Friday, July 31, 2009

Sergei Zubov signs with KHL team SKA St. Petersburg


Zubov signs on with Russian team
Smooth defenceman heads home after 16 NHL seasons, two Cups
Jul 31, 2009 04:30 AM TheStar.com

Sixteen-year NHL veteran Sergei Zubov has signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, TSN.ca reports.
The 39-year old blueliner spent his last 12 seasons with the Dallas Stars, playing just 10 games last year because of a hip injury that required surgery.
The Moscow-native was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1990 with the 85th overall draft pick. Known as one of the better puck-moving defenceman and power play specialists of the last decade, Zubov has 152 goals and 619 assists in 1,068 career games.
He helped the Rangers capture the Stanley Cup in 1994 then helped lead the Stars to their first Cup in franchise history in 1999. He also captured an Gold medal for the Commonwealth of Independent States at the 1992 Olympics.

Monday, July 6, 2009

PuckAgency client, Mikael Samuelsson, signs with Canucks

Mikael Samuelsson will be playing in Vancouver for the 2009-10 season. Samuelsson, 32, signed a three-year deal worth $7.5 million US. In his career, Samuelsson has won Olympic Gold, a Stanley Cup and a World Championship Gold. He played for Detroit for the last 4 seasons.

Versatile Samuelsson a nice fit for Canucks
By Jim Jamieson, Canwest News Service July 5, 2009
VANCOUVER - The Sedin twins are used to going into an NHL season not knowing whether they've got a regular right-winger.
This year it's not much different - for different reasons - as they already have two that can fill the role.
It's one of the reasons the Vancouver Canucks went after Mikael Samuelsson right away when the free agency window opened on Wednesday.
The versatile winger who spent the last four seasons in Detroit took a day to mull over multiple offers before accepting the Canucks' three-year, $7.5 million US contract, that was announced on Friday. The Canucks like the 32-year-old Samuelsson because of his skill set - he's big, he's fast and he can shoot the puck - but also because he played on a line with Daniel and Henrik for the gold-medal winning Swedes at the 2006 Olympics.
That's not likely to be the case next season - as Alex Burrows will be the incumbent there - but you can expect the right-handed shooting Samuelsson to get a lot of time with the Sedins on power plays. The Canucks also like that Samuelsson can play the point on the power play - he was a fixture there on Detroit's second unit - and has a bomb for a shot.
Samuelsson was 24th in the NHL in shots last season, with 257, in only 15:22 of average ice-time per game. He averaged 16 goals and 39 points in his four seasons in Detroit.
Samuelsson played on the second and third lines in Detroit and said he chose Vancouver not only because of the money.
``It was to hopefully get more ice time and get more opportunities offensively,'' said Samuelsson.
Canucks assistant GM Lorne Henning said the six-foot-one, 205 pounder will play a prominent role.
``Certainly, we see him as a top six,'' said Henning. ``He's a right-hand shot, which we love about him, his familiarity with the twins, he's great on the power play, he's got a great shot. There's a lot of pluses.''
Henning said Samuelsson's age - he'll turn 36 in the final season of his deal - isn't an issue.
``He's in phenomenal shape,'' said Henning. ``He was one of their top conditioned athletes.''
Clearly, Detroit coach Mike Babcock is sorry to see Samuelsson go in what was essentially a salary cap squeeze. The Wings had offered him a multi-year deal for $1.5 million but it was too little, too late.
Just what ripples Samuelsson's signing causes in the Canucks' roster pool has yet to play out.
The addition of Samuelsson gives Vancouver a very credible second line if he plays with Ryan Kesler and Pavol Demitra, and some interesting options on the power play.
It also brings the number of players signed to NHL contracts for next season to 18 (11 forwards, six defencemen and one goalie), for a salary cap hit of about $49.6 million. That leaves Vancouver about $7.2 million below the cap ceiling of $56.8 million. However, it doesn't include the expected salaries of unsigned but qualified restricted free agents Kyle Wellwood, Jannik Hansen and Shane O'Brien. That three skaters made about $2.5 million between them last season. Those numbers suggest it's going to be tough to sign Mats Sundin and fill the other roster holes, a No. 5 defenceman and a back-up goalie, while staying under the cap.
Vancouver Province
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Nikolai Khabibulin signs with Edmonton Oilers

PuckAgency client Nikolai Khabibulin signed a four-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, the first day of the Free-Agency period. The deal is worth $15 million.


Oilers get their No. 1 goalie in Khabibulin
TSN.CA STAFF 7/1/2009
Nikolai Khabibulin is the latest big name off the board in free agency, as the veteran netminder has signed a four-year, $15 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
The 36-year-old spent the past four seasons in Chicago, helping lead the Blackhawks to their first Western Conference final since 1995 this past season. He also captured the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.
"Nikolai is a world-class goaltender who has proven himself throughout his career as one of the best in the game," Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini said in a release. "He has had success at many levels of hockey and we're looking forward to seeing him continue that success here in Edmonton."
The signing marks the end of a tumultuous time in the Windy City for the Russian native. After signing a massive four-year deal with the Hawks in 2005, Khabibulin suffered through various injuries and inconsistent play.
It was thought that his days in Chicago were numbered after the Blackhawks signed free-agent netminder Cristobal Huet prior to the season. The Hawks even went as far as placing the 1992 Olympic gold medalist on waivers in September with rumours circulating of a return to Russia and the KHL. Khabibulin raised the level of his play and took over the No. 1 goaltender role and was a big reason that the Blackhawks reached the post-season for the first time in seven years.
Khabibulin finished the season with a 25-8-7 record with a 2.33 goals against average and .919 save percentage. He also picked up three shutouts.
In 678 career games split between the Jets/Coyotes, Lightning and Blackhawks, Khabibulin has a lifetime record of 299-267-21 with a .908 save percentage, 2.67 goals against average and 41 career shutouts. He has also played in four NHL All-Star games.
The Oilers also re-signed unrestricted free agent Jason Strudwick to a one-year, $700,000 deal on Wednesday.