There were several key free agent signings today.

First, another year, another backup in Vancouver, as the Canucks inked Andrew Raycroft. Raycroft went 12-16-0 with a 3.14 GAA and a .892 save percentage last season in Colorado. So what does this mean for Cory Schneider’s future in Vancouver? The 23-year-old netminder doesn’t have much left to accomplish in the AHL, where he won the Goaltender of the Year Award last season while losing to the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup Final in six games.

And it appears that Ottawa is still counting on a Dany Heatley trade, as they signed Alex Kovalev to a two-year, $10 million contract today. I refuse to believe any of the nonsense about Kovalev being a loafer or not a team player. He has the skills and experience to help a team make the playoffs. Unfortunately, that team is not the Senators, who are now around $2 million above the salary cap.

Lastly, Brian Burke and Francois Beauchemin are reunited and it feels so good, especially because Beauchemin gets a nice pay raise at $3.8 million per year for three years. Beauchemin is Burke’s guy, so this signing really comes as no surprise.

But does this signal the end of Tomas Kaberle in Toronto? Probably, although I would advise against it. Two defensive defensemen are in — Mike Komisarek and Beauchemin — while one offensive guy — Pavel Kubina — is already out.

If they traded Kaberle, they better get some serious offense in return. After all, the Leafs didn’t necessarily sign Colton Orr to score 20 goals this year.