Hurricanes sign Kaberle to three-year deal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Dave Gross, Postmedia News July 5, 2011

 

   

Tomas Kaberle has signed three-year, $12.75 million US deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Photograph by: Andy Clark, Reuters

The National Hockey League off-season is proving to be not much of an off-season.

It was another busy day Tuesday on the signings front.

Tuesday’s highlights included Stanley Cup winner Tomas Kaberle signing a three-year, $12.75 million US deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Kaberle, 33, was a late-season addition to the Boston Bruins after playing the previous 12 seasons in Toronto with the Maple Leafs. He finished with four goals and 43 assists in 82 games and collected another 11 assists in the Bruins 25-game run to the Cup.

Boston will attempt to replace Kaberle’s offensive game with Joe Corvo. The Bruins picked up the defenceman in a trade — for a fourth-round pick in next summer’s draft — from Carolina.

In other moves, the Winnipeg Jets avoided salary arbitration with power forward Andrew Ladd. The 25-year-old posted career highs with 29 goals and 59 points in 81 games last season.

Ladd signed for five years and $22 million.

Ladd admitted the Jets recent hugely successful ticket drive and the city’s commitment to the team made his decision to sign a little easier.

“I think I knew all along it would be an exciting place to play,” Ladd said on Tuesday’s conference call. “I’d played an (exhibition) game there for world juniors and I was aware of the atmosphere and what the people and fans were like. Just passionate people in general about everything in their lives and especially hockey. To have that in my head right away was a positive thing. The situation for me that I’m in, where I’m at in terms of being a leader played a big role in it too.”

Clarke MacArthur also avoided the arbitration route with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 26-year-old signed a two-year deal worth $6.5 million to stay in Toronto.

McArthur enjoyed a breakthrough season. He had a career-high 21 goals and 41 assists in 82 games and finished second on the team in scoring.

The Ottawa Senators added some belligerence and a faceoff specialist to the lineup by signing centre Zenon Konopka to a one-year contract worth $700,000.

“I’m pumped and excited to be in Ottawa,” Konopka said. “I wanted to see what was out there. Ottawa has been on my radar for a few years.”

Konopka is recognized as one of the NHL’s frequent fighters. Last season, the 30-year-old had two goals and seven assists and a career-high 307 penalty minutes in 82 games. According to hockeyfights.com, Konopka had 25 fights last season, just behind league leader, Anaheim’s George Parros (27).

The former Ottawa 67s star is also known for his efficiency in the faceoff circle. Konopka won 57.7 per cent of his draws to rank fourth in the NHL.

Nashville also added toughness with the signing of former Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Stortini.

The winger landed a one-year, two-way contract worth $550,000 at the NHL level and $75,000 at the AHL level.

Also making a splash was Phoenix. The Coyotes, still in search of an owner, signed restricted free agent defenceman Keith Yandle to a five-year contract that will pay him $26.25 million. Last season, Yandle had 11 goals and 48 assists in 82 games played.

Winger Darroll Powe signed a three-year contract with Minnesota. Powe was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in June for the Wild’s third-round pick in the 2013 draft. The Wild has also signed centre Jeff Taffe to a one-year, two-way contract.

The Columbus Blue Jackets agreed to terms on a four-year deal with defenceman Marc Methot. Methot, 26, had 15 assists and 58 penalty minutes 74 games last season.

Methot was on his way to salary arbitration before the deal was struck.

A number of players did file. Included in that group are: defenceman Josh Gorges of the Montreal Canadiens; forwards Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky and defenceman Michael Sauer of the New York Rangers; forward Blake Wheeler of the Winnipeg Jets; forward Teddy Purcell of the Tampa Bay Lightning; forward Sergei Kostitsyn of the Nashville Predators; forward Andrew Cogliano of the Edmonton Oilers; defenceman Chris Campoli and forward Viktor Stalberg of the Chicago Blackhawks; and defenceman Andrej Sekera of the Buffalo Sabres.

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