Hurricanes sign Eaves to new deal
The Carolina Hurricanes signed RW Patrick Eaves to a three-year contract. The Hurricanes announced Wednesday they locked up the forward in a deal worth about $1.4 million each year. Eaves came to Carolina from Ottawa last February in the deal that sent Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman to the Senators. Because of nagging injuries, he skated in just 11 of the Hurricanes' 24 games and had shoulder surgery on March 28.
Kapanen retires from NHL
Philadelphia Flyers right wing Sami Kapanen retired from the NHL on Tuesday and plans to return to Finland and play for a team he owns there. The 34-year-old Kapanen spent the last five seasons with the Flyers and tallied five goals and three assists in 74 games last season. He added two goals in 16 postseason games as the Flyers went to the Eastern Conference finals. Kapanen, a native of Vantaa, Finland, is a part-owner of KalPa Kuopio, the team he plans to play for next season. Kapanen got his start with KalPa in 1989. "It's time to move on," Kapanen said at a news conference. "The plan is to play (in Finland) hopefully a couple more years, obviously depending on my health."
Parise praises Team USA's effort The Sports Xchange reports Devils LW Zach Parise had five goals, three assists and a plus-1 rating in seven games playing for Team USA at the World Championships. The team came up short in its quest for the title (failing to advance past the quarterfinals for the seventh time in the last nine years), but Parise said, "Our future is looking really good. We have a lot of good young players. There is a lot of build from in this tournament, but at the same time, it's disappointing right now."
Madden a finalist for Selke Trophy The Sports Xchange reports Devils C John Madden, the 2001 winner of the Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward (he was second in 2004 and '05), is one of the three finalists for this year's honor, and will have to beat Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to win for the second time.
Grier expected to undergo surgery The Sports Xchange reports Sharks RW Mike Grier is expected to have offseason knee surgery. Grier had nine goals and 13 assists in 78 games in 2007-08.
Setoguchi to fix two problems The Sports Xchange reports Sharks RW Devin Setoguchi planned to have offseason surgery to repair an injured left shoulder and for a sports hernia.
Carcillo has 'troubling' season
Coyotes LW Daniel Carcillo led the NHL in penalty minutes in 2007-08 with a whopping 324. He collected 20 majors penalties and 12 game misconducts. He might have had even more PIM had a knee injury not sidelined him for several weeks. Carcillo appeared in only 57 games, totaling 24 points (13 goals).
Daley inks three-year extension
The Dallas Stars signed defenseman Trevor Daley to a three-year, $6.9 million contract Wednesday. A second-round pick in 2002, the 24-year-old Daley has 56 points, including 13 goals, and 249 penalty minutes in 264 career games. "He is a valuable member of our hockey club and is a key part to our strong nucleus of younger players," co-general manager Les Jackson said.
Turris a top rookie for 2008-09
Coyotes C Kyle Turris made the jump to the NHL late in the 2007-08 season after spending much of the year with the University of Wisconsin. Turris played in three games, tallying an assist in an April 6 outing against the Ducks. He finished at minus-5 and will be among the top contenders for Rookie of the Year in 2008-09.
