Gordon had two goals and two assists in 65 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season. His signing made Ryan White expendable, and White ended up signing in Arizona.
A veteran of almost 700 regular-season games, Gordon will turn 33 on Oct. 18.
NEW YORK, N.Y. - The New York Islanders moved quickly at the start of NHL free agency, signing forwards Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera but losing longtime stars Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo.
Ladd agreed to a seven-year contract Friday, and Ch...
Four years since his last stint in the NHL, 29-year-old Russian winger Radulov is back in North America. While undeniably talented, the 15th overall pick in the 2004 draft has had an inglorious run as an NHLer.
After rookie and sophomore seasons as a Predator in which he tallied 44 goals and 51 assists in 145 games, Radulov jumped to the KHL for the 2008-09 season. He remained there until coming back to Nashville for 17 total contests in 2011-12. Things ended poorly that season, as Radulov was suspended by the team for breaking curfew during the playoffs, and he ultimately returned to the KHL.
In the four subsequent seasons, all with CSKA Moscow, Radulov recorded 78 goals and 160 assists in 181 games. Firmly in his prime, he's never had any trouble putting up points wherever he's played, be it at home or abroad.
Like with any free agent signed so early in the offseason, it's difficult to project where exactly he'll feature on his team, but given his offensive pedigree, he'll likely play on a line centered by either Alex Galchenyuk or Tomas Plekanec and see ample power play time.
The Canadiens gambled (and failed) on a one-year contract to a similarly "enigmatic" Russian last offseason, Alexander Semin, whose Montreal tenure lasted only 15 games. For fantasy purposes, Radulov likely represents a late-round flier. A best case scenario would be 20 goals and 30 assists, but the chief concern would be how much rust Radulov has after being away from the NHL for four seasons.
While he hasn't missed huge chunks of time due to injury at any point in his career, he sat out at least a handful of games during each of the last four KHL seasons, a concern given his physical style of play. Still, as a late-round gamble, Radulov has a lot of potential, especially if details of his expected usage in Montreal emerge closer to fantasy draft time.
Ott was limited to just 21 games this past season and in turn went goalless with just two assists.
While Ott is now 33 years of age, he remains a thorn in the side of opponents, having accumulated 120 penalty minutes in 99 games over the past two seasons.
The Montreal Canadiens took one of the biggest gambles as free agency opened Friday, signing Alexander Radulov to a one-year $5.75-million deal, and though the Russian forward's character has been questioned in the past, he insists he's matured since his last NHL stint in 2012.
The former Nashville Predators forward expressed his desire to win a Stanley Cup in Montreal, and surely caught Michel Therrien's ear by saying: "Whatever the coach tells me to do, I will do it," according to NHL.com's Arpon Basu.
Meanwhile, his new general manager Marc Bergevin also supported the notion that Radulov's past is behind him, and he's a new man coming to Montreal.
"When Radulov was playing in Nashville, the problem wasn't related to character. It was about maturity," Bergevin said.
Radulov infamously left the NHL after being suspended by the Predators in 2012 for missing a team curfew during the playoffs.
Since then, the 29-year-old has finished among the top-two in KHL scoring in three of the past four seasons, and Bergevin believes he may make one of the biggest impacts of any free agent signed Friday:
"You could arguably say he was the highest skilled player signed today" - Bergevin on Radulov
GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Arizona Coyotes have re-signed defenceman Kevin Connauton to a two-year contract and signed former Los Angeles Kings defenceman Jamie McBain to a one-year deal.
Arizona also signed defenceman Jarred Tinordi, forward Garr...
The 28-year-old agitator had 11 goals and five assists in 73 games for the Philadelphia Flyers last season. His 16 points were a career high, a result of his logging regular duty for the first time in the NHL.
In a matter of days, the Tampa Bay Lightning managed to lock up captain Steven Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman to eight-year extensions that were well below market value, and general manager Steve Yzerman credits his stars' desire to win as the reason the deals got done.
"With Stamkos and Hedman (signing), these are our cornerstones," Yzerman said Friday. "Very important parts of our franchise and good guys to represent us."
"They both want to win and they both wanted to stay here," he continued. "They've had some success and they want to continue that."
Some rumors saw a potential Stamkos contract pegged at upwards of $12 million per year, but the 26-year-old opted to remain in Tampa on a deal averaging $8.5 million.
Meanwhile, some believe Hedman would have commanded more if he hit free agency next offseason, but the blue-liner will also stay to contend for a Cup, on a deal worth $7.85 million per season, starting in 2017.
With backup goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy receiving a three-year extension of his own Friday, the next step is signing restricted free agent Nikita Kucherov, and Yzerman said he's confident an agreement with the 30-goal scorer will be reached "at some point."
Eaves has spent the last two seasons with Stars, but saw a 10-point decline in 2015-16.
The forward put up 11 goals and 17 points in 54 games, but played a much more valuable role during the playoffs, tallying three goals and six points in nine games.
