NHL: Player News and Rumors (Thread finished)

Flyers re-sign Niittymaki to new deal
TSN.ca Staff
7/5/2006 5:45:38 PM

The Philadelphia Flyers have re-signed goaltender Antero Niittymaki to a new one-year contract.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Antero Niittymaki has proven that he is a terrific, young goaltender," said general manager Bob Clarke in making the announcement. "Last year at the Olympics, he confirmed to everybody the high level of goaltending that he can play and we believe that he is going to play like that this upcoming season."

Niittymaki, 26, posted a 23-15-6 record, 2.97 goals-against average and .895 save percentage in 46 regular season games for the Flyers last season. He was tied for third among rookie NHL goaltenders in wins with 23. His 23 wins were the most by a Flyers rookie goaltender since Ron Hextall won 37 games during the 1986-87 season. Niittymaki also won a Silver Medal as a member of the Finnish National Team at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

A native of Turku, Finland, Niittymaki was originally drafted by the Flyers in the sixth round (168th overall) of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.
 

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Briere among Sabres going to arbitration
TSN.ca Staff
7/5/2006 6:18:59 PM

The Buffalo Sabres announced Wednesday that 12 players off their 2005-06 roster have filed for salary arbitration.

According to the team's website, Maxim Afinogenov, Tim Connolly, Daniel Briere, JP Dumont, Brian Campbell, Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman, Adam Mair, Paul Gaustad, Andrew Peters, Justin Pominville and Ales Kotalik will have their pay for next season decided by a third party.

The deadline for players to file for arbitration was 5pm et on Wednesday. Teams have until 5pm et on Thursday to take their players to arbitration.
 

Ducks re-sign McDonald
TSN.ca Staff
7/5/2006 6:26:19 PM

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Anaheim Ducks have re-signed centre Andy McDonald to a three-year contract.

As per club policy, no financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

McDonald, 28, appeared in his sixth NHL season in 2005-06. He played in all 82 regular season games finishing Tied for 20th in the NHL in points, while earning career highs in goals (34), assists (51) and points (85). McDonald finished first on the team in assists and game-winning goals (7) and second on the team in goals, points, power play goals (13) and plus/minus (+24).

The 5-11, 186-pound centre ranked sixth in the NHL in faceoff win percentage, winning 56.3%. He also recorded the longest road point scoring streak in the league this season and the longest in franchise history with points in 14 straight, Jan. 6 to March 7.

In his six seasons with Ducks, McDonald has earned 165 points in 276 career games. He was signed by Anaheim as a free agent on Apr. 3, 2000.
 

Panthers agree to terms with Allen, Mezei
TSN.ca Staff
7/5/2006 7:00:32 PM

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers have agreed to terms with defencemen Bryan Allen and Branislav Mezei.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Allen, 25, was acquired by the Panthers in a trade from Vancouver on June 23 along with forward Todd Bertuzzi and goaltender Alex Auld. Allen posted career highs last season in games played (77), goals (7), assists (10) and penalty minutes (115).

For his career in the NHL, Allen has played in 216 games all with Vancouver, registering 32 points (14-18-32) and 288 PIM. He was drafted by Vancouver with their fourth overall pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

Mezei, 25, appeared in just 16 games with the Panthers last season, after suffering a torn MCL on Nov. 9 vs. New York Rangers. The Nitra, Slovakia native has played in 72 games in three years with the Cats recording 10 points (2-8-10) and 127 PIM.

The Panthers acquired Mezei from the New York Islanders in exchange for Jason Wiemer on July 3, 2002. For his career in the NHL, he has played in 138 contests scoring three goals with 14 assists and 192 PIM.

''Both Bryan and Branislav are big and physical defencemen who we are pleased to have come to terms with,'' said Panthers general manager Mike Keenan. ''Both players will play important roles on our club this year and we are confident that they will provide us with solid play along the blueline.''
 

This one hurts less than Spacek, but only a little.

Coyotes sign Georges Laraque
TSN.ca Staff
7/5/2006 8:09:57 PM

The Phoenix Coyotes have signed winger Georges Laraque to a three-year contract.

The deal also included a no-trade clause.

Laraque had two goals, ten assists and 73 penalty minutes in 72 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season.

In 490 career games (all with Edmonton) Laraque had compiled 43 goals, 68 assists and 826 penalty minutes.
 
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Senators sign Ray Emery to one-year deal
TSN.ca Staff
7/5/2006 9:56:02 PM

The Ottawa Senators have signed goaltender Ray Emery to a one-year deal worth $925,000.

The 23-year-old Emery had a record of 23-11-4 with the Senators last year with a .902 save percentage and a 2.82 goals against average.

In ten playoff games he was 5-5 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.88 goals against average.

Emery took over the starting job in Ottawa after Dominik Hasek injured his groin in the Olympics.

The Senators have already signed goaltender Martin Gerber to a three-year deal worth $3.7 million.
 
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From DallasNews.com

Stars sign Ott to a two-year deal
Deals with Barnaby, Halpern finalized
07:46 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 5, 2006
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News

The Stars have signed restricted free agent forward Steve Ott to a two-year deal, the team is expected to announce today.

Ott will get a raise from the $582,960 he made last season as he will make $775,000 in 2006-07 and $800,000 in 2007-08, according to the NHL Players Association.

Ott, who will turn 24 in August, had five goals and 17 assists in 82 games last season. He is expected to take a bigger role in the future.

"I think with his maturity comes more responsibility and more opportunity," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "He will get the chance to be in important situations and how he performs in those situations will dictate if he gets an even bigger bite."

Ott said he's ready for the step up.

"I definitely feel the challenge and want the challenge," he said. "I think you can sense by the way the team is building that there is going to be opportunity there for younger players and I definitely want to take the bull by the horns."

The Stars also finalized the deal to sign unrestricted free agent Matthew Barnaby and finalized a four-year deal for center Jeff Halpern for $2 million per season.

Barnaby will make $625,000 and said he is looking forward to playing on a team with a history of making the playoffs.

"I like that they are always trying to win the Stanley Cup and are always in the running for that," he said. "To me, it's important to be on a team with high expectations."

Barnaby, who has played as high as the second line in New York and Buffalo, said he is open to anything in Dallas.

"I understand there is the chance I could end up on the fourth line playing five minutes a game, and I want to make those the best five minutes I can play," he said. "But I also like the fact that if I can prove I deserve the minutes that I can get the chance to play more."

Barnaby, 33, had eight goals and 20 assists in 82 games with Chicago last season. He had 41 points and 36 points in his two previous seasons with the Rangers and Colorado.
 

From NHLPA.com

69 Players Elect Salary Arbitration
Toronto (NHLPA) – The following players have elected salary arbitration:

Anaheim Ducks
Chris Kunitz
Vitaly Vishnevski

Atlanta Thrashers
Niko Kapanen

Boston Bruins
David Tanabe

Buffalo Sabres
Maxim Afinogenov
Daniel Briere
Brian Campbell
Tim Connolly
Jean-Pierre Dumont
Paul Gaustad
Ales Kotalik
Toni Lydman
Adam Mair
Andrew Peters
Jason Pominville
Henrik Tallinder

Chicago Blackhawks
Mark Bell
Kyle Calder
Mikael Holmqvist
Jim Vandermeer
Radim Vrbata

Colorado Avalanche
Brett McLean
John-Michael Liles

Columbus Blue Jackets
Jason Chimera

Detroit Red Wings
Daniel Cleary
Jason Williams

Edmonton Oilers
Ales Hemsky
Shawn Horcoff
Jarret Stoll

Florida Panthers
Bryan Allen (avoided arbitration by signing today)
Craig Anderson
Jay Bouwmeester
Richard Jackman
Juraj Kolnik
Steve Montador
Mike Van Ryn
Stephen Weiss

Los Angeles Kings
Sean Avery
Eric Belanger
Michael Cammalleri

Montreal Canadiens
Michael Ryder

Nashville Predators
Martin Erat
Adam Hall
Scott Hartnell
David Legwand

New Jersey Devils
Scott Gomez

New York Islanders
Arron Asham
Mike York

New York Rangers
Dominic Moore

Ottawa Senators
Martin Havlat
Chris Kelly
Chris Neil
Peter Schaefer
Antoine Vermette

Philadelphia Flyers
R.J. Umberger

Phoenix Coyotes
Mike Comrie
Ladislav Nagy
Dennis Seidenberg

Pittsburgh Penguins
Ryan Malone
Brooks Orpik

San Jose Sharks
Mark Smith

Tampa Bay Lightning
Ruslan Fedotenko
Cory Sarich

Washington Capitals
Matt Bradley
Ben Clymer
Rico Fata
Shaone Morrisonn
Matt Pettinger
Brian Sutherby
 
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Current salary commitments

Hunted down from info on TSN's site, July 5th 2006 @ 9:45 pm. This info does not account fo rplayers they are still talking to as far as I know.

Canadian Teams only

Edmonton Oilers: $22,559,400
Calgary Flames: $40,422,200
Vancouver Canucks: $33,870,000
Montreal Canadians: $30,044,800 (+ one player at undisclosed amount)
Ottawa Senators: $35,027,600
Toronto Maple Leafs: $36,492,180

I have to wonder exactly what Edmonton is waiting for. They have plenty of cap room to work with, though I suppose they are still talking to several key players. Still, Laraque and Spacek probably would not have put that much more pressure on their cap space relative to the maximum.

There are a few possiblities for the current situation which make sense.
1) Edmonton has no plans to get that close to the cap maximum.
2) The UFA players that Edmonton has not yet locked down are going to be very expensive.
3) Edmonton is keeping the cap room open to land a few very expensive players.

#1 may be likley, but that will just make them the whipping boys in the North West. To let themselves tank the year after a cup final appearance would result in the fans lynching the front office.

#2 is quite probable, but that still leaves some room open under the cap.

#3 simply makes no sense at this point, since there cannot be that many high profile / high paycheque players left worth having.

Edmonton is probalby up to something. But damned if I can figure it out.

END COMMUNICATION
 

At first, I found it amusing that the team that's traditionally had the lowest payroll in Canada is now the highest. Then I realized that's because the Flames have their lineup pretty much signed (they could use a #6-7 d-man, but Ritchie Regher can fill that roll). The other teams can't say that yet.
 

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