NHL: Player News and Rumors (Thread finished)

Panthers sign Anderson as back-up
Sports Ticker
7/17/2006 5:12:42 PM

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) - The Florida Panthers continued the overhaul of their goaltending corps.

The Panthers on Monday agreed to terms with goaltender Craig Anderson, who was acquired in a June trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, on a one-year, $650,000 contract.

The addition of Anderson comes less than a month after Florida packaged starting goaltender Roberto Luongo for three players, including right wing Todd Bertuzzi and goaltender Alex Auld, in a draft-day deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

Auld, who became just the fourth goaltender in Canucks history to record 30 or more wins in a season with a 33-26-6 record, is slated to be the starter ahead of Anderson, who should fill the backup role with Jamie McLennan signing with the Calgary Flames.

"Craig is a talented goaltender who we are pleased to have on our club," Panthers general manager Mike Keenan said. "He is hard working and will play an important role in our team's success next season."

A third-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2001, the 25-year-old Anderson went 6-12-4 with a 3.32 GAA in 29 games, including 21 starts, last season.

In 56 career games over three seasons with Chicago, Anderson is 12-29-4 with a 3.19 goals-against average.
 

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Predators sign handful of free agents
Sports Ticker
7/17/2006 5:36:44 PM

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) - The Nashville Predators kept themselves busy Monday, signing four unrestricted free agents and keeping one of their own in the fold.

Among the players the Predators acquired was center Shane Endicott, who had been with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 24-year-old had one goal, one assist and 43 penalty minutes in 41 games.

Former Boston Bruin Pat Leahy also signed with Nashville. The 27-year-old right wing recorded four goals and four assists in 43 games.

The Predators also signed 25-year-old defenseman Nolan Yonkman, who had seven assists and 86 penalty minutes with the Washington Capitals this past season, and 27-year-old goaltender Karl Goehring, who split time in 2005-06 with San Antonio of the American Hockey League and Jokerit Helsinki of the Finnish Elite League.

Nashville also re-signed right wing Brandon Segal, who had 18 goals, 15 assists and 126 penalty minutes with Milwaukee of the AHL last season.
 

Blues Re-Sign Center Jay McClement; 8 Players Accept Qualifying Offers
St. Louis Blues Website
July 17, 2006

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues’ President John Davidson announced today the club has re-signed center Jay McClement to a multi-year deal. Davidson also announced that Eric Brewer, Jason Bacashihua, Jon DiSalvatore, Doug Lynch, Aaron MacKenzie, Tomas Mojzis, Peter Sejna and Jeff Woywitka have all accepted their qualifying offers.

“We are counting on Jay to take his game to another level this season as he should get more ice time in all situations,” said Davidson. “We are expecting all of our players who have signed their qualifying offers to have more impact with the Blues’ organization as they gain valuable experience.”

The Blues continue their Development Camp at Mills’ Ice Zone in St. Louis with on-ice workouts Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 11:30 am, and Saturday at 10:00 am. Former Blues’ All-Star Defenseman Al MacInnis continues to run the practices, which includes 2006, 1st overall pick Erik Johnson.
 

Peca closing in on deal with Maple Leafs
Canadian Press
7/17/2006 7:43:34 PM

TORONTO (CP) - The Toronto Maple Leafs were closing in on a deal with centre Michael Peca after meeting with the unrestricted free agent and his camp Monday, a source told The Canadian Press.

The Leafs and Peca have been courting each other for well over a week with both camps agreeing Toronto is a good fit for the 11-year NHL centre.

The 32-year-old Toronto native, a two-time Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's top defensive forward, makes his off-season home in Buffalo, making Toronto an ideal geographical location.

Peca, who earned $3.99 million US last season in Edmonton, rebounded with a strong second half and terrific playoff after a slow start to the regular season. He put up six goals, five assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 playoff games, winning key faceoffs and killing penalties, while centring a line between Fernando Pisani and Raffi Torres that was instrumental in the Oilers' magical run. He had nine goals and 14 assists in 71 regular-season games.

In Toronto, Peca fills one of the voids left by centres Jason Allison and Eric Lindros, the latter signing with Dallas on Monday. Allison, also an unrestricted free agent, isn't expected back with the Leafs.

Peca, who has 394 career points (160-234) in 693 regular-season games with Vancouver, Buffalo, the New York Islanders and Edmonton, was traded to Edmonton from the Islanders last Aug. 3 in exchange for forward Mike York and a fourth-round pick in last Saturday's entry draft.

Peca, a junior star with the Ottawa 67's, was also a member of Team Canada's 2002 Olympic champion team in Salt Lake City.
 

Wellwood reaches agreement with Leafs
David Shoalts - Globe and Mail Update
5:52 PM EDT ON 17/07/06

(The) Toronto Maple Leafs and Kyle Wellwood agreed on a two-year contract on Monday for the second-year centre, which could help in negotiations with free-agent Michael Peca.

Wellwood, 23, had 11 goals and 34 assists for the Leafs last season, his first full year in the National Hockey League. He signed for $800,000 (all figures U.S.) in 2006-07 and $950,000 in 2007-08, which is an average of $875,000 against the league's salary cap in the next two seasons.

By signing Wellwood, the Leafs now have two of their projected four centres under contract, which gives them a clear picture in their negotiations with Peca. Leafs general manager John Ferguson is also negotiating a long-term contract with Matt Stajan, 22, who will compete with Wellwood for the jobs as the third- and fourth-line centres.

Serious talks began yesterday between Ferguson and Peca's agent, Don Meehan. The Leafs have about $3-million left under the salary cap, since they do not want to spend more than $42-million of the $44-million cap.

The Leafs also announced that defencemen Carlo Colaiacovo, Jay Harrison and Brendan Bell all agreed to one-year contracts on Monday.
 

The Best of the Rest!!!

Here's a list that highlights the best UFAs still lurking out there, IMO, based on skill, experience, and name recognition. Some of these players have left for Europe, or are considering retirement. - KF72

Forwards
Jason Allison, Derek Armstrong, Zdenek Blatny, Peter Bondra, Jan Bulis, Valeri Bure, Matt Carkner, Anson Carter, Andrew Cassels, Martin Cibak, Mariusz Czerkawski, Alexandre Daigle, Eric Daze, Boyd Devereaux, Chris Dingman, Tie Domi, Jim Dowd, Radek Dvorak, Fedor Fedorov, Eric Godard, Travis Green, Todd Harvey, Jan Hrdina, Brad Isbister, Greg Johnson, Konstantin Koltsov, Oleg Kvasha, Viktor Kozlov, Mike LeClerc, Trevor Linden, Dean McAmmond, Shawn McEachern, Aleksey Morozov, Andrei Nazarov, Krzysztof Oliwa, Richard Park, Justin Papineau, Michael Peca, Yanic Perreault, Ronald Petrovicky, Erik Rasmussen, Mark Recchi, Martin Rucinsky, Geoff Sanderson, Brian Savage, Niklas Sundstrom, Jaroslav Svoboda, Petr Sykora, Vaclav Varada, Kyle Wanvig, Clarke Wilm, and Scott Young.

Defence
Tommy Albelin, Aki Berg, Jamie Allison, Sean Brown, Bob Boughner, Cory Cross, Nathan Dempsey, Eric Desjardins, Rory Fitzpatrick, Alex Henry, Sean Hill, Kenny Jonsson, Alexander Khavanov, Ken Klee, Brian Leetch, Bryan Marchment, Danny Markov, Jason Marshall, Brad Norton, Lyle Odelein, Tomi Pettinen, Ales Pisa, Steve Poapst, Jamie Pushor, Jamie Rivers, Todd Simpson, Jiri Slegr, Jason Strudwick, Radoslav Suchy, Dick Tarnstrom, Chris Therien, Igor Ulanov, Eric Weinrich, and Jason Woolley.

Goal
Ari Ahonen, Ed Belfour, Brian Boucher, Mike Dunham, Wade Flaherty, Dominik Hasek, Manny Legace, Steve Passmore, Martin Prusek, Steve Shields, and Jamie Storr.
 

Panthers agree to deal with Kolnik
TSN.ca Staff
7/17/2006 8:42:11 PM

The Florida Panthers have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with restricted free agent winger Juraj Kolnik.

The 25 year-old Czech had a career-best 15 goals and 35 points in 2005-2006 and he'll earn $950,000 this season.

Kolnik has 70 points in 176 career NHL games.
 

Buffalo's new jersey!

Buffalo Sabres
sabresjersey9rj.jpg


I only have one word for this new jersey...

Yuck!
 

It was only a matter or time

Maple Leafs agree to deal with Peca
TSN.ca with CP files
7/18/2006 11:35:16 AM

The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed free agent centre Michael Peca to a one year deal worth $2.5 million US.

The two parties have been courting each other for well over a week with both camps agreeing Toronto is a good fit for the 11-year NHL centre.

"Obviously being a Toronto kid goes without saying how big this is, but it goes deeper than that," Peca said Tuesday during a news conference. "My willingness to play in Toronto goes beyond being from Toronto, it's recognizing an organization that prides itself on wanting to win, and really taking every step necessary where they see fit to try to provide that for the fans."

The 32-year-old Toronto native, a two-time Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's top defensive forward, makes his off-season home in Buffalo, making Toronto an ideal geographical location.

"What we're adding now is some real solid two-way play, and guy that's really going to help us be a harder team to play against, and I think that's the bottom line for us," said Leafs GM John Ferguson. "We're going to be younger, quicker, and play a more up-tempo style."

Peca, who earned $3.99 million US last season in Edmonton, rebounded with a strong second half and terrific playoff after a slow start to the regular season. He put up six goals, five assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 playoff games, winning key faceoffs and killing penalties, while centring a line between Fernando Pisani and Raffi Torres that was instrumental in the Oilers' magical run. He had nine goals and 14 assists in 71 regular-season games.

In Toronto, Peca fills one of the voids left by centres Jason Allison and Eric Lindros, the latter signing with Dallas on Monday. Allison, also an unrestricted free agent, isn't expected back with the Leafs.

Peca, who has 394 career points in 693 regular-season games with Vancouver, Buffalo, the New York Islanders and Edmonton, was traded to Edmonton from the Islanders last Aug. 3 in exchange for forward Mike York and a fourth-round pick in last Saturday's entry draft.

Peca, a junior star with the Ottawa 67's, was also a member of Team Canada's 2002 Olympic champion team in Salt Lake City.
 
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