Nooooooooo. Hossa wants to be like Iggy, seeking somewhere close to his monster $7 mil for 3 years. Jesus, Marian, as much as I love you, you're not close to being Iggy. You didn't drop gloves with Derian Hatcher, lead us to the Stanley Cup Finals, and in the hierachy of things, you're not getting more money than Alfie. And you're not Thornton, as much as your numbers are "comparable." Maybe Glen Murray or Milan Hejduk; don't you realise that in a capless world, maybe this could be, but unlike some teams, we're not going to keep you around just because we like you. A lot.

Even Spector says we should "colour him gone." Hossa is expected (by Bruce Garrioch, anyway) to file for arbitration, along with Havlat, and test UFA waters next season. Please. No.

Quoth Hossa:

"We're at a dead point right now," said Hossa, who was scheduled to make $3.45 million last season. "We are nowhere. They offered me a three-year contract, but it wasn't good enough. It wasn't anywhere close to my comparables. If you look at my points the last two seasons, they've been close to Iginla and (Boston's Joe) Thornton. I'm not pissed off. You know me, I'm not that type of guy. I love the city of Ottawa, I love the fans there. I want to be part of that team for a long time. I just want to be paid what I feel is a fair amount and I don't want to settle for less."

It's like saying, honey, I love you and I'll stay with you, but for no less than three Birkins bags, five couture dresses and oh, lose some weight. Don't bother, Marian. I'm not mad, just a little shocked that Hossa thinks he'll really get that type of money. The Sens offered him $11.5 mil for three years. $3.8 mil/year is reasonable when compared to Hejduk, who's very comparable to Hossa and received $3.9 mil/year. Unless the arbitrator is Mike Milbury or Doug MacLean, I think Hossa will be disappointed over the money, and the fans will be disappointed over the length of the deal.

He's worth a little more than $3.8 mil though. I originally said Hossa would be signed for $4-$4.5 mil and hopefully, that's the range he'll end up in for the long-term.

I hope Muckler is working like mad to get Hossa a reasonable long-term deal before 5 pm. Hossa would be a huge loss and if the second worst-case scenario plays out, and he gets a one-year deal in arbitration, we might trade him. If the worst-case scenario plays out and he gets a ridiculous arbitration award, he just might go.

I'm not really worried about what they might say in arbitration. When Redden went to arbitration, he came out with a reasonable contract and relatively happy. I don't think Muckler is stupid enough to rip his leading scorer to shreds.

From a Russian news source:

Alexei Kaigorodov says: "Ottawa is talking an interest in me. I wish I could play with the NHL and my agent is conducting negotiations. I have one stipulation, however, - no banishments to inferior leagues. If I am not acceptable to the principal team I will go back to Russia".

No banishment to inferior leagues? Have fun in Russia this year. The Sens just don't operate that way.

Anton Volchenkov says: "My contract with Ottawa is over. The representatives of this club made me a new offer, but the amount is even smaller than I used to receive playing for Senators before. My return to America depends on the administration of the Canadian team Ц at least, the salary should not be smaller than my previous one. As for the "Ottawa" fans I want to tell them: Thank God, the lockout is over, so please wait, I may be back".

Um, I hope he's not talking about the 24% rollback. You know your union did that and not us, right? The return of Anton has seem more likely in the last few weeks; Garrioch quotes his contract range about $2.5-$3 mil.

And at the very least of good news, Mike Fisher said on Ottawa radio that he was closing to being signed, and Chris Neil isn't expected to file for arbitration. Contract extensions for Redden and Chara are already being discussed.