The Colorado Avalanche agreed on a multiyear contract yesterday with defenceman Greg de Vries, avoiding arbitration.
Terms were not disclosed.
De Vries, a native of Sundridge, Ont., had career highs in assists (12) and points (17) with the Avalanche last season, when the team won the Stanley Cup.
De Vries, 28, is a seven-year National Hockey League veteran who signed with the Edmonton Oilers as a free agent in 1994. The Avalanche acquired him from the Nashville Predators in 1998 for a third-round pick in the 1999 entry draft.
In other moves:
Right winger Chris Murray agreed to a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Terms were not disclosed.
Murray, 26, spent last season with Worcester of the American Hockey League, scoring nine goals and eight assists in 21 games before having his season end due to injury.
The native of Port Hardy, B.C., has played in 242 NHL career games with Montreal, Hartford, Carolina, Ottawa, Chicago and Dallas, with 16 goals, 18 assists and 550 minutes in penalties.
Murray was Montreal's third choice, 54th overall in the 1994 entry draft.
Forwards Rob Niedermayer and Dean McAmmond accepted qualifying offers to remain with the Calgary Flames.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Niedermayer, a Cranbrook, B.C., native, scored 12 goals with 20 assists in 67 games with the Florida Panthers last season.
In 518 NHL career games, Niedermayer has scored 101 goals with 165 assists.
The Flames acquired Niedermayer and a second-round choice on June 23, 2001, from Florida for Valeri Bure and Jason Wiemer.
McAmmond, 28, split last season between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks posting 11 goals and 17 assists in 71 games. In 467 NHL career games with the Flyers, Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers the left winger had scored 87 goals with 141 assists.
McAmmond, a native of Grande Cache, Alta., was acquired by the Flames on June 24, 2001, from the Flyers in exchange for a fourth-round choice in the 2002 NHL entry draft.
Jeff Toms agreed to a contract with the New York Rangers after playing 15 games with the team last season.
The 6-foot-5 forward divided last season between the Rangers and Islanders organizations.
In 39 games with the Islanders, he had two goals and four assists. He was claimed off waivers by the Rangers in January and had one goal and one assist. He also spent time in the American Hockey League for both organizations.
Toms, 26, was drafted by New Jersey in 1992. He has played for Tampa Bay and Washington.
The Rangers also claimed defenceman Darren Van Impe off waivers from the Boston Bruins.
Van Impe, 28, scored three goals with 10 assists in 31 games for Boston last season. He missed the final 41 games of the season following left shoulder surgery.
Van Impe has played in 330 career games with Boston and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, scoring 21 goals, and 81 assists with 328 penalty minutes.
The Washington Capitals signed restricted free agent left winger Mark Murphy to a one-year contract.
Murphy, 25, led the Portland Pirates, the Capitals' AHL affiliate, with 29 goals and 41 assists in 76 games last season.
In 151 career minor-league games, Murphy scored 61 goals with 81 assists.
The Chicago Blackhawks re-signed right winger Steve Dubinsky, left winger Casey Hankinson and defenceman Nolan Baumgartner.
Terms were not disclosed.
Dubinsky, 31, scored six goals with four assists in 60 games with the Blackhawks last season. In 318 career NHL games he has 19 goals and 37 assists.
Hankinson, 25, made his NHL debut last season with the Blackhawks. He had no goals and one assist in 11 games.
Baumgartner, 25, appeared in eight games with the Blackhawks last season recording no points and six penalty minutes.
A former first-round pick, 10th overall, by Washington in the 1994 NHL entry draft, Baumgartner was acquired from the Capitals in exchange for Remi Royer on July 21, 2000.
In 26 career NHL games he has recorded two assists and eight penalty minutes.
The Buffalo Sabres signed goaltender Tom Askey and defenceman Mario Larocque.
Askey, 26, spent last season with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, going 15-8-4 record with a 2.55 goals-against average in 29 games.
Larocque, 23, has spent the past two seasons with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League. The Montreal native was Tampa Bay's first-round selection (16th overall) in the 1996 NHL entry draft and appeared in five NHL career games for the Lightning in 1998-99, recording 16 penalty minutes.