Empty Netter Assists - 09-15-12

Penguins

-"I don't think the 15th is such a big date. Camp starts the 21st. The season starts Oct. 11. It might take a little more time to get things done, but the sooner, the better." - Marc-Andre Fleury (above) on the NHL potentially locking out the NHLPA at midnight tonight.

-"This is how we make our living and we love doing it. But there’s got to be a line in the sand for what’s fair for us now and players in the future." - Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen on negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.

-The Penguins placed forwards Philippe Dupuis, Benn Ferriero, Riley Holzapfel, Warren Peters, Trevor Smith, defensemen Dylan Reese and Alex Grant on waivers and assigned them to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

-Will Eric Tangradi, Brian Strait, Robert Bortuzzo, Brad Thiessen, Jeff Zatkoff and Steve MacIntyre play for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the event of a lockout?

-Evgeni Malkin and Senators defenseman/ex-Penguin Sergei Gonchar practiced with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of Russia's KHL yesterday.

-Artist David Gunnarsson has released an image of the new Pittsburgh-themed mask he designed for Tomas Vokoun:

-EN Says: We like it. It's a basic, clean look with a tribute to Pittsburgh's industrial past with the images of rivets.

-What exactly are the rules of a lockout?

-How much will a potential NHL lockout benefit the AHL or junior leagues?

-Do yourself a favor and read this wonderful piece by Hockey Hall-of-Famer Ken Dryden on how we've arrived at this situation between the NHL and NHLPA.

Atlantic Division

-“It’s unbelievable. It’s kind of an unfortunate thing, especially at this time in my career. I thought I was home free after the last one, but I guess I’m stuck in it a bit more.” - Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur (right) on being on the verge of a third lockout in his career.

-The Islanders assigned defensemen Marc Cantin, Calvin de Haan, Matt Donovan, Travis Hamonic, Jon Landry, Aaron Ness, forwards Casey Cizikas, Jason Clark, Brandon DeFazio, Mike Halmo, Kirill Kabanov, Brock Nelson, Nino Niederreiter, Blair Riley, Johan Sundstrom, David Ullstrom, John Persson, goaltender Anders Nilsson and Kevin Poulin to Bridgeport of the AHL and defenseman Griffin Reinhart (Edmonton - WHL) and forward Ryan Strome (Niagara - OHL) to their junior teams.

-The Rangers assigned defensemen Sean Collins, Logan Pyett, Mike Vernace, forwards Tommy Grant, Micheal Haley, Chad Kolarik, Kris Newbury and Brandon Segal to Connecticut of the AHL.

-The Rangers signed forward forward Michael St. Croix, a fourth-round pick in 2011, to a three-year entry-level contract.

Northeast Division

-“Unfortunately, with something like this, it’s going to pretty much be doom and gloom until a deal gets done. I don’t think there’s going to be a build up like, ‘Things are going really well’. One day, we’re going to wake up and it will be over, I think. That’s how it happened last time.” - Senators forward Jason Spezza (right) and negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.

-The Bruins assigned defensemen Matt Bartkowski, Ryan Button, Colby Cohen, Tommy Cross, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Zach Trotman, David Warsofsky, Garnet Exelby, forwards Carter Camper, Jordan Caron, Craig Cunningham, Justin Florek, Jared Knight, Tyler Randell, Max Sauve, Ryan Spooner, Jamie Tardif, Christian Hanson, Trent Whifield, goaltenders Michael Hutchinson, Adam Morrison and Niklas Svedberg to Providence of the AHL and assigned defenseman Dougie Hamilton (Niagara - OHL) and Malcolm Subban (Belleville - OHL) to their junior teams. Bartkowski and Hanson are Pittsburgh-area natives.

Southeast Division

-The Capitals re-signed restricted free agent defenseman John Carlson to a six-year contract worth a total of $23.8 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $3,966,667. In 82 games last season, Carlson, 22, scored 32 points.

-EN Says: We like this contract a lot. In a short time, Carlson (right) had developed into a top two defenseman capable of being relied on in any situation. Carlson and Karl Alzner have developed into a shutdown paring the Capitals stick on oppontent's top lines. Offensively Carlson is more than capable of racking up points. Overall, he can log 25 minutes a game and he is still climbing towards his ceiling. A defenseman like this is a bargain at just under $4 million a season.

-The Capitals assigned forwards Mike Carman, Stanislav Galiev, Garrett Mitchell, Danick Paquette, Mattias Sjogren, Matt Clackson, Zach Hamill, Ryan Potulny, Ryan Stoa, defensemen Brett Flemming, Tomas Kundratek, Dmitry Orlov, Cameron Schilling, Dustin Stevenson, Kevin Marshall, Patrick McNeill, Garrett Stafford, goaltenders Brandon Anderson, Philipp Grubauer, Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin to Hershey of the AHL and forward Tom Wilson to Plymouth of the OHL.

-"At some point you have to dig your heels in and fight. If we don’t this time, then what happens next? Appeasement only makes the aggressor more aggressive, and the players really understand that. We believe in our cause and our leadership and I believe we’re more unified this time and ready for a fight.” - Capitals forward Brooks Laich on negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.

-The Lightning assigned forwards J.T. Brown, Cory Conacher, Brett Connolly, Danick Gauthier, Alex Hutchings, Tyler Johnson, Alexander Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat, Richard Panik, defensemen Mark Barberio, Radko Gudas, Dmitry Korobov, Charles Landry, Dan Milan, goaltenders Riku Helenius, Pat Nagle and Dustin Tokarski to Syracuse of the AHL.

-"It’s hard to put a finger on what they’re really after. Since the last lockout, we’ve made over a billion dollars more and the league has grown every year. And now they want take a cut right off the top?" - Hurricanes captain Eric Staal (right) on negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.

-The Hurricanes placed forwards Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry, Jerome Samson, Brett Sutter, Tim Wallace, Nicholas Blanchard, defensemen Bobby Sanguinetti, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Brett Bellemore, Justin Krueger and goaltender Justin Peters on waivers with the intention of assigning them to Charlotte of the AHL.

-"It's about the money, it's not about the game." - Jets forward Olli Jokinen on potentially being locked out.

Central Division

-The Predators signed forward Gabriel Bourque (right) to a two-year contract extension worth a total of $1.55 million. Entering the final season of his entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $618,333, Bourque, 21, will have a cap hit of $775,000 with his new deal. In 43 games last season, Bourque scored 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists).

-EN Says: Bourque is a borderline NHL talent. He possesses some skill with the puck as well as a little scoring touch. He has a game that which is limited to a top-six forward role however. If he's not working on one of your top lines, he doesn't exactly have a skillset which will benefit the team on a third- or fourth-line role.

-The Predators assigned  forwards Daniel Bang, Taylor Beck, Gabriel Bourque, Patrick Cehlin, Kevin Henderson, Jani Lajunen, Michael Latta, Jack MacLellan, Juuso Puustinen, Ben Ryan, Josh Shalla, Austin Watson, defensemen Taylor Aronson, Victor Bartley, Anthony Bitetto, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Joonas Jarvinen, Charles-Olivier Roussel, Scott Valentine, goaltenders Magnus Hellberg and Jeremy Smith to Milwaukee of the AHL.

-"It's the third lockout in I don't know how many years now. Ever since (NHL commissioner Gary) Bettman came into the league offices, that's been his way to handle the stuff. That's not a fun thing, but that's how he approached this. We've been ready. We're ready to have a fight here." - Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg (right) on a potential lockout.

-The Red Wings assigned forwards Joakim Andersson, Louis-Marc Aubry, Damien Brunner, Mitch Callahan, Willie Coetzee, Landon Ferraro, Tomas Jurco, Andrej Nestrasil, Gustav Nyquist, Francis Pare, Trevor Parkes, Brent Raedeke, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Tatar, defensemen Adam Almqvist, Gleason Fournier, Brian Lashoff, Max Nicastro, Brendan Smith, goaltenders Thomas McCollum, Petr Mrazek and Jordan Pea to Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-The Blue Jackets assigned forwards Cam Atkinson, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Matt Calvert, Michael Chaput, Sean Collins, Oliver Gabriel, Jake Hansen, Ryan Johansen, Tomas Kubalik, Dalton Smith, defensemen Anton Blomqvist, Tim Erixon, Cody Goloubef, Austin Madaisky, John Moore, Dalton Prout, Theo Ruth, David Savard, Will Weber and goaltender Allen York to Springfield of the AHL. Forwards Cody Bass, Nick Drazenovich, Andrew Joudrey and Ryan Russell, and defenseman Nick Holden were placed on waivers with the intention of sending them to Springfield.

-The Blues assigned goaltenders Jake Allen, Paul Karpowich, Mike McKenna, defensemen Taylor Chorney, Ian Cole, Mark Cundari, Cade Fairchild, Scott Ford, Brett Ponich, David Shields, forwards Jay Barriball, Cody Beach, Adam Cracknell, Stefan Della Rovere, Evgeny Grachev, Philip McRae, Andrew Murray, Anthony Nigro, Anthony Peluso, Jaden Schwartz, Tyler Shattock, Brett Sonne, Vladimir Tarasenko and Sebastian Vannstrom to Peoria of the AHL, goaltender Jordan Binnington (Owen Sound - OHL) and forward Ty Rattie (Portland - WHL) to their junior teams and defenseman Jani Hakanpaa to Espoo of Finland's SM-ligga.

Northwest Division

-The Canucks signed forward Alex Burrows (right) to a four-year contract extension worth a total of $18 million. Entering the final year of a contract with a salary cap hit of $2 million, Burrows, 31, will have a salary cap hit of $4.5 million with his new contract. In 80 NHL games last season, Burrows scored 52 games (28 goals, 24 assists).

-Burrows might be entering the back nine of his career, but he's an ideal fit for the team's top line with the Sedin brothers. His grit and scoring touch mixes wells with the finess and skill of the Sedins. As a consistent 20-goal threat with some grit, he's a bargain at $4.5 million.

-The Wild assigned forwards Joel Broda, Brett Bulmer, Charlie Coyle, Justin Fontaine, Kris Foucault, Mikael Granlund, Johan Larsson, David McIntyre, Carson McMillan, Kyle Medvec, Jarod Palmer, Zack Philips, Chad Rau, Jason Zucker, defensemen Drew Bagnall, Jonas Brodin, Josh Caron, Brian Connelly, Tyler Cuma, Chay Genoway, Colton Jobke, Steven Kampfer, Marco Scandella, goaltenders Matt Hackett and Darcy Kuemper to Houston of the AHL.

-The Oilers placed forwards Dane Byers, Tanner House, goaltender Yann Danis and defenseman Alex Plante on waivers with hopes of assigning them to Oklahoma City of the AHL.

Pacific Division

-The Coyotes re-signed unrestricted free agent captain Shane Doan (right) to a four-year contract worth a total of $21.2 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $5.3 million. Doan, 35, appeared in 79 games last season and scored 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists). He has spent his entire 16-year NHL career with the Coyotes/Jets franchise.

-EN Says: This was the least suspensful courtship of a free agent ever. Doan is the heart and soul of this franchise and the only reason he even considered signing elseswhere was the shaky ownership situation. With that issue seemingly resolved, Doan stayed in a place he never wanted to leave. In terms of the money, it seems a bit high for a player on the back nine of his career. Doan bring a lot of intangibles in terms of leadership, but his offensive totals have been on the decline in recent seasons. Either way, this is a good move for the Coyotes in many ways.

-The Stars signed goaltender Kari Lehtonen (right) to a five-year contract extension worth a total of $29.5 million. Entering the final season of a contract with a salary cap hit of $3.55 million, Lehtonen, 28, will have a cap hit of $5.9 million with his new contract. Lehtonen appeared in 59 games last season and had a 32-22-4 record with a 2.33 goals against average, .922 save percentage and four shutouts.

-EN Says: What a gross overpayment for an inconsistent but talented player with few accomplishments on his resume. At $5.9 million, Lehtonen will have the seventh-highest salary cap hit any goaltender in the NHL. Lehtonen will have a higher cap hit than the likes of Tim Thomas, Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Brodeurs, all goaltenders who have won the Stanley Cup and/or individual trophies such as the Vezina Trophy. Lehtonen is a talented player. But injuries and other factors have prevented him from becoming a legit No. 1 franchise goaltender to his point of his career. The Stars are paying him for potential, not accomplishments.

-Dallas assigned defensemen Jordie Benn, Jace Coyle, Brenden Dillon, Maxime Fortunus, Hubert Labrie, Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak, Tyler Sloan, goaltenders Tyler Beskorowany, Jack Campbell, forwards Alex Chiasson, Cody Eakin, Matt Fraser, Luke Gazdic, Scott Glennie, Tristan King, Travis Morin, Cristopher Nilstorp, Toby Petersen, Antoine Roussell, Colton Sceviour, Austin Smith, Reilly Smith, Mathieu Tousignant, Tomas Vincour and Francis Wathier to Texas of the AHL and forwards Radek Faksa (Kitchener – OHL), Brett Ritchie (Niagara – OHL), Matej Stransky (Saskatoon – WHL), goaltender Maxime Lagace (PEI – QMJHL) and Troy Vance (Victoriaville – QMJHL) to their junior teams.

-The Stars are not expected to re-sign restricted free agent forward Jamie Benn before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.

-The Ducks assigned goaltender Frederik Andersen, Igor Bobkov, Marco Cousineau, forwards Josh Brittain, Corey Elkins, Emerson Etem (right), Peter Holland, Matt Kennedy, Ryan Lasch, Brandon McMillan, John Mitchell, Kyle Palmieri, Devante Smith-Pelly, Chris Wagner, defensemen Mat Clark and Sami Vatanen to Norfolk of the AHL, goaltender John Gibson (Kitchener - OHL) and forward Rickard Rakell (Plymouth - OHL) to their junior teams as well as Max Friberg (Timra) and defenseman Tim Heed (Vaxjo) to Sweden's Elitserien. Gibson is a native of Pittsburgh.

-"We as a union are just much more educated, much more unified. And I think ... I know we're a lot more resilient. If it takes a little while, well, we're prepared to fight for what's right." - Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray comparing the 2004-05 lockout to tomorrow's potential lockout.

-“We’re willing to keep playing as is. But we’re not willing to play at any cost. We feel that the league’s original proposal was not beneficial for us or the healthiness of the league in general.” - Sharks forward Tommy Wingels.

-The Kings assigned forwards Andy Andreoff, Robbie Czarnik, Brandon Kozun, Andrei Loktionov, Jordan Nolan (right), Brian O'Neill, Tanner Pearson, Nikolay Prokhorkin, Tyler Toffoli, Linden Vey, Jordan Weal, goaltenders J.F. Berube, Martin Jones, defensemen Nicolas Deslauriers and David Kolomatis to Manchester of the AHL. Forwards Stefan Legein, David Meckler and defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk were placed on waivers with the intention of assigning them to Manchester.

Adams Division

-On the verge of a potential lockout, NHL teams - which are asking for players to take a pay cut in CBA negotiations -  managed to dole out $104.7 million in contracts yesterday.

-Former Canadiens/Predators forward Andrei Kostitsyn has joined Traktor Chelyabinsk of Russia's KHL.

-Former Capitals/Thrashers/Panthers defenseman Ivan Majesky has joined HC Kladno of the Czech Extraliga.

-Finally, 25 years ago today, it was Gretzky to Lemieux in the 1987 Canada Cup:

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(Photos: Fleury-Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Brodeur-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Spezza-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Carlson-Rob Carr/Getty Images; Staal-Dave Sandford/Getty Images; Bourque-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Zetterberg and Doan-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Burrows-Dale MacMillan/Getty Images; Lehtonen-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Etem-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Nolan-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)