Empty Netter Assists - 06-20-10

Penguins

-"You're trying to accumulate assets for your organization. It's not who's the best player now; it's who's going to be a prospect in a few years." - Jay Heinbuck, the Penguins's director of amateur scouting on how to handle the draft.

-Happy 27th birthday to former Penguins forward Bill Thomas (above). A native of Fox Chapel, Thomas was a free agent signing in the 2008 offseason and appeared in 16 games while scoring three points for the Penguins in the 2008-09 season. Thomas left the team in the 2009 offseason and spent last season with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL and Lugano in Switzerland.

-Happy 56th birthday to former Penguins forward Jacques Cossette. A second-round pick in the 1974 draft, Cossette's entire three-year NHL career was spent in Pittsburgh. As a rookie in 1975-76, he appeared in seven games and recorded two assists. After spending all of next season in Hershey of the AHL, Cossette appeared in 19 NHL games in 1977-78 and netted three points. The 1978-79 season saw Cossette play in 38 games and score nine points. He would never play in the NHL again. In 64 games with the Penguins, Cossette scored 14 points.

Atlantic Division

-The Flyers acquired the signing rights to unrestricted free agent defenseman Dan Hamhuis (right) in exchange for the signing rights of restricted free agent defenseman Ryan Parent and a conditional draft pick in 2011. Parent was orginally a first-round pick of Nashville in 2005.

-"He's a guy who can play lots of minutes and he can play in a lot of different situations, from power play to killing penalties." - Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren on Hamhuis.

-The Devils re-acquired forward Jason Arnott from the Predators in exchange for Matt Halischuk and a second-round pick in 2011. Arnott spent parts of five seasons with the Devils in the 1990s and 2000s and was a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup-winning squad.

-"I gave him a short list of a few teams that I would love to be a part of and New Jersey was No. 1." - Arnott on being approached about a trade by Predators general manager David Poile.

-Devils forward Patrik Elias is excited to be re-united with his former A Line teammate, Arnott.

-Despite adding Arnott's $4.5 million salary cap figure, Devils overlord Lou Lamoriello doesn't think his team is out of the running for re-signing forward Ilya Kovalchuk.

-Arnott will forever be a part of Devils lore for his Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Final in Dallas:

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Central Division

-The trade of Jason Arnott appears to clear the way for defenseman/world destroyer Shea Weber to take over as the Predators' captain.

-Yesterday's trades indicated the Predators want to take on a youth movement.

-New Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak learned English from watching "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." (... when a couple of guys, who were up to no good, started making trouble in my neighborhood....)

Smythe Division

-Defenseman Stephen Johns, a native of Hermitage, is on the verge of living the dream as an NHL draft pick.

-Happy 66th birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Jimmy Peters.

(Photos: Thomas-Doug Benc/Getty Images; Hamhuis-Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press)