NHL News

Vancouver - Jannik Hansen has signed a four-year contract with the Canucks, the team announced Sunday. The contract, which begins next season, will run through the 2017-18 season and is worth $10 million, according to multiple media reports. It is the same length and value as the contract Chris Higgins signed that begins this season. Hansen and Higgins could be the team's top wings on the second line in 2013-14. The 27-year-old Hansen had 10 goals and 27 points in 47 games for the Canucks. Hansen has 50 goals, 131 points and 131 penalty minutes in 315 career NHL games. He had 16 goals and 39 points in 2011-12, and his role with the team has continued to expand since collecting three goals and nine points during the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011.

 

New York - The Rangers made their final cuts before the regular season Sunday, and forward Chris Kreider was among them. Kreider saw exactly half of his ice time at even strength during the preseason with Rick Nash and Brad Richards, according to the line combinations tool at DobberHockey.com. It was the team's nominal top line during camp. The likely No. 1 center, Derek Stepan, was not practicing because he didn't have a contract, and wings Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin were still rehabbing injuries. The 22-year-old Kreider was a breakout star in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, making his NHL debut and scoring five goals in New York's run to the conference finals. He had only two goals and one assist in 23 games during his first regular season with the Rangers in 2012-13. The Rangers sent Kreider to Hartford of the American Hockey League, along with defensemen Stu Bickel and Conor Allen and other forwards Marek Hrivik, Oscar Lindberg, Brandon Mashinter and Darroll Powe. New York currently has 15 forwards on the active roster, but Callahan and Hagelin are likely to be placed on long-term injured reserve to start the season.

Toronto - Defenseman John-Michael Liles is among five players the Maple Leafs placed on waivers, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie and Pierre LeBrun. Liles, 32, had two goals and 11 points in 32 games for the Maple Leafs in 2012-13, and his average ice time (18:46) was his lowest in a season since 2009-10. He also appeared in four of Toronto's seven playoff games and averaged less than 16 minutes per contest. He has two more seasons beyond 2013-14 on his contract with a cap charge of $3.875 million per year. Should Liles clear waivers and report to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, the Leafs will only receive $925,000 of cap space relief per a stipulation in the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement. Prior to the new CBA, none of Liles' contract would have counted against Toronto's cap figure if he was in the AHL. Forwards Trevor Smith and Troy Bodie, defensemen Korbinian Holzer and T.J. Brennan and goaltender Drew MacIntyre were also reportedly placed on waivers by the Maple Leafs. If Liles and Holzer both end up with the Marlies, it increases the chances that 2012 first-round pick Morgan Rielly could begin the season with the Maple Leafs instead of the 19-year-old returning to his junior team in the Western Hockey League.

The Leafs also traded center Joe Colborne to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. The deal was announced a few hours after the Maple Leafs completed their preseason schedule by beating the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 on Saturday night. The Maple Leafs will receive a fourth-round pick from the Flames; however, that pick will become a third-rounder if Colborne scores 10 goals or 35 points in the 2013-14 regular season and Calgary qualifies for the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Colborne, 23, has one goal and six points in 16 NHL games during brief stints with the Maple Leafs in each of the past three seasons. He had three assists in six preseason games for Toronto this month. The 6-foot-5, 213-pound center a first-round pick by the Boston Bruins in the 2008 NHL Draft and was acquired by Toronto in February 2011 as part of the package that sent defenseman Tomas Kaberle to Boston.

"As an organization we have had many discussions this past year about Joe, but never made an offer," Flames general manager Jay Feaster said in a statement. "With the opportunity to speak with Brian Burke and learn about Joe's hockey sense and character from someone who had him as a player and knows him so well, it became clear to us that this is the type of young, big center we need. He fits in very well with our rebuild and provides size up the middle which we believe is critical going forward. The fact that he is from Calgary is an added bonus. We look forward to welcoming him to the Flames family."

 

Tampa Bay -  Jonathan Drouin, the No. 3 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, will not begin his NHL career just yet. The Lightning announced their final roster moves before the start of the regular season, and Drouin has been sent to the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Drouin had 41 goals and 105 points in 49 regular-season games and 13 goals and 44 points in 21 postseason contests for the Mooseheads in 2012-13, partnering with No. 1 pick Nathan MacKinnon to form one of the top duos in junior hockey. MacKinnon is not expected to go back to Halifax, so Drouin will need to find a new partner. He's almost certain to be a top player for Canada at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championships as well. The Lightning also sent Brett Connolly, the No. 6 pick in the 2010 draft, to Syracuse of the American Hockey League. Connolly played 68 games with the Lightning in 2011-12, but only five last season and has just five goals and 16 points in his NHL career. Other players sent to Syracuse include forwards Mike Angelidis, J.T. Brown, Nikita Kucherov and Dan Tyrell as well as defensemen J.P. Cote, Dmitry Korobov and Matt Taormina. Goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis was sent to Florida of the ECHL.

Carolina - The Hurricanes announced Sunday that forward Tuomo Ruutu has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Sept. 21. Ruutu missed the final two games of Carolina’s preseason schedule with a lower-body injury, which is not related to the hip injury he had last season. The Hurricanes open the regular season on Friday at PNC Arena against the Detroit Red Wings.