Penguins/NHL Free Agency Frenzy *Live Updates*

A source in Fedotenko's camp just confirmed to me, Fedotenko will sign with a team on Friday. He is currently weighing his options as he still has 4 offers on the table. I'll have a post up in a few on his potential landing spots. A lot of quality forwards still on the market.

A source tells me the Penguins have been so quiet on the open market that they have been more active in trade talks than pursuing potential free agents.

Star Tribune reports a deal between the Wild, Saku Koivu is going south. They have confirmed that the Rangers are making a play. Ruslan Fedotenko's camp has been waiting for some movement on this front all day.

Several teams are expressing interest in defenseman Jay McKee including the Pittsburgh Penguins. McKee's contract was bought out by the St Louis Blues last week. His market value is below $2 million. He is currently engaged in talks with the Buffalo Sabres but is shopping his services leaguewide.

Alexei Kovalev is weighing his options and will not sign until tomorrow. Has up to five offers he is considering. Penguins have not been actively engaged in talks with Kovalev's camp to this point.

Petr Sykora has drawn interest from up to four teams including the Vancouver Canucks, Nashville Predators and LA Kings. No offer from the Penguins, just discussions about the parameters of a potential deal. Sykora would like to look elsewhere for a two year deal.

The Penguins have reached out to Nick Boynton's camp to get a sense if Boynton would be interested in a one year deal at a lower salary. Some believe Boynton won't get above $2 million on the open market. No offer has been made to this point.

Sources close to Fedotenko tell me "talks are on-going" with Minnesota and Pittsburgh and the source mentions "talking to others too", A deal is not close right now and Fedotenko continues to explore all of his options. Minnesota remains Fedotenko's top choice according to sources. Click here for offers he received on day 1 of free agency.

There has been a ton of Francois Beauchemen speculation ever since a report surfaced that he had an interest in Pittsburgh. Penguins clearly likes him but he has received offers upwards of $3.75 million. Beauchemen would have to take a 6-7 year deal at price around $2.5 million at the max. Pittsburgh couldn't afford much else.

Penguins have tendered Ruslan Fedotenko a revised offer with an increase in the amount of money per season. One source says it's an increase of $300k. The term not the amount of money per season has been the holdup on any progress on a new contract. Fedotenko has a lot of options and could wait until tomorrow to sign, although Pittsburgh expects a decision today.

New York and Minnesota had offers in the Penguins range of 4/5 yrs - $8-$10 million but Pittsburgh couldn't compete with the offers from MTL, DAL, LAK. Scuderi scratched Montreal off his list yesterday despite a lucrative offer. The Final three teams in the mix were LA, Dallas and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh did not offer a NTC which was a snag in talks as Scuderi likely would have become trade bait in a few years.

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi has signed with the LA Kings via Rob Rossi. Scuderi informed the Penguins within the last 30 minutes of the decision.

The market has been relatively quiet on the Alexei Kovalev front. He has offers on the table from the New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks and LA Kings. It is believed he prefers to stay in the East Coast. Teams giving him a looking depending on other fronts are the Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, and the Edmonton Oilers. A sleeper teamremains the Capitals who have been linked to him for weeks. Kovalev will have to take a discount to sign with them though. If he wants to cash and join a non-contender, Atlanta will be happy to sign him. Unless Pittsburgh clears cap space, they won't be a player for him.

One thing to ponder; Last year when Brooks Orpik was torn on whether to return he did not sign until 5:00 p.m. on day 2 of NHL free agency. He came back to Pittsburgh around 3:30 p.m. that day. --- New update in a few minutes on contract talks with Pittsburgh in the Penguins insider section .

On the Scuderi front, I'm hearing the Penguins are very close in amount of money per season compared to what the New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild. Two places Scuderi is very interested in joining. Minnesota may even pull their offer according to a source and look at cheaper options. Others have made lucrative offers. When it comes to contending teams Pittsburgh can get close but the offers from non-contending teams, Pittsburgh isn't even close. Pittsburgh has made a 4 year offer. Scuderi's camp will look to try to get five.

It is widely believed that the Minnesota Wild are Ruslan Fedotenko's first choice. A source with the Wild just told me they are still in the running but a lot has to do with what Koivu does. Hearing we likely won't see any movement on Fedotenko until Koivu makes his intentions known, which should be very soon.

There's talk that the Carolina could be close to signing Taylor Pyatt, formerly of the Vancouver Canucks. Pyatt is a player the Penguins have looked into. The Canes have shown interest in Ruslan Fedotenko and Petr Sykora.

Nik Antropov has a lucrative offer on the table from the Atlanta Thrashers. He is also drawn interest from the Kings, Hurricanes, Stars, and Blues. The Rangers are believed to have been keeping in touch with his agent despite his $5 million a year asking price. If the price comes down, Rangers could make a late play for him.

It has been very quiet on the Alex Tanguay front but the New Jersey Devils have been kicking the tires on the Tanguay. Kings, Oilers, Canucks have also been getting mentioned but for the most part Tanguay isn't getting much play.

Rob Scuderi was one of several players that was involved with texting Brooks Orpik last year as he considered several offers. According to a source, now that Scuderi is on the verge of making a decision, his teammates are not making it easy for him. That he led to some talk that Scuderi may be leaning towards accepting the Penguins offer which is believed to be a four year offer but as of last night a deal wasn't close. Look for Stephen Bartlett the agent for Scuderi to try to get Pittsburgh to go five years. Scuderi is believed to be down to three teams.

Ruslan Fedotenko's top choice is to sign with the Minnesota Wild according to multiple sources but Fedotenko is in a holding pattern until the Wild receive word from Saku Koivu. The Wild are believed to have discussed a 3 year deal with Fedotenko but with only $7 million in cap space remaining, they may pull the offer if Koivu signs. Fedotenko is weighing a number of offers including the Penguins.

Main updates page isn't coming up right now so here is a run-down of today's action.

The Carolina Hurricanes have closed the door on a return for Chad Larose as Larose turned down a three year offer and the money saved by Larose looking elsewhere, has led to the Hurricanes making Fedotenko a three year offer.

Update on the trade talks we mentioned around 12:30 p.m. -- Penguins have tried to land winger David Moss. Calgary has been pushing Curtis Glencross. Nothing on that front right now but the Flames are interested in Godard and Dupuis.

Penguins have made a 1 year contract offer to a veteran goaltender. It is 2-way deal worth $685k at the NHL level according to multiple sources. Earlier in the day the Penguins inquired about Kevin Weekes.

The Minnesota Wild have signed Martin Havlat and Chuck Fletcher makes his big splash. Fedotenko still on the Wild radar and Havlat, Fedotenko are represented by the same agent but it remains to be seen if there will be enough space for Fedotenko or Scuderi once the Wild finalize a deal for Saku Koivu.

While Pittsburgh waits for Rob Scuderi, they are exploring Plan B options. One scenario the Penguins have explored is pursuing defenseman Nick Boynton. I'm told Pittsburgh has approached his camp about a the possibilty of a one year deal, a scenario similar to Ruslan Fedotenko last season; Opportunity to Increase market value for next year by playing with championship caliber team. Boynton is a player the Penguins have been high on for sometime but he will have to take atleast $900k-$1 million reduction in pay.

The Minnesota Wild are involved in negotiations with Allan Walsh the agent for Marty Havlat.

Brian Gionta has landed a five year deal worth $25 million with the Montreal Canadiens according to RDS.ca. It was very clear early in the day the Penguins were not going to be a player for Gionta who made $4 million per season.

As expected the New York Rangers have signed Marian Gaborik. They have been the favorites all afternoon. The deal is 5 years worth $37.5 million per TSN.

Scuderi is reviewing his offers and will trim his list down to three within the hour if he hasn't already, although a decision may not come tonight. Last I heard he had offers from the Minnesota, New York Rangers, LA Kings, Dallas Stars. There could be others but the Florida Panthers have made a late inquiry. Scuderi's camp expected the Islanders to join the sweepstakes once they missed out on Mike Komisarek but it has been very quiet from their end so far. Two teams in on Scuderi are also in on Francois Beauchemen.

Mathieu Garon has agreed to a two year deal with the Blue Jackets.

The LA Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild are among three teams expressing interest in both players. With both players represented by the same agent, it has led to speculation that both players could land at the same destination. Update on the rest of Fedotenko's suitors in a bit.

Strong interest in Ales Kotalik. Three suitors for Petr Sykora including the Penguins. TIOPS has the latest