2012 NHL Free Agency Open Thread

[The biggest rush as a GM] is July 1 and doing the deal; those pressure points, those deadlines where you have got to $%!& or get off the pot.

--- Former Edmonton Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, in "Behind the Moves"

As a wise man once said, you have to know when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em. Some general managers will rise to the challenge of high-stakes NHL poker today, and others will make critical errors. This is the time when the executives step to the fore

Coverage of all the festivities can be found on NHL Network starting at 11 a.m. Central, for what should be an entertaining day. We'll update the text here to reflect signings around the league, but if something directly affects the Preds, those will go into their own separate posts.

So curl up and join in all the fun - what else are you going to do, go outside and melt?

UPDATES

12:00: Scott Clemmensen re-signs with the Florida Panthers. That's one fewer back-up goalie for the Preds to consider.

12:02: Benoit Pouliot re-signs with Tampa for 1/$1.8M. Nice little deal.

12:05: Flyers have signed "former-Predator" Mike Leighton...again. One fewer back-up option for the Preds.

Here's a breakdown of where the Preds currently stand roster-wise, using data from NHLNumbers.com:

Forwards	Cap Hit	2012-2013 Salary
Legwand, David	4.5	4.0
Erat, Martin	4.5	5.5
Fisher, Mike	4.2	3.0
Gaustad, Paul	3.3	3.3
Hornqvist, Patric	3.1	3.3
Spaling, Nick	1.1	1.1
Yip, Brandon	0.8	0.8
Smith, Craig	0.7	0.7
Halischuk, Matt	0.7	0.8
Bourque, Gabriel	0.6	0.6
Total (need 4)	23.4	23.1
Defense	Cap Hit	2012-2013 Salary
Gill, Hal	2.0	2.0
Ellis, Ryan	1.4	0.8
Klein, Kevin	1.4	1.4
Josi, Roman	1.0	0.9
Ekholm, Mattias	1.0	0.9
Total (need 2-3)	6.8	6.0
Goal	Cap Hit	2012-2013 Salary
Rinne, Pekka	7.0	7.0
Buyouts	Cap Hit	2012-2013 Salary
Dumont, Jean-Pierre	1.3	1.3
Lebda, Brett	0.5	0.5
Grand Total	39.0	37.9
Salary Cap	70.3
Salary Floor	54.3