Empty Netter Assists - 06-26-12
Penguins
-"I don't want to feel like I'm replacing someone." - New Penguins center Brandon Sutter (above).
-“I don’t want to be looked at as just a defensive player. I want to score goals and do things, too.” - Sutter.
-The Penguins are not actively seeking a trade for Paul Martin.
-The Penguins are expected to make a decision on re-signing unrestricted-free-agents-to-be Steve Sullivan (right), Arron Asham and Richard Park later this week. The team extended qualifying offers to restricted-free-agents-to-be Matt Niskanen, Robert Bortuzzo, Brian Strait, Alex Grant, Carl Sneep, Eric Tangradi and Keven Veilleux. Cal O'Reilly, Mattias Modig, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Alexandre Picard or Boris Valabik did not receive offers.
-Jonathan Bombulie of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice takes a look at the restricted free agents from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton who did not receive offers.
-"They’re assets you want to get in your organization. The only way to get that most of the time is through the draft." - Penguins assistant general manager Jason Botterill on drafting defensemen.
-"It was a great experience and I will never say anything bad about Pittsburgh – the city or the team. I have some great memories from my time there; my daughter was born there about a month and a half ago, so that city will always be with us. They have great fans and a great team… I just hope that I’ve become a better player and a better person out of my whole experience there.” - Former Penguins defenseman Zbynek Michalek.
-Former Penguins forward Kris Beech (right) has joined HC Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga.
Atlantic Division
-According to the Columbus Dispatch, the Islanders offered all of their draft picks to the Blue Jackets in exchange the No. 2 overall picks. Columbus declined and chose defenseman Ryan Murray with the pick.
-EN Says: Teams like the Islanders and Blue Jackets should not be allowed to discuss trades without an adult present.
-Devils defenseman Mark Fayne will be sidelined three to four months follow surgery on his left wrist.
-The Rangers extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents defensemen Michael Del Zotto, Anton Stralman and forward Mats Zuccarello.
Northeast Division
-The Canadiens extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent defensemen P.K. Subban, Raphael Diaz, Alexei Emelin, Brendon Nash, Frédéric St-Denis, forwards Lars Eller, Ryan White, Aaron Palushaj, Blake Geoffrion and Andreas Engqvist. The club will take goaltender Carey Price to arbitration.
-The Senators Southeast Division
-The Jets re-signed restricted free agent goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (right) to a five-year contract worth a total of $19.5 million. He will have a cap hit of $3.9 million. Pavelec, 24, appeared in 68 games last season and had a 29-28-9 record, a 2.91 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and four shutouts.
-EN Says: This should give you an idea of how lean the free agent goaltending market is when a mediocre goaltender like this is commanding this much money. In all fairness, Pavelec doesn't have a lot to work with but at the same time, he's not going to be a Vezina Trophy candidate anytime toon.
-The Lightning extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent defensemen Brendan Mikkelson, Keith Aulie, Evan Oberg, Brian Lee and goaltender Jaroslav Janus. Forward Benoit Pouliot, whose rights were acquired in a trade from from the Bruins at the draft, did not receive an offer.
-The Panthers Central Division
-The Blue Jacket extended qualifying offers to restricted forwards Jared Boll, Maksim Mayorov and defenseman Nikita Nikitin.
-The Predators will not re-sign forward Jordin Tootoo before July 1.
-The Predators are not expected to re-sign defenseman Francis Bouillon.
-Blackhawks defenseman Steve Montador proclaimed himself fully recovered from a concussion which cost him the final two months of the regular season and playoffs.-Red Wings assistant coach Jeff Blashill will take over as head coach of the Grand Rapids, Detroit's AHL affiliate.
Northwest Division
-The Avalanche re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Ryan Wilson (right) to a three-year contract worth a total of $6.75 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $2.25 million. In 59 games last season, Wilson had 21 points (one goal, 20 assists).
-EN Says: This is quite a bit for a player who is nothing more than a No. 4 defenseman on a good day. Wilson plays physical but isn't always in the right position on the ice. He does have a little pop offensively.
-Colorado did not extend a qualifying offer to restricted free agent forward Peter Mueller. He will become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
-The Oilers extended qualifying offers to forwards Linus Omark, Sam Gagner, Chris VandeVelde, defensemen Theo Peckham, Jeff Petry, Alex Plante and goaltender Devan Dubnyk. Defenseman Cam Barker, the third overall pick in the 2004 draft, did not receive an offer.
-Minnesota re-signed restricted free agent forward Chad Rau to a two-year deal and unrestricted free agent forward Stephane Veilleux to a one-year deal. Terms were not reported.
-The Flames extended qualifying offers to restricted free agent forwards Blair Jones, Mikael Backlund (right), Paul Byron, Akim Aliu and goaltender Leland Irving. Forward Blake Comeau did not receive an offer.
Pacific Division
Norris Division
-Approximately 50 NHLers including stars such as Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, Islanders forward John Tavares, Predators captain Shea Weber and Coyotes captain Shane Doan attended a meeting with NHLPA brass in Chicago yesterday.
-The Hockey Hall of Fame will announce its class of 2012 today. First-year eligible players include:
Goaltenders: Curtis Joseph, Olaf Kolzig.
Defensemen: Phillipe Boucher, Patrice Brisebois, Keith Carney, Greg De Vries, Brett Hedican, Darius Kasparaitis, Ken Klee, Sean Hill, Teppo Numminen, Luke Richardson, Jason Smith.
Forwards: Martin Gelinas, Claude Lemieux, Chris Gratton, Bobby Holik, Mike Peca, Gary Roberts, Jeremy Roenick, Joe Sakic (right), Mats Sundin, Brendan Shanahan, Mike Sillinger
Other eligible players include:
Goaltenders: Tom Barrasso, Don Beaupre, Sean Burke, Dan Bouchard, Lorne Chabot, Ron Hextall, Kelly Hrudey, Dave Kerr, Mike Liut, Andy Moog, Gilles Meloche, Felix Potvin, Mike Richter, John Ross Roach, Rogie Vachon, John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Vernon.
Forwards: Tony Amonte, Dave Andreychuk, Ralph Backstrom, Brian Bellows, Peter Bondra, Vincent Damphousse, Ray Ferraro, Dale Hunter, Valeri Kamensky, Steve Larmer, John LeClair, Hakan Loob, John MacLean, Rick Middleton, Alex Mogilny, Mats Naslund, Bernie Nichols, John Ogrodnick, Brian Propp, Claude Provost, Stephane Richer, Bobby Smith, Brent Sutter, Dave Taylor, Steve Thomas, Rick Tocchet, Pierre Turgeon, Gary Unger, Rick Vaive, Pat Verbeek.
Defensemen: Alex Gusarov, Larry Hillman, Tomas Jonsson, Kevin Lowe, Jean-Guy Talbot, Rick Vaive.
-The compensation limits for restricted free agents next season.
-Former Rangers/Senators forward Corey Locke has joined TPS of Finland's SM-liiga.
(Photos: Sutter and Pavelec-Marianne Helm/Getty Images; Sullivan-Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Beech-Victor Decolongon/Getty Images; Kulikov and Sakic-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Wilson-Dale MacMillan/Getty Images; Backlund-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)