Montreal Canadiens' Andrei Markov is set to become an official Canadian! Â On Friday, July 16th, Markov will stand and take an oath that makes him a Canadian citizen. Â He has played his entire 10-year career with the Habs and though he has battled injuries these past two seasons, he is still an elite option on the backend, especially on Montreal's power play. Â Fantasy managers and poolies should play up his injuries and the fact he could be a Russian spy in hopes that this drops his draft ranking... Psst - pass the vodka.
The Minnesota are wild about their young captain Mikko Koivu and have given him a seven-year contact extension worth $47.25 million and includes a no-trade clause (does it mean anything anymore since Manny Malhotra got one?). Anyways, the Finnish phenom carries a somewhat high $6.75 million per year cap hit, but isn't the typical long-term contract being handed out nowadays; it has an annual base salary will be $5.4 million with bonuses of $1.89 million paid every other year and a double instalment to raise the figure to $9.18 million in the final season.  What does this mean to fantasy owners?  Well, unlike some long-term contract holders (see Roberto Luongo or Marian Hossa who's contract totals dwindle near the end of the term), Koivu will most certainly be playing with the Wild at the end of his contract.  Though that's not until the 2017-18 season, dynasty owners can plan around his teammates - just bookmark this page as a reminder until then.
Another career will try to be jumpstarted in the KHL, as Pavol Demitra has signed a one-year deal to skate in the Russian league with Yaroslavl. After starting his two-year contract in Vancouver with a 20-goal, 53-point campaign (in 63 games), Demitra just wasn't healthy in that second year or was off for personal time (his wife was ill). The only time he shined during the 2009-10 season was in the Olympics where he was named one of the tournament All-Stars for his inspired play that lead Team Slovakia to a fourth place finish. The key thing here is that there is still a place for this talented player, more as a mentor than a point producer - just look at the work he (and Mats Sundin) did with Ryan Kesler, helping him find the next step in his offensive game.
Brendan Mikkelson took the money on the table ($687,500 for one year) and will likely be a regular on the Ducks blue line in 2010-11, if as a bottom pairing. Â He has some upside offensively, and could find a role on the power play, so keep him in mind late in deep drafts if he has a good pre-season showing.
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