Toronto - Center Tyler Bozak is staying in Toronto and right wing David Clarkson is leaving New Jersey to join him. The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Clarkson to a seven-year contract, and Bozak has re-signed with them for five years and $21 million, the team announced Friday. Clarkson is from Mimico, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. It's the same hometown as Maple Leafs center Dave Bolland, who was acquired in a trade during the 2013 NHL Draft. Many people thought Bozak would be leaving Toronto after the Bolland trade, but now the Maple Leafs' top three centers are Nazem Kadri, Bozak and Bolland. Clarkson, 29, scored 15 goals and 24 points in 46 games for the New Jersey Devils in 2012-13. He scored a career-high 30 goals in 2011-12. Bozak, 27, had 28 points in 46 games in 2012-13 centering Phil Kessel, who led the Maple Leafs with 52 points in 48 games. Bozak has 134 points in 238 games, all with the Maple Leafs. The Devils signed Clarkson as an undrafted free agent in August 2005. He made his NHL debut during the 2006-07 season and became a full-time player for New Jersey in 2007-08. Clarkson has 97 goals and 73 assists for 170 points in 426 regular-season games. He has 14 points in 44 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including 12 in 24 games in 2012, when the Devils went to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings. The Maple Leafs also announced they have signed forwards Frazer McLaren and Trevor Smith, and defensemen T.J. Brennan and Kevin Marshall.
Columbus - The Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday announced the team has agreed to terms on a seven-year contract with forward Nathan Horton. TSN's Bob McKenzie reported the total value of the deal is $37.1 million, or an average annual value of $5.3 million per season. He also reported Horton will receive $30 million in the first five seasons of the pact."This is a team on the rise with great players and I'm looking forward to being a part of it," Horton told the team's web site.
Horton, 28, spent the past three seasons with the
Boston Bruins.
He had 13 goals and 22 points in 48 games for the Bruins in 2012-13,
and then had 19 points and a League-best plus-20 rating in 22 Stanley
Cup Playoff games. He helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011,
scoring the series-clinching goal against the Montreal
Canadiens in the opening round and the Tampa Bay Lighting in the
Eastern Conference Final. Horton had reportedly visited the city of
Columbus on Wednesday, and Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch
reported Friday morning the Blue Jackets were prepared to make a
long-term offer when the free agency window opened at noon ET.
Phoenix - The Phoenix
Coyotes have signed free-agent center Mike
Ribeiro to what a four-year contract, the team announced Friday.
TSN reports it is worth $22 million."We are thrilled to sign
Mike to a multiyear contract," general manager Don
Maloney said in a statement. "Mike is an elite playmaker
who has exceptional vision and creativity on the ice. He has
tremendous offensive skills with great patience with the puck. Our
head coach, Dave
Tippett, is very familiar with Mike's game and believes he will
be an excellent addition to our hockey club."
Ribeiro, 33, had 49 points in 48 games with the
Washington
Capitals as the team's second-line center. He was second to Hart
Trophy winner Alex
Ovechkin on the team in points and was 10th in the League. His 36
assists were fifth in the NHL. It also marked the second time in his
13 NHL seasons he averaged more than a point per game. Chosen by the
Montreal
Canadiens in the second round (No. 45) of the 1998 NHL Draft,
Ribeiro has 609 points in 785 games with the Canadiens, Dallas
Stars and Capitals. The Coyotes also announced they have
re-signed defenseman Michael
Stone to a three-year contract and defenseman Chris
Summers to a one-year contract. Per club policy, terms of the
deals were not disclosed. Stone set career highs in NHL games played
(40), goals (five), assists (four), points (nine) and penalty minutes
(16) in 2012-13. He finished the season with a plus-2 rating. Stone
also played 36 games with the Portland Pirates (AHL), Summers has
appeared in 29 games over three seasons with the Coyotes.
New Jersey - The New Jersey Devils were busy within the first several hours of the free-agent signing period and wound up with three forwards, including two who could play in their top-six. The Devils signed left wing Ryane Clowe to a five-year contract reportedly worth $24.25 million and right wing Michael Ryder to a two-year contract reportedly worth $7 million. New Jersey also signed winger Rostislav Olesz to a one-year contract reportedly worth $1 million. New Jersey also lost right wing David Clarkson, who signed a seven-year contract reportedly worth $36.75 million with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Devils re-signed forwards Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus on Thursday. "This is a good day for the Devils," general manager Lou Lamoriello told The (Bergen) Record.
Clowe, 30, will likely fill the power forward role
that Clarkson played. His contract carries a salary-cap charge of
$4.85 million. Clowe indicated during an interview with TSN that the
Devils were the team willing to give him the term he wanted on his
new contract. "I'm really excited … it's been an
interesting couple of days and I had good conversations with Lou
Lamoriello and [coach] Pete DeBoer," Clowe told TSN. "I
think New Jersey was pursuing the hardest. I wanted to stay in the
Eastern Conference, and playing in New York was great. A lot of it
was the term. That meant a lot for me. A lot of teams had interest,
but New Jersey stepped up with longer term."
Clowe produced 19 points in 40 games split between
the San Jose Sharks
and New York
Rangers in 2012-13. He had three goals and five assists in 12
games after being dealt to the Rangers on April 2, but injuries
limited him to two games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has 46
points in 70 career playoff games. Clowe told The Record that he has
been given a clean bill of health. "I feel great after
getting the time off after the season to relax and recoup. I'm
training hard, everything's normal, so I'm ready to go. It's a
five-year deal, I'm 30 years old, I feel like I’m kind of hitting
my prime, I have a lot of hockey ahead of me and I'm really excited
to join this team."
While Clowe becomes the gritty, powerful forward
the Devils needed to replace Clarkson, Ryder fills the hole Clarkson
left at right wing. Ryder had 35 points over 46 games combined
between the Dallas
Stars and Montreal
Canadiens in 2012-13. He was reportedly choosing between the
Devils and Boston
Bruins. Ryder won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011. He has
213 goals and 431 points in 677 career games. Olesz was issued a
compliance buyout by the Chicago
Blackhawks, making him an unrestricted free agent. He played only
six games with the Blackhawks in 2011-12. He did not play in the NHL
in 2012-13, but had 19 points in 14 games with the Rockford IceHogs
of the American Hockey League. Olesz scored all of his 132 points in
the NHL over 349 games with the Florida
Panthers from 2005-2011.
Edmonton - Andrew Ference needed a new home in the NHL. He found it in a familiar city. Ference has signed a four-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers, his hometown team, it announced Friday. The contract reportedly is worth $13 million and carries a $3.25 million annual salary-cap charge.
Ference and his wife, Krista, are from the
Edmonton area. "Obviously, I've got the nostalgia, but I'm
just excited about the situation they have now with the talent, a new
coach, a new attitude," Ference told TSN. "It's going
to be good."
Ference, 34, has been to the Stanley Cup Final
three times in his career and won it with the Boston
Bruins in 2011. He played the past six-plus seasons with the
Bruins after arriving in a trade from the Calgary
Flames on Feb. 10, 2007. Ference said he had interest from
several teams once he learned the Bruins were not going to re-sign
him. "Definitely Edmonton jumps off the page for us. My wife
grew up there, I was born there, we have family there. It's one thing
to have all that, but they have a situation with a ton of talent, a
lot of young guys, a team that just needs a little nudge over that
hump and it could be a pretty neat time. I've seen that before. I've
been fortunate to play in cities that care and love hockey and I
wanted to continue to do that."
Ference said he appreciated having time during the
past few days to talk to teams before officially signing a contract
after noon ET Friday. He said it gave him a chance to learn more
about the Oilers from general manager Craig
MacTavish and coach Dallas
Eakins. "That was what was really nice about that period,
teams can really communicate with the players about where they are
coming from, what their attitudes and visions are. I think it's a
good preview for them [teams] with the players as well, to get a
better feel of who you are. I thought it was great. It really gave me
a good opportunity to talk to them and get a feel for them. It made
me really excited about joining up with a group that isn't going to
leave anything to chance and will leave it all on the table, work
extremely hard to get that success."
Ference becomes the oldest member of a defense
corps in Edmonton that includes Justin
Schultz, Ladislav
Smid, Nick
Schultz, Jeff
Petry and Corey
Potter. The Oilers also acquired 23-year-old Philip Larsen in a
trade from the Dallas
Stars. Ference has played 760 regular-season games in the NHL and
has 198 points and a career plus-6 rating. He has played 120 Stanley
Cup Playoff games with 38 points and a plus-11 rating. He started his
career with the Pittsburgh
Penguins, who drafted Ference in the eighth round of the 1997 NHL
Draft. The Oilers also announced they have agreed to terms with left
wing Ryan Hamilton on a two-year contract.
Pittsburgh - The Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday signed free-agent defenseman Rob Scuderi to a four-year contract, with an average annual value of $3.375 million. Scuderi started his career with the Penguins, but had spent the past four seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. Scuderi was a fifth-round pick of the Penguins in the 1998 NHL Draft and spent his first five seasons with them. He and Hal Gill formed the team's top shut-down defense pairing when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009. That summer he signed a four-year deal with the Kings, and helped Los Angeles win the franchise's first Cup in 2012. Scuderi, 34, had 12 points in 48 games in 2012-13, while averaging 21:47 per game in ice time, third-most on the team. He was second on the team in the postseason with an average ice time of 23:48 per game. In 12 NHL seasons, Scuderi, 34, has 86 points and a plus-17 rating in 585 games.
Tampa Bay - Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman got to know Valtteri Filppula well as a player and as an executive with the Detroit Red Wings. Friday, Yzerman announced he has signed the Finnish center to play for Tampa Bay. "We are pleased to sign Valtteri to a five-year contract today," Yzerman said in a statement. "We feel he is an outstanding, all-around centerman who brings a winning pedigree to our organization. He fills a much-needed position for us at center and his skill, work ethic and character will make him a great addition to our team."
Filppula, who reportedly received a $25 million
deal, essentially will replace former Lightning captain Vincent
Lecavalier, who was issued a compliance buyout then signed with
the Philadelphia
Flyers. Filppula, who played one game with Yzerman (April 8,
2006) before the former Red Wings captain announced his retirement,
moves to Tampa Bay after playing seven full seasons in Detroit. He
had 17 points in 41 games in 2012-13 then six points in 14 games in
the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has 100 goals and 151 assists in 483
career games. Filppula won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008
and went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2009, when he had a
postseason-best 16 points in 23 games. Filppula's best season was
2011-12, when he put up 66 points on 23 goals and 43 assists in 81
games.
Nashville - Predators general manager David Poille said Sunday at the 2013 NHL Draft he was satisfied with his team's goaltenders and defensemen, but wanted to add to his forward corps. Poile didn't waste a lot of time Friday on the first day of free agency before doing just that. The Predators have agreed to a four-year contracts with wings Viktor Stalberg and Eric Nystrom, a two-year deal with center Matt Cullen and a four-year contract with center Matt Hendricks. The Predators also added a potential backup goaltender in Carter Hutton on a one-year, two-way deal. The deal with Stalberg is worth $12 million, per a team release, and TSN's Aaron Ward reported the Cullen contract is for $7 million. Joshua Cooper of the Tennessean reported the Predators have inked Hendricks, and ESPN the Magazine's Craig Custance reported the deal is for $1.85 million per season. Stalberg won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks this past season, chipping in with three assists in 19 playoff games for coach Joel Quenneville. The 27-year-old right wing had nine goals, 23 points and a plus-16 rating in 47 regular-season games for the Blackhawks, the team for which he spent the past three seasons. Stalberg was drafted in the sixth round (No. 161) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2006, collecting nine goals and 14 points with the Leafs in 2009-10. He has 52 goals and 104 points in 243 career regular-season games. Nystrom, 30, had seven goals and 11 points while playing in all 48 games in 2012-13 for the Dallas Stars. The No. 10 pick in the 2002 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames, he has 46 goals and 83 points in 408 NHL games for the Flames, Minnesota Wild and Stars. Cullen, 36, had seven goals and 27 points in 42 games for the Minnesota Wild this past season. He has 202 goals and 562 points in 1073 career NHL games, and won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Hendricks, 32, had five goals and eight points in 48 games for the Washington Capitals this past season. He has spent the past three years with Washington, playing mostly on the fourth line, but he was also akey figure on the team's penalty-killing unit and is one of the League's top players in the shootout. Hutton, 27, appeared in one game for the Chicago Blackhawks last season but spent most of the campaign with the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League. He was 26-22-1 record, a 2.72 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage with Rockford, and could be the backup to Pekka Rinne for Nashville.
NY Islanders - The New York Islanders on Friday re-signed goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to a one-year contract. Terms of the deal were not released, but Newsday reported the value at $3.25 million. The club also signed forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard to a one-year, $2 million contract and added depth forward Peter Regin. Nabokov, 37, went 23-11-7 with a 2.50 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in 41 games with the Islanders in 2012-13, helping the team make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. In 12 NHL seasons, Nabokov has 335 wins, third among all active goaltenders. In 646 games with the San Jose Sharks and Islanders, Nabokov has a 2.41 GAA, .912 save percentage and 55 shutouts, also third among active players. Bouchard, a first-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in the 2002 NHL Draft, had eight goals and 20 points in 43 games this past season. He has 106 goals and 347 points in 565 games over 10 seasons with the club. Regin, 27, played 27 games for Ottawa this past season, registering just three assists.
The New York Islanders on Friday re-signed defenseman Travis Hamonic to a seven-year contract. Terms of the deal were not released, but multiple media outlets reported the total value to be $27 million. Hamonic, 22, was a restricted free agent. He had 10 points in 48 regular-season games, averaging 22:48 per game of ice time. He had one assist in six Stanley Cup Playoff games. "We're building something special with the Isles," Hamonic told Newsday. "I would never have signed this long if I didn't truly believe that. Seven years is a long time, to me, that's enough time to win a couple Stanley Cups. … I just couldn't be happier right now. I'm speechless. I want to get started now and show how special our team will be." A 2008 second-round pick (No. 53) of the Islanders, Hamonic has 10 goals and 63 points in 180 games in his three NHL seasons, all with the Islanders.
Anaheim - The Anaheim Ducks on Friday signed center Saku Koivu to a one-year contract. Financial terms of the deal were not released. "We are happy to bring back a character player like Saku," Ducks general manager Bob Murray said. "At this stage in his career, his first priority is to win, and we are happy he's decided this is the place for him." Koivu, 38, had 27 points in 47 games in 2012-13, his 17th in the NHL.
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