FanHouse Brian Gionta

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When NHL free agency launched on Wednesday, there was near-immediate speculation that the Montreal Canadiens had come to a two-year agreement with forward Alexei Kovalev. Nothing was ever announced, and it quickly became clear that Montreal had no such agreement.

The Canadiens moved quickly on Wednesday, signing forwards Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta, and making it clear through that action that Kovalev wasn't a lock to return.

Since free agency started on July 1, the 30 NHL teams have invested over $400 million, whether it be signing an incoming free agent, or locking up their own players to long-term contracts.

If history has shown us anything, it's that some of these deals will prove to be bargains, while others will quickly lead to buyers remorse.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest contracts signed this offseason: Rick Nash, Marian Hossa, Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Marian Gaborik, Martin Havlat and the Sedin twins.

The Montreal Canadiens entered the offseason with the always dangerous combination of salary cap space and open roster spots. It didn't take Bob Gainey long to start reconstructing his roster, making the head-scratching trade for Scott Gomez and his gigantic contract on Tuesday, a move that was panned by pretty much every analyst/blogger/and fan outside of New York City.

On Wednesday, when the free agent frenzy officially opened, Gainey continued his roster overhaul, and essentially cornered the market on small, undersized forwards, and reunited Gomez with one of his former teammates from his New Jersey glory days.

It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Atlantic Division.

It will be an interesting summer for the five teams in the Atlantic. Four teams made the playoffs, including the eventual Stanley Cup champion, and the one team that didn't make it -- the New York Islanders -- holds the first pick in Friday's draft, which isn't a bad consolation prize. All around it was a pretty successful season for these five teams.

They might not be getting love on Versus or NBC, relegating live television coverage of their series to those who get NHL Center Ice or live in their respective areas.

However, there hasn't been a more competitive series than the one between Carolina and New Jersey. The teams were tied 1-1 heading into Game Three Sunday night, which became the second straight in the series to require overtime. After losing home-ice advantage with a 2-1 defeat Friday, the Devils took it back with a 3-2 overtime win Sunday in Raleigh.

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In a set of first round playoff series that look, at least on paper, to be more competitive than usual, the most hard-fought battle might be the one between the Devils and the Hurricanes. The teams entered the postseason at opposite ends of the spectrum -- the Devils waded through March like they were wearing cement boots, while the Hurricanes, despite losing their last two of the season, finished remarkably hot.

Tom Gulitti is the Devils beat writer for the Bergen Record and, as the voice of Fire & Ice, one of the best beat bloggers in the league. He took some time out to speak with FanHouse about the Devils and their first-round matchup.

NEWARK, N.J. -- As we wrap up our coverage of Tuesday's record-breaking night in New Jersey, it's important to note the symmetry and asymmetry alike between Martin Brodeur and Patrik Elias.

Brodeur, you may have heard, set the NHL's all-time wins record, but it wasn't the only record broken on the night. With an assist on Brian Gionta's shorthanded, game-winning goal, Elias surpassed John MacLean with his 702nd career point, making him the leading scorer in franchise history ("I was very excited. I think you could see that in me right away," he would comment later). That the players' two careers dovetailed, leading them both to milestone moments on the same night, is pretty remarkable considering the paths both players took to get here.

Devils 6, Sharks 5: In hindsight, NBC's decision to make the Rangers-Flyers game the national showcase on Sunday afternoon probably wasn't the best move the network could have made. Especially since the Sharks and Devils, the teams that were bumped, put on a goal-scoring clinic, including a three goal third period rally from New Jersey in its 6-5 win.

David Clarkson scored a pair of goals for the Devils, while Brian Gionta, Brian Rolston, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Patrick Elias also lit the lamp.

The Sharks have been mired in their worst slump of the season, losing six of their past seven games.

Devils 5, Thrashers 1: The Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never really looked back on their way to a 5-1 dismantling of Atlanta. At one point, the Thrashers were being outshot by a 22-5 margin in the second period, while they went 0-for-7 with the man advantage. Travis Zajac, John Madden, Zach Parise, David Clarkson and Brian Gionta all scored goals for the Devils, who have now won nine of their past 10 games. Atlanta has lost five of six.

Stars 10, Rangers 2: Sean Avery's old team dismantles what could be his future team, as the Stars erupt for five third period goals on their way to a 10-2 win. Rough night for Rangers goalie Steve Valiquette who was in net for all 10 goals.

Columbus goalie Steve Mason entered Friday's game in Colorado having registered three consecutive shutouts. He managed to keep the Avalanche off the board for 17 minutes, until Darcy Tucker snapped Mason's streak with his fifth goal of the season at the 17:20 mark of the opening frame. The 20-year old rookie posted 199 consecutive minutes of shutout hockey for Columbus, and Tucker's tally in the first period was the only goal he surrendered on the night, as he turned aside 23-of-24 shots in a 6-1 Blue Jackets win.

Mason has been a great story for the Blue Jackets, as he's pretty much carried them this season when you consider they've scored only nine goals in the eight games he's lost, including being shutout three times. He's allowed more than three goals only two times this season, and has yet to surrender more than four in a single game. Should be interesting to see how long he can continue to ride this hot streak.

As for the rest of the Blue Jackets, following Tucker's goal they pretty much took this game over and erupted for six goals over the final two periods. Rick Nash finished with a four-point night (penalty shot goal, three assists) while Kristian Huselius (two goals), Mike Commodore, Jakub Voracek and R.J. Umberger also scored for Columbus.

The win actually puts Columbus one-point ahead of Colorado for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, while the Blue Jackets are 3-0 to open their current six-game road trip, extending their winning streak to four games overall.