueline, also adding Bryan Berard. Martin Prusek was brought in to back up starting goaltender Marc Denis.
• After much drama, Modano is staying in Dallas. Good for him and good for Dallas. Seeing him in another uniform would have been tough. The Stars also signed defenseman Martin Skoula, who has been a bit disappointing at stops in Colorado and Anaheim.
• The Red Wings have kept relics Steve Yzerman, Chris Chelios and Mathieu Schneider.
• Edmonton acquired stud defenseman Chris Pronger from St. Loo and sent York to Long Island for defensive center Mike Peca.
• The Kings signed Pavol Demitra (just what L.A. needed - an injury-prone center) and acquired Jeremy Roenick from the Flyers. J.R. in Hollywood is a good fit off the ice, but not what the Kings need on it.
• Nashville signed defenseman Danny Markov.
• St. Louis acquired defensemen Eric Brewer, Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch in the Pronger trade, and signed forwards Trent Whitfield and Aaron Downey.
• The Canucks re-signed Markus Naslund. Congrats, Vancouver fans - your grovelling worked.
  

That should be just about all of the major, semi-major and largely irrelevant moves of the past couple of days. As always, more news, rumors and opinion to follow.