While Brad Richards and his agent ponder the slew of offers put on the table yesterday, several other players inked deals in the first day of 2011 NHL free agency.

Philly hockey fans are known as some of the most dedicated and educated fans in the NHL. But after these past few weeks, if you’re a Flyers’ fan you better get a game program before settling into your seats this upcoming season to get familiar with the team’s revamped roster.

After GM Paul Holmgren dealt away two of his top forwards, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, so they could ink goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to a long-term deal last week, the team was one of the most active yesterday.

The team signed Jaromir Jagr, who returns after a stint in the KHL, and Maxime Talbot, and allowed forward Ville Leino to be picked up by the Buffalo Sabres. Leino has been a permanent fixture in the NHL since becoming one of several undrafted Euro players discovered by the Detroit Red Wings.

In addition to those moves, the Flyers also inked FA defenseman Andreas Lilja and let rugged forward Danny Carcillo test the free agent market.

Carcillo went to the Blackhawks; another team that has been totally remodeled this offseason. In addition to Carcillo, Chicago picked up forwards Andrew Brunette and Jamal Mayers and defenseman Sean O’Donnell, signing them all to one-year deals. Those moves come one week after GM Stan Bowman swung his salary cap axe, dealing defenseman Brian Campbell and Troy Brouwer to make room to shop yesterday.

Pulling a play out of the Detroit Red Wings book of success, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman concentrated on goaltending. A favorite for GM of The Year, Yzerman inked goaltender Dwayne Roloson to a one-year $3 million contract this past Thursday then picked up a great back-up, signing Blue Jackets FA Mathieu Garon to a two-year deal worth $2.6 million deal.

In other notable moves, defenseman Ed Jovanowski returned to his former Florida Panthers team to join Campbell and newly-signed FA goalie Jose Theodore while penalty kill specialist FA forward Marty Reasoner left Florida to join the NYI.

The list of players who decided they didn’t want to change lockers and signed with their current teams included Devils’ goaltender  G Johan “Moose” Hedberg (Flyers), RW Radim Vrbata (Coyotes), D Sami Salo (Canucks) and F Ruslan Fedotenko (New York Rangers).

See all Day One deals on NHL.com.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

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