The Latest on NHL free agency (all times Eastern):
1:15 p.m.
The New York Rangers have landed the biggest fish in free agency by agreeing to terms with winger Artemi Panarin.
The team announced the contract with Panarin on Monday, about an hour after the market opened. The New York Islanders and Florida Panthers were among the other teams bidding for Panarin’s services.
Panarin has 116 goals and 204 assists for 302 points in 322 regular-season games with the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets. Panarin recorded a career-best 87 points last season with Columbus.
—
1 p.m.
The Florida Panthers have signed goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to a seven-year contract.
A person with knowledge of the signing says Bobrovsky’s deal is worth $70 million for a salary-cap hit of $10 million per season. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the team did not announce the terms of the contract.
Bobrovsky was Florida’s top free-agent target this summer, especially after last week’s retirement of longtime goalie Roberto Luongo. Bobrovsky has a 2.46 goals-against average over nine NHL seasons, the last seven of those with Columbus.
The two-time Vezina Trophy winner was second in the NHL with 37 victories last season and led the league with nine shutouts.
Panthers general manager Dale Tallon says Bobrovsky ”is an elite starting goaltender who has consistently proven to be one of the best in the NHL.”
– AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed
—
12:45 p.m.
A person with direct knowledge of the agreement says the Nashville Predators have added free agent forward Matt Duchene after agreeing to terms on a seven-year contract worth $56 million.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been officially announced.
Nashville is investing heavily to improve its scoring attack after posting the NHL’s worst power play and making a first-round playoff exit this past season.
In Chicago, the Blackhawks have agreed to a three-year contract with free-agent forward Ryan Carpenter.
The 28-year-old Carpenter spent the previous two seasons with Vegas. The deal with Chicago has an average annual value of $1 million. Carpenter had five goals and 13 assists in a career-high 68 games last season. He also won a career-best 52.6 percent of his face-offs, an area of concern for the Blackhawks.
Chicago has been active since missing the playoffs for the second straight year. It traded for defensemen Olli Maatta and Calvin de Haan, and brought back pesky forward Andrew Shaw in another deal with Montreal.
The Blackhawks also agreed to a two-year contract extension with forward David Kampf. The deal has an average annual value of $1 million.
– AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed
—
12:25 p.m.
The Minnesota Wild have signed free agent right wing Mats Zuccarello to a five-year, $30 million contract, seeking more consistent production from their top two lines after their streak of six straight trips to the playoffs was snapped this spring.
Zuccarello has 355 points in 511 NHL regular season games, including a combined 12 goals and 28 assists in 48 games for the New York Rangers and the Dallas Stars while averaging a career-high 19:51 of ice time per game in 2018-19. The 31-year-old also has 42 points in 73 career playoff games.
Zuccarello, a 5-foot-8, 184-pound Finn, played the first eight-plus seasons of his career with the Rangers. He signed with them as a 23-year-old free agent in 2010 and tallied 113 goals and 239 assists in 509 games, until he was traded in February two days before the deadline as the Stars stocked up for the postseason.
The Wild scored just 210 goals in 2018-19, the fifth-fewest in the league.
– In Columbus, the Blue Jackets have re-signed defenseman Ryan Murray to a two-year contract. The 25-year-old Murray, a restricted free agent, was a key blue-liner last year for Columbus despite missing the last 24 games with an injury. He set career highs for in assists (28), points (29) and plus-minus rating.
Murray has registered 13 goals and 88 assists in 320 career games since making his NHL debut in 2013-14.
– In Pittsburgh, the Penguins used some of their wiggle room under the salary cap created by trading Phil Kessel to Arizona to land Winnipeg forward Brandon Tanev during the opening day of NHL free agency.
Tanev signed a six-year deal with an average annual value of $3.5 million. The 27-year-old is coming off a career season with the Jets. Tanev collected 14 goals and 15 assists for Winnipeg, both career highs.
Tanev also brings a defensive element the Penguins are searching for after getting ousted by the New York Islanders in the opening round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford talked about the need for a culture change after the franchise’s earliest postseason exit of the Sidney Crosby era. Sending the productive but enigmatic Kessel to the Coyotes was step one. Bringing in Tanev to work in the bottom six forward group is step two.
—
12:15 p.m.
NHL free agency has begun with a flurry of deals.
The San Jose Sharks have agreed to a deal with restricted free agent forward Timo Meier. A person with direct knowledge of discussions said the sides came to agreement Monday just after the start of the free agency period. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced.
Locking up Meier was one of the top priorities in free agency after re-signing defenseman Erik Karlsson to an eight-year, $92 million contract last month.
Meier is coming off a breakthrough season when he became a fixture as a top six forward in San Jose. He had 30 goals and 36 assists in 78 games, making a major jump from his first full season when he had 36 points in 81 games.
In Canada, a former Oilers goaltender is going to Calgary and a former Flames goaltender is going to Edmonton. Another person with knowledge of the move says Calgary has agreed to sign Cam Talbot to a $2.75 million, one-year deal while Edmonton agreed to sign Mike Smith to a $2 million, one-year deal with incentives.
Talbot spent three-plus seasons with Oilers until being traded to the Flyers at the deadline. Philadelphia opted to re-sign Brian Elliott instead of Talbot.
Smith spent the past two seasons with the Flames.
– AP Hockey Writers Stephen Whyno and John Wawrow contributed
—
Noon
NHL free agency is under way with all eyes on Russian winger Artemi Panarin.
Panarin told the Columbus Blue Jackets a year ago he would not sign an extension and wanted to test free agency. The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers are among the teams that brought Panarin in for a free agent visit.
The 27-year-old recorded 28 goals and 59 assists for a career-high 87 points last season.
—
11:25 a.m.
Jimmy Vesey will be a member of the Buffalo Sabres, after all.
The Sabres gave up a 2021 third-round draft pick to acquire the third-year forward in a Monday trade with the New York Rangers. Vesey joins the Sabres three years after he turned down an opportunity to sign with Buffalo upon completing his college career at Harvard.
Buffalo acquired Vesey’s rights in a trade with Nashville in June 2016 in hopes they could sign college hockey’s 2016 Hobey Baker Award winner before he was eligible to become a free agent. He instead signed with the Rangers.
The Predators selected Vesey in the third round of the 2012 draft.
Vesey scored 17 goals and had a career-best 35 points in 81 games last season. Overall, he has 50 goals and 40 assists for 90 points in 240 NHL career games.
—
10:25 a.m.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed goalie Joonas Korpisalo to a one-year contract.
The 25-year-old Korpisalo was a restricted free agent who had a 10-7-3 record and 2.95 goals-against average in 27 games backing up Sergei Bobrovsky last season.
The signing comes at a time when the Blue Jackets are in jeopardy of losing Bobrovsky once the NHL’s free-agent signing period opens.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen says the upcoming season will provide Korpisalo ”a great opportunity to prove himself,” and is confident the goalie is ready for that challenge.
The Blue Jackets selected Korpisalo in the third round of the 2012 out of Finland. He has a 41-31-9 record in 90 career NHL games.
—
10 a.m.
The Dallas Stars have moved quickly to restore their forward depth.
A person with knowledge of the decision says the Stars have agreed to a deal with veteran winger Corey Perry. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the contract has not yet been signed. The NHL permits contracts to be signed beginning at noon Eastern.
The 34-year-old Perry was bought out by the Anaheim Ducks after a knee injury limited him to 10 points in 31 games.
Dallas will likely lose trade-deadline acquisition Mats Zuccarello, and the team let veteran center Jason Spezza walk in free agency. A person with knowledge of the move tells The AP that Spezza agreed to a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Stars may also be looking to sign center Joe Pavelski, the longtime San Jose Sharks captain.
– AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno
—
9:40 a.m.
A person with knowledge of the move tells The Associated Press the Toronto Maple Leafs have agreed to sign veteran center Jason Spezza to a one-year contract when free agency opens.
The 36-year-old Spezza is expected to sign for roughly the $700,000 NHL minimum salary. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday because contracts cannot be signed until noon Eastern time.
Spezza is a Toronto native entering his 17th season after spending the first 11 in Ottawa and past five in Dallas. He gives the Maple Leafs veteran depth. He had 27 points last season.
– AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno
—
9:15 a.m.
Two NHL rivals helped each other out of a jam by way of a trade in the hours before NHL free agency opened.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Cody Ceci, a 2020 third-round pick and minor leaguers Ben Harpur and Aaron Luchuk from the Ottawa Senators for defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, forward Connor Brown and minor leaguer Michael Carcone. The teams announced the trade early Monday.
The deal represents a much-needed change of scenery for Ceci, Zaitsev and Brown. Zaitsev had asked to be traded and waived his no-trade clause to complete the move across Ontario.
Salary cap-strapped Toronto, which still needs to sign restricted free agent forward Mitch Marner to a new contract, clears $6.6 million in space. Ceci is a restricted free agent who needs a new contract and has arbitration rights, but the Maple Leafs likely need him on their thin blue line.
Zaitsev is signed for $4.5 million a season through 2023-24. Brown has one year left on his contract and should get more ice time in Ottawa than in Toronto with its glut of talented young forwards.
—
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
Add A Comment