Empty Netter Assists - 06-28-11
Penguins
-The Penguins did not extend a qualifying offer to restricted free agent forward Tyler Kennedy (above). He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent Friday.
-"They’ve made it clear they want him back. And we’ve made it clear we want to come back." - Steve Bartlett, Kennedy's agent, on the Penguins. (PG+)
-Restricted free agent forward Dustin Jeffrey and goaltender Brad Thiessen did receive qualifying offers while forward Joey Haddad did not.
-"We'll make a decision in the next couple of days." - Petr Svboda, the agent for you know who.
-For some reason, Dan Bylsma seems to think his power play needs a few adjustments.
-Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are getting healthy.
-Bylsma speaks:
-The Hockey Hall of Fame will announce its class of 2011 today. Among those eligible for enshrinement included former Penguins Jocelyn Thibault, Stu Barnes, Glen Murray, John LeClair, Stephane Richer, Rich Tocchet, Tom Barrasso and Gilles Meloche.
-Penguins defensive prospect Joe Rogalski was traded from the OHL's Sarnia Sting to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Rogalski was a sixth-round pick in 2010.
-Another Penguins defensive prospect, Reid McNeill (right), was traded from the OHL's London Knights to the Barrie Colts. McNeill was a seventh-round pick in 2010.
-Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Chris Collins joined the Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the DEL in Germany.
-Happy 33rdd birthday to former Penguins defenseman Ric Jackman. Acquired midway through the 2003-04 season in a deal which sent Drake Berehowsky to the Maple Leafs, Jackman spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. In 25 games with the Penguins that campaign, Jackman was highly productive as he scored 24 points. During that season, the highlight of Jackman's Penguins career was an overtime goal in a 4-3 win at Phoenix which snapped an unofficial NHL record 18-game losing streak (below). Following the lockout, Jackman returned to the Penguins in 2005-06, and appeared in 49 games while recording 28 points. After falling out of favor with new coach Michel Therrien, Jackman was traded to the Panthers in exchange for Petr Taticek at the trade deadline. In 74 regular season games with the Penguins, Jackman scored 52 points. He is currently a member of HC Slovan Bratislava of the Slovakian Extraliga.
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-Happy 31st birthday to former Penguins forward Niklas Nordgren. Acquired from the Hurricanes at the 2006 trade deadline along with Krys Kolanos and a draft pick in exchange for Mark Recchi, Nordgren's Penguins career amounted to 15 games and zero points in 2005-06. In the 2006 offseason, he signed with Rapperswil of the NLA in Switzerland. He is currently a member of Kloten of the NLA.
Atlantic Division
-The Flyers re-signed restricted free agent forwards Andreas Nodl (right) and Tom Sestito. Terms were not released.
-Philadelphia extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent forwards Jonathon Kalinski, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek.
-The Devils extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent defenseman Matt Corrente, Maxim Noreau, Mark Fraser, Matt Taormina, goaltender Jeff Frazee, forwards Nathan Perkovich, Alexander Vasyunov, Steve Zalewski and Vladimir Zharkov. Defenseman Anssi Salmela did not receive an offer.
-The Islanders re-signed forward Tomas Marcinko to a one-year two-way contract.
-The Rangers re-signed forward Dale Weise. Terms of the contract were not released.
Northeast Division
-The Canadiens did not extend qualifying offers to restricted free agent forwards Benoit Pouliot, Tom Pyatt and defenseman Alexandre Picard.
-The Senators did not extend qualifying offers to restricted free agent forwards Cody Bass, Jason Bailey and Ryan Potulny.
Southeast Division
-That Chicago to Florida pipeline is still flowing. The Panthers acquired the signing rights to unrestricted free agent forward Tomas Kopecky (right) in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2013.
-The Lightning signed restricted free agent defenseman Bruno Gervais to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not released. In 53 games with the Islanders last season, Gervais recorded six assists.
-The Hurricanes extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent forwards Brandon Sutter, Brett Sutter, Oskar Osala, defensemen Brett Bellemore Derek Joslin and Bobby Sanguinetti. Forwards Troy Bodie and Jiri Tlusty did not receive offers.
-The Capitals extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent forwards Troy Brouwer, Mathieu Perreault, Francois Bouchard, defenseman Karl Alzner and goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
-The Jets (That feels weird to type.) extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent forwards Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler (right). Forwards Rob Schrempf and Anthony Stewart did no receive offers.
Central Division
-"I think sometimes when you're caught off-guard, you feel a little bit of anger and betrayal, and all the emotions that go with being traded." - Blue Jackets forward Jeff Carter on being dealt from the Flyers last week.
-After not hearing directly from Carter over the weekend, Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson, head coach Scott Arniel and captain Rick Nash all flew to Carter's offseason residence in Sea Isle City, N.J. to meet with him.
-The Predators will not attempt to re-sign unrestricted free agent forward Steve Sullivan. Sullivan, 36, appeared in 44 games and scored 22 points last season.
-Nashville hired former Canadiens assistant coach Kirk Muller to be the head coach of its AHL affiliate in Milwaukee.
Northwest Division
-The Canucks re-signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Bieksa (right) to a five-year contract worth a total of $23 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $4.6 million. In 66 games last season, Bieksa had 22 points.
-Vancouver also re-signed restricted free agent forward Maxime Lapierre to a two-year contract worth a total of $2 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $1 million. In 78 games last season, Lapierre had 12 points.
-Vancouver signed an affiliation agreement with the AHL's Chicago Wolves.
-Minnesota acquired forward Darroll Powe from the Flyers in exchange for a third-round pick in 2013.
-The Wild extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent defensemen Justin Falk, Jeff Penner, forwards Colton Gillies, Jarod Palmer, James Sheppard and Casey Wellman. Forward Patrick O'Sullivan did not receive an offer.
-The Flames extended qualifying offers to defensemen Chris Butler, Brendan Mikkelson and goaltender Leland Irving.
-The Avalanche extended qualifying offers to forwards T.J. Galiardi, David Jones, Kevin Porter, defensemen Ryan O'Byrne (right), Kyle Cumiskey and Ryan Wilson. Goaltender Brian Elliott and Phillipe Dupuis did not receive offers.
-The Oilers did not extend a qualifying offer to forward J.F. Jacques.
Pacific Division
-Prospective Coyotes owner Matthew Hulsizer has pulled his bid to purchase the franchise.
-The Coyotes signed a multi-year affiliation agreement with the AHL's Portland Pirates.
-The Sharks re-signed restricted free agent forward Andrew Desjardins (right) and goaltender Alex Stalock to one-year contracts. Financial terms were not released.
-Also in that link, the Sharks extended qualifying offers to forwards Benn Ferriero, John McCarthy, Jamie McGinn and Frazer McLaren.
-The Ducks extended qualifying offers to Dan Sexton, Nick Bonino and Patrick Maroon. Forwards Kyle Chipchura, Ryan Hillier, defensemen Eric Regan, John de Gray, Nigel Williams and goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur did not receive offers.
Adams Division
-You'll be seeing more "Pierre" McGuire on Versus and NBC next season.
-EN Says:
-Former Bruins/Sharks/Sabres defenseman Jeff Jillson has joined KLH Chomutov of the Czech Republic's First National Hockey League.
-Former Devils forward Alexander Vasyunov has joined Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL.
(Photos: Kennedy-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; McNeill and Kopecky-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Nodl-Mike Stobe/Getty Images; Wheeler-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Bieksa-Harry How/Getty Images; O'Byrne-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Desjardins-Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)