NHL Trades

Nashville - The Predators have signed forwards Mike Ribeiro and Cody Hodgson, and defenseman Barret Jackman. Ribeiro signed a two-year, $7 million contract just before the start of free agency at noon ET. Jackman signed a two-year, $4 million contract and Hodgson signed for one year and $1.05 million. Ribeiro was second on the Predators in 2014-15 with 62 points. He also had five points in six Stanley Cup Playoff games. He signed a one-year contract with the Predators in the summer of 2014 after having his contract bought out by the Coyotes. He's also been durable throughout his career. He played all 82 games in 2014-15 and in the past 10 82-game seasons he's played at least 75 games in eight of them; in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season he played all 48 games. The 35-year-old center has 217 goals and 718 points in 947 NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals, Coyotes and Predators. Hodgson, 25, received a buyout of his contract from the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, one day after being placed on waivers. He had career-lows of six goals and 13 points in 78 games last season, one season after he had career-bests of 20 goals and 44 points in 74 games. He signed for the same term and money that Ribeiro received from the Predators last summer after his buyout. Ribeiro claimed he was 'more than ecstatic'. I'm not surprised he was, with that new contract how much alcohol can he buy with that? Clearly he has been hitting the bottle again as he believes he has a realistic chance of winning the Stanley Cup with Nashville.
"It was a great season last year for me and for the Preds, and I'm just excited to come back with almost the same group and have the chance to win the Stanley Cup. I believe that the players we have, the team we have, from the top down that we have a chance to win and that was important for me."What more important than having a drink?

Montreal - The Canadiens have acquired Zack Kassian from the Vancouver Canucks for Brandon Prust and a fifth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Kassian, 24, had 10 goals and 16 points in 42 games for the Canucks last season. In 2013-14 he set career-highs with 14 goals and 29 points in 73 games. Taken by the Buffalo Sabres with the 13th pick of the 2009 draft, Kassian has 35 goals and 66 points in 198 games with the Sabres and Canucks.
Prust, 31, had four goals and 18 points in 82 games last season, and four points in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games. In eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, Coyotes, New York Rangers and Canadiens, Prust has 39 goals and 108 points in 451 games.

Colorado - The Avalanche believe they filled immediate needs by signing defenseman Francois Beauchemin and left wing Blake Comeau to free-agent contracts. Beauchemin, 35, signed a three-year contract that TSN reported is worth $13.5 million. He will play the left side with Erik Johnson on the Avalanche's top defense pairing. Comeau, 29, signed a three-year contract that has a reported worth of $7.2 million. Beauchemin played 64 games for Anaheim last season, when he had a career-high 11 goals, along with 12 assists and 48 penalty minutes. He led the Ducks in ice time, averaging 22:44 per game. He was plus-17 and blocked 107 shots. Beauchemin had nine assists and two penalty minutes in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games while averaging 25:24 in ice time.
Beauchemin, who won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007, is the second left defenseman acquired by the Avalanche in the past six days. Nikita Zadorov was acquired in the multiplayer trade Friday that sent Ryan O'Reilly to the Buffalo Sabres. Beauchemin and defenseman Brad Stuart, who turns 36 in November and has two years left on his contract, have played a combined 1,723 regular-season games and 239 playoff games.
Comeau, who is 6-1, 202, had 16 goals, 15 assists, 65 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 61 games last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had one goal and eight penalty minutes in five playoff games. He has 88 goals, 107 assists and 288 penalty minutes in 483 NHL games. The Avalanche chose not to re-sign center Daniel Briere or defensemen Jan Hejda and Ryan Wilson.

San Jose - The Sharks signed Paul Martin to a four-year contract, the club announced. The contract has an average annual value of $4.85 million, according to TSN. Martin, 34, spent the last five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had three goals and 20 points in 74 games with the Penguins in 2014-15. Martin could add a significant veteran presence alongside Brent Burns in San Jose. In 11 seasons with the New Jersey Devils and Penguins, Martin has 43 goals and 272 points in 697 games. He was selected in the second round (No. 62) in the 2000 NHL Draft by the Devils. Martin has five goals and 40 points in 85 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Edmonton - The Oilers have agreed to terms with defenseman Andrej Sekera on a six-year contract. Sekera's contract is reportedly worth $33 million, TSN reported, and will have an average annual value of $5.5 million per season.
Edmonton also agreed to terms with center Mark Letestu on a three-year contract. It carries an AAV of $1.8 million per season, Sportsnet reported.
Sekera, 29, had three goals and 23 points in 73 games split between the Carolina Hurricanes and Los Angeles Kings this past season. His team also produced 54.2 percent of the shot attempts (SAT%) when he was on the ice at even strength in 2014-15. A third-round pick in 2004 by the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera has 31 goals and 159 points in 486 NHL games. He has averaged more than 21 minutes per game in four of the past five seasons. His best season came with the Hurricanes in 2013-14, when he had 11 goals and 44 points in 74 games and averaged 23:41 per game. The Kings acquired Sekera before the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline for a first-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and defense prospect Roland McKeown. Letestu, 30, had seven goals and 13 points in 54 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2014-15. He had a career-high 34 points in 2013-14 with Columbus, and a personal-best 14 goals in 46 games in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

Calgary - The Flames signed Michael Frolik to a multiyear contract Wednesday. Terms were not released, but multiple media outlets reported it to be five years with an average annual value of $4.3 million. Frolik had 19 goals and 42 points in 82 games with the Winnipeg Jets last season. He also had 42 points in 81 games with the Jets in the 2013-14 season after winning the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13. The 27-year-old has 235 points in 512 career NHL games and 18 points in 38 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including 10 in 23 games with the Blackhawks in 2013. He also has been durable, missing four games in the past three seasons, including none in 2014-15.
The Flames also signed goalie Karri Ramo to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed, but it is believed to be worth $3.8 million. Ramo went 15-9-3 with a 2.60 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 34 appearances with the Flames last season as Jonas Hiller's backup. Hiller is still with the Flames. Ramo has a 32-24-7 record, a 2.63 GAA and .911 save percentage in 74 appearances in two seasons with Calgary. He returned to the NHL in 2013 after playing in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League for four seasons.
Philadelphia - The Flyers signed goaltender Michal Neuvirth to a two-year contract. Neuvirth, who will likely serve as the backup to Steve Mason, will be paid $1.5 million in 2015-16 and $1.75 million in 2016-17. In five games with the New York Islanders after getting traded from the Buffalo Sabres last season, Neuvirth, 27, had a 2.94 goals-against average and .881 save percentage. He had a .918 save percentage in 27 games with Buffalo prior to the trade. Neuvirth has a 2.73 GAA and .912 save percentage in 168 career NHL games spanning in seven seasons.

NY Islanders - The Islanders signed goaltender Thomas Greiss to a two-year contract and re-signed defenseman Thomas Hickey to a three-year contract on Wednesday Greiss' contract is worth $3 million and Hickey's is worth $6.6 million, according to Newsday. Greiss spent last season as the Pittsburgh Penguins' backup, appearing in 20 games for a 9-6-3 record with a 2.59 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. Hickey spent the last three seasons with the Islanders. He had two goals and 22 points last season and has missed one regular-season game in the past two seasons. Forward Kirill Petrov, a third-round pick (No. 73) by the Islanders in the 2008 NHL Draft, signed an entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. Petrov played for Kazan Ak-Bars in the Kontinental Hockey League, scoring 47 goals and 93 points during the past four seasons.

Phoenix - Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney announced today that the Coyotes have acquired center Boyd Gordon from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forward Lauri Korpikoski.

"We are very pleased to re-acquire Boyd Gordon. Boyd is an excellent defensive center who is one of the league's best in the face-off circle. He has a great work ethic and will add experience and leadership to our dressing room. We are excited to have him back."