The Eastern Conference leading New Jersey Devils have, weeks before the trade deadline, already become its biggest winner. USA Today via NHL.com is reporting that the Devils have won the Race for the Russian, star forward Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers. The terms of the deal have yet to be released.

Kovalchuk and defenseman Anssi Salmela were sent to New Jersey in exchage for Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick. Cormier, once considered a top prospect, was suspended for the rest of the season by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for a viscous elbow to the head of another player. Also, the two teams swapped second-round picks in 2010.

Kovalchuk, 26, who has scored more goals than any other forward since 2001, reportedly turned down a nine-digit offer to stay with the Atlanta Thrashers, electing to be dealt. The winger had previously been involved in rumors every where from L.A. to Boston to New York, but has landed in the Garden State. This season, Kovalchuk has 31 goals and 27 assists including 19 power play points.

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Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

Though the biggest free agent on the NHL market may be the Phoenix Coyotes, a few aged stars still remain up for grabs. The list of wily vets looking for jobs includes Robert Lang, Miroslav Satan, Michael Peca, Mats Sundin, Darryl Sydor, Manny Legace and Manny Fernandez. No matter where these free agents land, it won’t affect winners and losers of the NHL off-season. Here are the five teams who will benefit most from their free agent signings:

Montreal Canadiens:

Montreal only had a plus-two goal differential, this off-season the goal to widen the gap. They signed speedsters Michael Cammalleri and Brian Gionta, who combined to score 142 points last season. The two mini-wingers (both under 5-foot-9) will make up for the loss of aging wingers Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Alex Kovalev. The Habs also add a power play threat in defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, who had 18 power play assists last season.

New York Rangers:

The Rangers appear to be off-season winners every year, but always fail to put the pieces together. This summer the Rangers kept their core, but added role players. Enforcer Donald Brashear, who signed a 2-year deal, will bring some much needed experience and grit. Ales Kotalik scored 43 points in 75 games last season. He’s a solid second or third line winger with size (6-2, 225 lbs.) and finesse. The most important signing may be veteran Vaclav Prospal, who is projected to be the first line center. Prospal only managed 45 points last season, but had 80 in 05-06 when the Lightning were stuffed with stars as the Rangers are now.

The Rangers did add a star in right winger Marian Gaborik. He spent most of last season injured, but in 07-08 he had 83 points and has the potential to be a 50 goal scorer. The Rangers ranked 26^th in goals for, they will need Gaborik’s production to turn that around.

Detroit Red Wings:

The Red Wings lost a pair of wingers to the Chicago Blackhawks, but added toughness with Jason Williams and Todd Bertuzzi. Detroit can afford to sacrifice goal scoring, they led the league in goals for, power play percentage but were 25^th in penalty kill. Bertuzzi and Williams should both participate on, and improve the PK.

Minnesota Wild:

The Wild were kings of the 1-0 game last season, finishing 22^nd in goals for and second in goals against. This off-season they focused on the GF category signing former playoff heroes Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora. Havlat put up 77 points in 81 games and Sykora scored 13 power play goals last season with 10 game winners. The two will try to make up for the loss of Marian Gaborik.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

The Leafs allowed almost 300 goals last season, this off-season they signed 6-foot-4 243 lbs. defenseman Mike Komisarek to protect the front of the net and former Ranger Colton Orr as an enforcer. The Leafs also signed center Phil Kessel to a five-year deal. Kessel scored 60 points last season with a plus-23 plus-minus ratio. The Leafs were 10^th in the league in scoring last year, Kessel’s presence can’t hurt.

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Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network. He can be followed on Twitter

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The following Signings as of today (July 1, 2008). The first day of free agency for the upcoming season. Â

The listing comes by way of the NHL's Official Free Agent Tracker

July 1, Free Agent Signings

TEAM PLAYER/S SIGNED Acquired: David Koci Acquired: Michael Ryder Re-signed: Michal Rozsival, Stephen Valiquette Acquired: Craig Weller Acquired: Drew McIntyre Acquired: Darcy Hordichuk Acquired: Mark Streit Acquired: Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik Acquired: Aaron Voros, Patrick Rissmiller Acquired: Alex Auld Acquired: Eric Godard Acquired: Patrick Lalime Acquired: Niklas Hagman, Curtis Joseph, Jeff Finger Acquired: Darcy Tucker, Andrew Raycroft Acquired: Todd Fedoruk Re-signed: Mark Eaton Acquired: Andrew Brunette, Marek Zidlicky Acquired: Adam Hall Acquired: Todd Fedoruk Re-signed: David Backes Re-signed: Andrei Kostitsyn Acquired: Cory Stillman Re-signed: Daymond Langkow, Craig Conroy, Eric Nystrom, Curtis McIlhinney Acquired: Ty Conklin Acquired: Kurt Sauer Acquired: Per Ledin Re-signed: Jay Pandolfo and Bryce Salvador Acquired: Anton Babchuk, Joni Pitkanen Re-signed: Pascal Dupuis Acquired: Blake Wheeler Re-signed: Ryan Bayda, Wade Brookbank, Tim Conboy and Tuomo Ruutu Re-signed: Paul Gaustad

Source: National Hockey LeagueÂ

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

Below is a complete list of players, who, effective July 1, became free agents by way of the National Hockey League.

Names will be removed from this list as the players sign with their respective Clubs. OFFICIAL FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

Some players whose names appear on this list may recently have signed with their respective Clubs; however, their contracts had not yet been filed with the League prior to publishing.


FREE AGENT CLASSIFICATIONS

GROUP 2 - SUBJECT TO COMPENSATION AND RIGHT TO MATCH

These players have been tendered a qualifying offer by their respective Clubs and are subject to draft-choice compensation and right to match. The draft choice compensation scale is based on compensation offered by the new Club:

OFFERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â COMPENSATION

$863,156 or below                       None
Over $863,156 to $1,307,812Â Â Â Â Â Third-round choice
Over $1,307,812 to $2,615,625Â Â Â Second-round choice
Over $2,615,625 to $3,923,437Â Â Â First-round and third-round choice
Over $3,923,437 to $5,231,249Â Â Â First-round, second-round and third-round choice
Over $5,231,249 to $6,539,062Â Â Â Two first-round choices, one second- and one third-round choice
Over $6,539,062Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Four first-round choices

GROUP 3 - UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

These players have qualified for Group 3 Free Agency (age 27 or older or with at least seven Accrued Seasons) and are Unrestricted Free Agents.

GROUP 6 - UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

These players, whose contracts have expired, are age 25 or older, have completed three or more professional seasons, and (i) in the case of a player other than a goaltender, have played less than 80 NHL games (regular-season and playoff), or (ii) in the case of a goaltender, have played less than 28 NHL games (regular-season and playoff).

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

These were not tendered a qualifying offer and are therefore Unrestricted Free Agents not subject to a right to match or draft choice compensation.


ANAHEIM DUCKS

Group 2 FAs: Stephen Dixon, Jason King, Drew Miller, Geoff Platt.
Group 3 UFAs: Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Joe DiPenta, Mike Hoffman, Jay Leach, Tony Martensson, Mark Mowers, Geoff Peters, Teemu Selanne, Bruno St. Jacques, Doug Weight.
Group 6 UFAs: Darryl Bootland, Joe Callahan.
UFAs: Gerald Coleman, Shane Hynes.

ATLANTA THRASHERS

Group 2 FAs: Joey Crabb, Kari Lehtonen, Nathan Oystrick, Brett Sterling.
Group 3 UFAs: Milan Bartovic, Eric Boulton, Kevin Doell, Darren Haydar, Jason Krog, Joel Kwiatkowski, Steve McCarthy, Karel Pilar, Mark Recchi, Steve Rucchin.
Group 6 UFAs: Mark Popovic, Jesse Schultz.
UFAs: Guillaume Desbiens.

BOSTON BRUINS

Group 2 FAs: Johnny Boychuk, Pascal Pelletier, Nate Thompson.
Group 3 UFAs: Bobby Allen, Jeff Hoggan, Zdenek Kutlak, Jordan Sigalet, Alex Zhamnov, Sergei Zinovjev.
Group 6 UFAs: Brett Skinner.
UFAs: Mike Brown, Stanislav Chistov, Chris Collins, Nathan Saunders, T.J. Trevelyan.

BUFFALO SABRES

Group 2 FAs: Steve Bernier, Clarke MacArthur, Mark Mancari, Daniel Paille.
Group 3 UFAs: Dmitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen, Nolan Pratt, Michael Ryan, Jocelyn Thibault.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: None.

CALGARY FLAMES

Group 2 FAs: Cam Cunning, Tomi Maki, Adam Pardy, Brandon Prust, David Van Der Gulik.
Group 3 UFAs: David Hale, Kristian Huselius, Owen Nolan, Mark Smith, Jim Vandermeer, Stephane Yelle.
Group 6 UFAs: Brent Krahn, Grant Stevenson.
UFAs: Derek Couture, Ryan Donally.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Group 2 FAs: Patrick Dwyer, Mark Flood, Joe Jensen, Chad Larose, Brandon Nolan, Dennis Seidenberg.
Group 3 UFAs: Keith Aucoin, John Grahame, Bret Hedican, Trevor Letowski, Glen Wesley.
Group 6 UFAs: Joey Mormina.
UFAs: Kevin Nastiuk.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Group 2 FAs: Corey Crawford, Colin Fraser, Danny Richmond, Martin St. Pierre.
Group 3 UFAs: Kevyn Adams, Jim Fahey, Wade Flaherty, Yanic Perreault, Prestin Ryan, Jason Williams, Andrei Zyuzin.
Group 6 UFAs: Mike Brodeur.
UFAs: Steve Marr.

COLORADO AVALANCHE

Group 2 FAs: Jason Bacashihua, Cody McCormick, Cody McLeod, Marek Svatos, Michael Wall, Wojtek Wolski.
Group 3 UFAs: Peter Forsberg, Riku Hahl, Eric Healey, Jaroslav Hlinka, Jeff Jillson, Vitaliy Kolesnik, Sanny Lindstrom, Dale Purinton, Joe Sakic, Wyatt Smith.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Dan DaSilva, Mitch Love, Tyler Weiman.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Group 2 FAs: Dan Fritsche, Pascal Leclaire, Joakim Lindstrom, Marc Methot, Alexandre Picard, Aaron Rome, R.J. Umberger, Clay Wilson.
Group 3 UFAs: Nate DiCasmirro, Ron Hainsey, Zenon Konopka, Derek MacKenzie, Andrej Nedorost, Martin Paroulek, Michael Peca, Mark Rycroft, Dan Smith, Dick Tarnstrom, David Vyborny.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Mikko Maenpaa, Tomas Popperle.

DALLAS STARS

Group 2 FAs: Brandon Crombeen, Vojtech Polak, Konstantin Pushkarev, Francis Wathier.
Group 3 UFAs: Stu Barnes, Nolan Baumgartner, Trevor Byrne, Johan Holmqvist, Antti Miettinen, Mattias Norstrom, Brad Winchester.
Group 6 UFAs: Bryce Lampman.
UFAs: Marius Holtet, Jussi Timonen, Janos Vas.

DETROIT RED WINGS

Group 2 FAs: Jonathan Ericsson, Valtteri Filppula, Jimmy Howard, Ryan Oulahen, Kyle Quincey.
Group 3 UFAs: Adam Berkhoel, Chris Chelios, Carl Corazzini, Mark Cullen, Aaron Downey, Dallas Drake, Brad Ference, Mark Hartigan, Dominik Hasek, Stefan Liv, Darren McCarty, Garrett Stafford.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Igor Grigorenko, Logan Koopmans, Francis Lemieux.

EDMONTON OILERS

Group 2 FAs: Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, Jean-Francois Jacques, Joni Pitkanen, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Zack Stortini.
Group 3 UFAs: Kristian Antila, Marty Reasoner, Allan Rourke, Geoff Sanderson.
Group 6 UFAs: Curtis Glencross.
UFAs: Jonas Almtorp, Troy Bodie, Glenn Fisher, Fredrik Johansson, T.J. Kemp.

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Group 2 FAs: Jay Bouwmeester, Drew Larman, Martin Lojek, Stefan Meyer, Anthony Stewart.
Group 3 UFAs: Christian Berglund, Jassen Cullimore, Magnus Johansson, Branislav Mezei, Steve Montador, Denis Shvidki.
Group 6 UFAs: Rob Globke.
UFAs: Garth Murray, Adam Taylor, Martin Tuma.

LOS ANGELES KINGS

Group 2 FAs: Erik Ersberg, Gabe Gauthier, Peter Harrold, Matt Moulson, Patrick O'Sullivan, Brad Richardson, Jarret Stoll.
Group 3 UFAs: Rob Blake, Brendan Buckley, Kevin Dallman, Jeff Giuliano, Jon Klemm, Ladislav Nagy, Scott Thornton, Brian Willsie, Tomas Zizka.
Group 6 UFAs: Richard Petiot.
UFAs: Petr Kanko, Dany Roussin.

MINNESOTA WILD

Group 2 FAs: Shawn Belle, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Kurtis Foster, Danny Irmen, Peter Olvecky, John Scott, Clayton Stoner, Stephane Veilleux.
Group 3 UFAs: Keith Carney, Pavol Demitra, Sean Hill, Steve Kelly, Andre Lakos, Petteri Nummelin, Serge Payer, Branko Radivojevic, Chris Simon, Wes Walz, Joel Ward.
Group 6 UFAs: Matt Foy.
UFAs: Miroslav Kopriva.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Group 2 FAs: Marvin Degon, Josh Gorges, Mikhail Grabovski, Jaroslav Halak, Andrei Kostitsyn, Janne Lahti, Corey Locke, Ryan O'Byrne.
Group 3 UFAs: Mathieu Biron, Patrice Brisebois, Yann Danis, Brett Engelhardt, Bryan Smolinski, Marc-Andre Thinel, Rene Vydareny.
Group 6 UFAs: Andrew Archer, Jean-Philippe Cote, Jonathan Ferland, Duncan Milroy.
UFAs: Jimmy Bonneau.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Group 2 FAs: Matt Ellison, Triston Grant, Kevin Klein, Ville Koistinen, Rich Peverley.
Group 3 UFAs: Martin Gelinas, Alex Henry, Jan Hlavac, Petr Hubacek, Josh Langfeld, Andrei Mukhachev, Konstantin Panov, Kirill Safronov, Shane Willis, Nolan Yonkman.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Brandon Bochenski, Dov Grumet-Morris, Oliver Setzinger, John Vigilante.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Group 2 FAs: Olli Malmivaara, Rod Pelley.
Group 3 UFAs: Arron Asham, Sergei Brylin, Noah Clarke, Frank Doyle, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, Grant Marshall, Richard Matvichuk, Ian Moran, Justin Papineau, Ilkka Pikkarainen, Karel Rachunek, Erik Rasmussen, Jari Viuhkola.
Group 6 UFAs: Jason Ryznar.
UFAs: Jordan Parise.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Group 2 FAs: Sean Bergenheim, Jeremy Colliton, Bruno Gervais, Frans Nielsen, Jeff Tambellini, Ben Walter.
Group 3 UFAs: Bryan Berard, Kip Brennan, Rob Davison, Wade Dubielewicz, Ruslan Fedotenko, Mike Morrison, Miroslav Satan, Josef Vasicek.
Group 6 UFAs: Matt Keith.
UFAs: Luciano Aquino, Drew Fata, Aaron Johnson, Masi Marjamaki, Michael Mole, Steve Regier, Matthew Spiller.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Group 2 FAs: Ivan Baranka, Nigel Dawes, Hugh Jessiman, Greg Moore, Fredrik Sjostrom, Matt Zaba.
Group 3 UFAs: Sean Avery, Mitch Fritz, Andrew Hutchinson, Jaromir Jagr, Darius Kasparaitis, Marek Malik, Paul Mara, Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, Jason Strudwick.
Group 6 UFAs: Josh Gratton, David LeNeveu, Pierre Parenteau.
UFAs: Bruce Graham, Chris Holt, Rick Kozak, David Liffiton.

OTTAWA SENATORS

Group 2 FAs: Jeff Glass, Josh Hennessy, Andrej Meszaros, Antoine Vermette.
Group 3 UFAs: Niko Dimitrakos, Shean Donovan, Matt Kinch, Martin Lapointe, Justin Mapletoft, Luke Richardson, Randy Robitaille, Oleg Saprykin, Julien Vauclair.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Arttu Luttinen.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Group 2 FAs: Riley Cote, Nathan Guenin, Randy Jones, Stefan Ruzicka, Patrick Thoresen.
Group 3 UFAs: Jesse Boulerice, Tomas Divisek, Jim Dowd, Rory Fitzpatrick, Martin Grenier, Jaroslav Modry, Keith Primeau, Jason Smith, Tony Voce.
Group 6 UFAs: Darren Reid.
UFAs: Rejean Beauchemin, Martin Houle, Lars Jonsson, Scott Munroe.

PHOENIX COYOTES

Group 2 FAs: Dan Carcillo, Matt Jones, Brian McGrattan, Al Montoya, Joel Perrault.
Group 3 UFAs: David Aebischer, Pavel Brendl, Ryan Caldwell, Jon DiSalvatore, Bryan Helmer, Niko Kapanen, Sheldon Keefe, Matt Murley, Travis Roche, Mathias Tjarnqvist, Pete Vandermeer, Mike York.
Group 6 UFAs: Brendan Bell, Joey Tenute, Bill Thomas.
UFAs: Marcel Hossa, Tyler Redenbach, Cory Urquhart.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Group 2 FAs: Mark Ardelan, Paul Bissonnette, Tim Brent, Daniel Fernholm, Jonathan Filewich, Ryan Stone.
Group 3 UFAs: Kris Beech, David Gove, Marian Hossa, Milan Kraft, Georges Laraque, Ross Lupaschuk, Alain Nasreddine, Brooks Orpik, Jarkko Ruutu, Michal Sivek, Jeff Taffe.
Group 6 UFAs: Connor James, Ryan Lannon, Nathan Smith.
UFAs: None.

ST. LOUIS BLUES

Group 2 FAs: Jay McClement, Hannu Toivonen, Jeff Woywitka.
Group 3 UFAs: Alex Brooks, Petr Cajanek, Micki Dupont, Mike Glumac, Mike Johnson, Ryan Johnson, Juuso Riksman, Martin Rucinsky, Jean-Guy Trudel, Igor Valeev, Matt Walker.
Group 6 UFAs: Yan Stastny.
UFAs: Chris Beckford-Tseu, Francois-Pierre Guenette, Martin Kariya.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Group 2 FAs: Riley Armstrong, Ryane Clowe, Christian Ehrhoff, Marcel Goc, Lukas Kaspar, Brad Staubitz.
Group 3 UFAs: Curtis Brown, Justin Forrest, Graham Mink, Brad Norton, Sandis Ozolinsh, Alexei Semenov.
Group 6 UFAs: Tom Cavanagh, Brennan Evans, Mike Iggulden, Dimitri Patzold, Tomas Plihal, Craig Valette.
UFAs: Dan Spang, Jonathan Tremblay.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Group 2 FAs: Ryan Craig, Justin Fletcher, Janne Niskala, Jay Rosehill.
Group 3 UFAs: Mathieu Darche, Chris Gratton, Doug Janik, Andreas Karlsson, Junior Lessard, Craig MacDonald, Norman Milley, Jimmie Olvestad, Andre Roy, David Schneider, Tim Taylor, Kyle Wanvig.
Group 6 UFAs: Karl Stewart.
UFAs: Jonathan Boutin, Mike Egener, Zbynek Hrdel, Marek Kvapil, Ryan Munce, Mario Scalzo Jr.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Group 2 FAs: Alex Foster, Chris Harrington, John Mitchell, Jaime Sifers, Matt Stajan.
Group 3 UFAs: Scott Clemmensen, Roman Kukumberg, David Ling, Dominic Moore, John Pohl, Mats Sundin, Andy Wozniewski.
Group 6 UFAs: Jay Harrison, Ben Ondrus.
UFAs: Reid Cashman.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Group 2 FAs: Mike Brown, Zach Fitzgerald, Colby Genoway, Nathan McIver, Rick Rypien, Ryan Shannon, Jimmy Sharrow, Kyle Wellwood.
Group 3 UFAs: Artem Chubarov, Greg Classen, Brad Isbister, Mikko Jokela, Trevor Linden, Aaron Miller, Brad Moran, Brendan Morrison, Markus Naslund, Byron Ritchie, Curtis Sanford, Mike Weaver.
Group 6 UFAs: Jozef Balej, Drew MacIntyre.
UFAs: Marc-Andre Bernier.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Group 2 FAs: Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrisonn.
Group 3 UFAs: Dean Arsene, Josef Boumedienne, Frederic Cassivi, Matt Cooke, Sergei Fedorov, Jason Morgan, Alexander Riazantsev, Rastislav Stana.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Jameson Hunt, Stephen Warner.

Source: National Hockey LeagueÂ

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.