Jaromir Jagr to the Philadelphia Flyers and 10 Deals We Still Can't Believe

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It has been a wild and crazy NHL free agency so far.  Long and expensive contracts was the name of the game this offseason, with several teams dishing contracts that could make or break their team.

We have also seen some trades and acquisitions that came out of nowhere. 

The San Jose Sharks decided that two straight Western Conference Final appearances were not enough, so they re-tooled.  The Minnesota Wild will benefit from that.

However, the craziest part of this free agency was whatever deal the Philadelphia Flyers were involved with.

Coincidentally, they appear several times on this list.

Here are the ten most unbelievable deals this offseason.

 

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10. Semyon Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche

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Heading into this offseason, the Colorado Avalanche did not have a legitimate goaltender, which was why acquiring a goalie was on the top of their list.

The Avalanche did sign Jean-Sebastien Giguere early in free agency, but when they also traded for Semyon Varlamov from the Capitals, it did not add up.

Colorado traded their first and second round draft picks in 2012 for Varlamov.

Not only is Varlamov unproven still in the NHL, but the Avalanche must have not gotten the memo that decent goaltenders can come keep in hockey. 

Now the Avalanche have two semi-decent goalies and no significant draft picks in 2012.

9. Ville Leino to the Buffalo Sabres

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The Buffalo Sabres have been big spenders this offseason, and Leino is one of those players whose salary rose a considerable amount because of it.

Leino signed a six-year, $27 million contract with Buffalo this offseason.

The 27-year-old's contract is moderately shocking because of the fact that just days earlier the Sabres had unloaded on a contract with defenceman Christian Ehrhoff for 10 years and $44 million.

Not to mention that Leino scored a total of just 19 goals in 2010-11.

8. Ilya Bryzgalov to the Philadelphia Flyers

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It seemed like a franchise-changing deal at the time, but the Flyers trade for goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov has taken a bit of a hit as of late.

The Flyers came into this offseason thinking they were just a goaltender short of heading back to the Stanley Cup Finals.

So they traded for Brygalov's negotiating rights.

However, in order to sign the proven netminder to the elusive nine-year deal, the Flyers would have to unload.

They traded both Mike Richards and Jeff Carter in order to make room for Bryzgalov's contract.

7. Christian Ehrhoff to the Buffalo Sabres

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This may piggy-back Ville Leino's deal with the Sabres, but Ehrhoff was the largest free agent deal this offseason.

Buffalo signed him for 10 years and $40 million.

This was just the beginning for the Sabres has they would unload again on Leino.

Ehrhoff will earn $4 million every year until he is 39 years old, except that he gets an $8 million signing bonus next season and a $5 million bonus the following season.

The 29-year-old is good, but the length and weight of this contract will grow doubters.

6. Brent Burns to the San Jose Sharks

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Burns was just coming into his own the NHL after a career high 46-point season in 2010-11.  That season came after two previous ones that had limited him due to a misdiagnosed concussion.

Still, the 26-year-old made his first All-Star team and was set to be a staple on the Minnesota defense for some time.

However, the Sharks had other ideas by offering up speedy scorer Devin Setoguchi, prospect Charlie Coyle and their first round draft pick for Burns.

It was hard for the Wild to turn that down.

Minnesota would get a young scorer and a possible phenom forward.  They could not ask for much more.

Overkill for the Sharks?

Possibly, but San Jose had to pay the price for the solid, young defenceman that the team so badly needed.

5. Brian Campbell to the Florida Panthers

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Not many figured that the Blackhawks would ever get out of Brian Campbell's eight-year, $56 million deal that the team signed him to back in 2008.

In fact, it was not even the current Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman that signed him, which made the debacle a lot more sticky.

It was GM Dale Tallon who was fired by Chicago back in 2009 and replaced by Bowman.

Now, Tallon is with the Florida Panthers, and who better for Bowman to negotiate with about Campbell than the man who originally signed him?

Tallon and the Panthers took on the last five years of Campbell's contract back in June in exchange for Rostislav Olesz.

The Blackhawks are able to breathe again.

4. Dany Heatley to the Minnesota Wild

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The San Jose Sharks had been to back-to-back Western Conference Finals, but the feeling in San Jose was that was not enough.

Certainly they would not trade any of the core that is Marleau, Thornton and Heatley.

Sharks GM Doug Wilson traded Heatley and his $7.5 million cap hit to the Wild in exchange for Martin Havlat and his $5 million cap hit.  Both had just about identical seasons, except that Havlat had a terrific season and Heatley had his worst in several years.

The Wild got their franchise player and the Sharks got a speedy winger with a lower cap hit.

Both teams benefit for now, as long as Heatley does not regain his scoring form from years ago.

3. Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets

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It did not take much to understand that the Flyers were locked in limbo with Bryzgalov's contract, and the only way out was to deal a hefty contract on their roster.

That player was Jeff Carter, although another core player would be dealt before him.

Carter to the Blue Jackets was the Flyers' last bold move to empty the contracts of several of their most important players.

However, at the beginning of the offseason, they needed a goalie.  Now, they need a lot more than that if they are to contend in the Eastern Conference.

2. Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings

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It is one thing to unload contracts in order to help solidify the goaltender position, but it is another to totally start over without the core of a once very competitive team.

When the Flyers traded for the negotiation rights to Ilya Bryzgalov, they were immediately stuck between signing the netminder long-term, as he wanted, or departing with some of the team's premiere players.

Signing Bryzgalov to a nine-year contract was the final straw, and the Flyers said goodbye to Mike Richards. 

The Kings were more than happy to take him off their shoulders.

1. Jaromir Jagr to the Philadelphia Flyers

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Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has had one of the more talked about offseasons, as he dealt the core of Richards and Carter, while signing the goalie Bryzgalov.

Holmgren made more waves when he signed Jaromir Jagr to a one-year, $3.3 million deal.

If signing a 39-year-old who has not played in the NHL since 2008 does not sound crazy enough, it isn't.  at least if we do a little research into it

Jagr still can play and had a pretty good KHL, scoring 53, 42 and 51 KHL points in three seasons.

It will be interesting to see what he can do in Philadelphia in 2011-12.