Boston Bruins Andrew Ference is checked by Vancouver Canucks Maxim Lapierre in the first period of game five of the Stanley Cup final playoff hockey action in Vancouver June 10, 2011.JOHN LEHMANN
The Vancouver Canucks have signed centre Maxim Lapierre and defenceman Andrew Alberts to two-year contracts, the NHL team said on Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Lapierre, 26, had six goals and six assists in 78 games last season with the Canucks, Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens.
Alberts, 29, had one goal and six assists in 42 games.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have offered former NHL MVP Jaromir Jagr a one-year, $2 million contract, according to multiple reports.
Jagr, 39, last played in the NHL for the New York Rangers in 2007-08. He has spent the last three seasons in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.
Jagr was drafted by the Penguins in 1990 and played for Pittsburgh through the 2000-01 season. He won the Hart Trophy, given to the player voted the league's Most Valuable Player, in 1999 and was finalist for the award five other times.
Jagr then played for the Washington Capitals for three seasons and the Rangers for four before leaving to go to Russia. He has 646 goals in his NHL career.
Pittsburgh is hoping that Jagr will play one more season and then retire as a Penguin.
Chris Drury's four-year stint with the New York Rangers ended Wednesday when he accepted a $3.333-million buyout of his contract.
His decision, first reported by the New York Post, comes after his production steadily declined. Drury, who will turn 35 in August, was limited to only 24 games last season by a broken finger and knee surgery and finished with just five points. He was named team captain after registering 25 goals and 33 assists in 2007-08, his first season in New York after three in Buffalo.
"It was a great honour and privilege to be a New York Ranger for the past four years, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to fulfill that childhood dream," he said in a statement that was e-mailed to the newspaper. "The Rangers are a first-class organization with great people in the hockey, public relations, team services and community relations departments.
"I would also like to thank Ranger fans. They always inspired me to do the best I could in whatever role I was asked to play. Playing before them in the Garden was a thrill of a lifetime. I wish all the fans and the entire Ranger organization the best of luck in the future."
Drury came to New York fresh off a 37-goal season for the Sabres. He began his career in Colorado and also played for Calgary for one season.
Had he stayed with the Rangers, he would have gotten $5 million in the final year of the five-year, $35.25 million contract that lured him to New York. It is believed that he will try to hook on with Buffalo again.
Todd Marchant has retired after 17 seasons in the NHL and will join the Anaheim Ducks' front office as director of player development.
Marchant, 37, was an expert penalty-killer and was a key member of the Ducks' 2007 Stanley Cup champions. He finishes his career with 186 goals and 498 points for the New York Rangers, Edmonton, Columbus and the Ducks.
Dwayne Roloson, the 41-year-old goaltender who helped lead Tampa Bay to the Eastern Conference final, re-signed with the Lightning for one year, TSN reported.
Roloson will make the $3-million, the report said. Roloson was acquired from the New York Islanders at midseason and split time with Mike Smith before taking over nearly full-time in the playoffs. He had a 2.59 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in the regular season and improved those figures to 2.51 and .924 in the playoffs.
The Carolina Hurricanes announced Wednesday that right wing Chad LaRose has accepted a two-year, $3.4-million contract offer from the team.
LaRose, who was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on Friday, has spent all six of his NHL seasons in Carolina and has 64 goals and 80 assists in 406 games. His 31 points last season (16 goals, 15 assists) tied his career best, but his minus-21 rating was by far his career worst.
LaRose, 29, was signed as a free agent by the Hurricanes in 2003. He is scheduled to make $1.5 million this season -- actually a cut in pay from the $1.9 million he made in 2010-11 -- and $1.9 million in 2012-13.
The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired the rights to defenceman James Wisniewski from Montreal for a conditional draft pick.
The Blue Jackets will give up a fifth-round pick in next year's draft if they are able to sign Wisniewski before he becomes an unrestricted free agent Friday. They give up a seventh-round pick if they don't.
Wisniewski was acquired by Montreal last Dec. 28. The Canadiens weren't able to sign him because they decided to try to re-sign defenceman Roman Hamrlik instead.
Centre Nathan Gerbe, who could have become a restricted free agent, instead agreed to a three-year deal to return to the Buffalo Sabres, the team announced Wednesday.
Gerbe had 16 goals, 15 assists and a plus-11 rating last season, his first full year with Buffalo after playing in 10 games in each of the two previous seasons. However, 15 of his goals last season came in the season's final 40 games.
Gerbe was drafted by the Sabres in the fifth round of the 2005 draft and was voted the American Hockey League rookie of the year in 2008.
Right wing David Jones, who had a breakout season with the Colorado Avalanche in 2010-11, has signed a one-year contract with the team.
Jones, who will turn 27 in August, set career highs in goals (18), assists (27), points (45) and games (77) last season. He missed most of the previous two seasons because of shoulder and knee injuries.
Centre Adam Hall has agreed to return to the Tampa Bay Lightning on a one-year contract, the team announced Wednesday.
Hall, who will turn 31 in August, had seven goals and 11 assists last season for Tampa. He began his career in Nashville, where he played three full seasons and had his highest point totals. Since then he has bounced from the New York Rangers to Minnesota to Pittsburgh to Tampa.
He played in all 18 of the Lightning's playoff games last season, finishing with a goal and four assists, as they reached the Eastern Conference final before losing to Boston in seven games.
Defenceman Brad Lukowich has agreed to a one-year, two-way contract to remain in the Dallas Stars organization, the team announced Wednesday.
Lukowich, who has played on two Stanley Cup champions (the Stars in 1999 and Tampa Bay in 2004), spent most of last season with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League. He played in five games for the Dallas Stars.
The 34-year-old has played in the NHL for 13 seasons.
Dallas also announced that Paul Jerrard has been hired as an assistant coach.