NHL News

Phoenix - The Coyotes signed Mikkel Boedker to a one-year contract Tuesday, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing. Boedker had 14 goals and 14 assists in 45 games last season. He had surgery to remove his spleen in January and missed the rest of the season. He became a restricted free agent on July 1. Boedker's salary-cap charge will be $3.75 million, according to Sportsnet.
GM Don Maloney: "We are pleased to sign Mikkel. He is an important player for us and we look forward to having him back next season."

Dylan Strome, the third pick at the 2015 NHL Draft, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Coyotes on Monday, Maloney announced. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. Strome led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring for the 2014-15 season. The 18-year-old center had 129 points (45 goals) in 68 games for the Erie Otters. Strome, whose older brother Ryan plays for the New York Islanders, is 6-foot-3, 187 pounds and shoots left-handed.

Washington - The Capitals have re-signed center Evgeny Kuznetsov to a two-year, $6 million contract, general manager Brian MacLellan announced Monday. Kuznetsov, who became a restricted free agent July 1, had 37 points (11 goals) in 80 games with the Capitals in 2014-15, his first full season in the NHL. In 14 games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he had seven points (five goals), and his 42 shots on goal were second on the Capitals to Alex Ovechkin's 61.
Kuznetsov, 23, scored the game-winning goal against the New York Islanders in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round; he had two goals and an assist in Game 5 after being held without a point the first four games of the series.
Washington drafted Kuznetsov in the first round (No. 26) at the 2010 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut March 10, 2014, after remaining with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League for four seasons after the Capitals selected him; he had three goals and six assists in 17 games in 2013-14.
Washington signed Justin Williams to a two-year, $6.5 million contract and acquired center T.J. Oshie in a trade with the St. Louis Blues last week.
MacLellan expects the addition of Williams, a three-time Stanley Cup winner, will benefit Kuznetsov.
"I think he'll have a big effect on Kuznetsov and [Andre] Burakovsky, and I also think he'll have a good effect on Ovi and [Nicklas] Backstrom. It's good to have a guy that has won Cups and been through the wars as he has. He's won three Cups, so I think he'll have a big influence on our forward group."
Capitals goalie Braden Holtby and Marcus Johansson, each a restricted free agent, filed for salary arbitration Sunday. Holtby, 25, was 41-20-10 with a 2.22 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage and nine shutouts last season, and Johansson had 20 goals and 27 assists. Holby's agent told The Washington Post he expects the 25-year-old goalie will sign a long-term contract with the Capitals this summer. Washington is approximately $11.4 million under the NHL's $71.4 million salary cap for the 2015-16 season after the Kuznetsov signing, according to war-on-ice.com.

Buffalo - When Jack Eichel, the second pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, took his first strides on the ice at First Niagara Center on Monday during the first day of Buffalo Sabres development camp, he was greeted by a chorus of cheers and a line of cameras eager to capture the moment. Eichel, who signed his three-year, entry-level contract July 1, was part of the first group of Sabres prospects to take the ice and go through various practice drills with Buffalo coaches. Being greeted by a crowd of more than 1,000 fans didn't catch Eichel off guard.
"It was pretty cool. It was definitely kind of a special moment. It was a great feeling to finally be out there, just get skating again. A little bit of rust, but it was just great to be on the ice. Not [surprised] in Buffalo. I figured that there'd be a lot of people here for a practice open to the public. I'm not surprised at all with the turnout."

With the draft behind him, development camp is the next step on Eichel's road to the NHL. He's joined in camp by the second pick from the 2014 draft, center Sam Reinhart. Eichel and Reinhart are roommates during the weeklong camp.
"[The attention] doesn't stop, and he knows that. I didn't know him before this week, and watching him go through all that draft stuff, he handled it phenomenally. He's a mature guy and he knows exactly how to conduct himself both on and off the ice. And at the end of the day, his on-ice stuff does reflect off the ice as well."

Eichel and Reinhart played against each other during the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. Reinhart and Canada defeated Eichel and the United States 5-3 during the preliminary round of the tournament. Canada went on to win the gold medal, and the U.S. finished fifth.
"There's not much you can say. I think we were matched up, if you can even say that, in that game. There weren't really matchups; it was kind of a scramble. But we did see each other a lot. There's no question we battled out there. He's not the easiest guy to contain down low. I'm getting to know him very well this week. He's a great guy. I've known him for a couple of days now, so to see both sides of it, and unfortunately I'm not on his team this week, but hopefully that changes soon."
Among the other prospects at development camp was Evan Rodrigues, Eichel's teammate at Boston University last season. Rodrigues signed with the Sabres on April 22. Eichel was the first player from the 2015 draft class to sign his NHL contract, deciding on professional hockey rather than returning to college for another season. With the contract out of the way, getting back on the ice became Eichel's priority. Eichel led all NCAA players with 71 points in 40 games last season; his 1.77 points-per-game average was the best by a college freshman since Paul Kariya's 2.56 in 1992-93 at the University of Maine. Eichel joined Kariya as the only freshmen to win the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA player.
"It's tough when you're doing that to get into a routine of skating and working out, getting comfortable somewhere," Eichel said. "Now that development camp's here, I'm back on the ice, back working out every day, trying just to get acclimated to one place. It's the first taste of being someone who is highly touted, I would say. People have been talking. Obviously there's a lot of expectations around me, but it's something I try not to focus on. I'm just trying to go out there, be myself on the ice every day, try to get better, be myself around the guys in the locker room. I think that's what's made me successful and the person that I am."

Edmonton - Connor McDavid put on a show for about 7,300 fans Monday at Rexall Place during a 4-on-4 intrasquad scrimmage for Oilers prospects. The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft had three goals in two 20-minute halves of 4-on-4 play, then scored two more in seven minutes at 3-on-3, leading his team to an 8-6 win. The scrimmage, dubbed the Billy Moores Cup after a former Edmonton assistant coach, ended the Oilers' six-day orientation camp.
"It was fun. Anytime you get a chance to play in front of fans like that, it's always exciting. It was pretty competitive, just with the guys that we had, and they made a lot of great plays out there."

The orientation camp gave McDavid and the rest of the prospects a chance to familiarize themselves with the Edmonton staff and facilities. It was the first time McDavid skated as a member of the Oilers since being drafted June 26.
Edmonton won the No. 1 pick at the NHL Draft Lottery on April 18. Since then, the Oilers have made several significant changes, including hiring Peter Chiarelli as general manager and Todd McLellan as coach.
In addition to allowing Oilers fans their first in-person glimpse of McDavid, the camp helped the Newmarket, Ontario, product familiarize himself with the city.The Oilers have not qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2006, but McDavid's arrival has created a sense of optimism in the city.
"I think this week gave me more of an understanding on how excited they are about the Oilers in general. They should be excited; there has been a lot of great changes, and they've brought in a lot of great hockey minds. They made a couple of trades and signed a couple of free agents that are very good players. I think there are a lot of reasons to be excited about this franchise moving forward."
With the orientation camp over, McDavid will return to Ontario to prepare for training camp in September. He'll join a team with a strong core of young, talented players, including Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov.
"If I make the team and I'm part of the team next year, then being with those guys will be great. Most hockey guys are great guys, and I've heard nothing but good things about everyone in this locker room. I've met a couple of them. I train with Teddy Purcell and Derek Roy if he's back. A couple of guys I've met just through Hockey Canada events. [Oilers captain] Andrew Ference was here this week, and I got a chance to sit down with him. I think it's been very good. I think I've been getting to know the guys a little better and it's been good."
Coming to Edmonton, McDavid will not be expected to single-handedly turn the fortunes of the Oilers, who will try to insulate their talented rookie as best they can next season.