Guy Carbonneau returned to the Montreal Canadiens yesterday to take a loosely defined job called supervisor of prospect development.
Carbonneau, 40, who retired from the Dallas Stars following their unsuccessful bid for a second Stanley Cup in June, will work with and follow the progress of young players in the Canadiens organization.
"It's a foot in the door -- a job I can grow into," said Carbonneau, who turned down an offer to become a pro scout for Dallas to return to the Canadiens, with whom he played the first 12 of his 18 National Hockey League seasons.
"To come back and work for the team I played for all those years is a dream come true. I'll try as much as possible to help make the Canadiens what they were before."
Carbonneau, a native of Sept-Iles, Que., is the latest addition to what general manager Réjean Houle calls his "hockey committee," a front-office team that has been rebuilt this summer following the departures of assistant GMs Jacques Lemaire and Phil Scheuer and scouts Dave King and Mario Tremblay. With the deadline having passed earlier this week, none of the New York Islanders' four restricted free agents accepted the team's qualifying offers.
The four players are defencemen Roman Hamrlik, Kenny Jonsson and Zdeno Chara and forward Brad Isbister.
Islanders general manager Mike Milbury said Wednesday that he is willing to negotiate a new deal with the recently acquired Hamrlik.
Milbury said Jonsson, Chara and Isbister will have to accept their offers.
"The only leverage any of them have is to withhold services, which would be a travesty," Milbury told the New York Post. "We'll never feel any pressure [to give the trio of players raises]in this situation."
Jonsson's agent Mike Barnett said he plans to negotiate a better contract than the one-year, $1.85-million (U.S.) offered by the Islanders, which matches Jonsson's 1999 salary.
Considering Jonsson's awful performance last season, Milbury said Barnett would be wasting his time.
"I haven't discussed anything with Kenny or his agent in some time," Milbury said. "Hopefully, they'll see the logic." Until Eric Lindros's health improves, Dallas Stars' general manager Bob Gainey isn't the least bit interested in making a deal for the NHL superstar.
Gainey said while Lindros is an intriguing player, his state of health following four concussions in the past year renders moot any potential trade talk.
"We haven't had any discussions with them one way or the other," Gainey told the Dallas Morning News. "I've been going on the assumption that his health isn't what it needs to be. And until he gets that resolved, there's really no other issue there that needs to be discussed."
By turning down the Flyers' qualifying offer this week, Lindros has cleared the path for Flyers GM Bob Clarke to work a trade by allowing a team that acquires his rights to structure a new contract in any fashion that fits both sides.
That means instead of the guaranteed $8.5-million Lindros would have received had he signed the offer sheet, Lindros and his father/agent Carl can negotiate an incentive-laden deal that would make it easier for a new team to take on the financial responsibility of the high-risk superstar.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers are a few of the teams rumoured to be very interested in Lindros.
"Eric has been an elite player in the NHL for a number of years, but there are conditions attached to that," Gainey said. "I think that's a major barrier for us right now." Ottawa Senators' forward Magnus Arvedson will make $1.21-million next season, while teammate Chris Phillips will make $962,500.
Both players were among many in the NHL to accept their team's qualifying offers earlier this week.
Toronto's Yanic Perreault will make $1.155-million next season after he signed his qualifying offer, while teammate Alyn McCauley, who has battled concussions throughout his career, signed a one-year deal for $786,500. Leaf forward Jonus Hoglund, meanwhile, will rake in $950,000 after he avoided salary arbitration.
Sandy McCarthy, who signed with Carolina as a free agent on Tuesday, will make $880,000.
Jason Woolley's one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres will get him $1.045-million. Dallas Stars' right winger Jamie Lagenbrunner will bring in $1.265-million next season.
Other financial terms for contracts signed this week include: Aki Berg (Los Angeles, $838,750); Marcel Cousineau (Los Angeles, $560,345); Rob Tallas (Chicago, $525,000). The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed defenceman Andrei Zyuzin to a one-year deal yesterday. Selected second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1996 entry draft and acquired by the Lightning in a trade last year, Zyuzin played in 34 games last season before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. . . . Centre Bill Bowler, left winger Sean Selmser and defenceman Andrei Sryubko signed free-agent contracts with Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . The Boston Bruins agreed to terms with goaltender John Grahame on a two-year contract, avoiding arbitration. . . . Defencemen Yan Golubovsky and Maxim Kuznetsov and forward Marc Rodgers re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings yesterday. Golubovsky and Rodgers signed one-year deals. Kuznetsov agreed to a three-year deal. . . . The Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League re-signed general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach John Anderson yesterday.