Lightning sign Johnson to 7-year extension

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Tyler Johnson to a seven-year extension worth $35 million, the team announced Monday.

Johnson appeared in 66 games with the Lightning last season, tallying 19 goals and 26 assists. He was a restricted free agent who was scheduled for arbitration later this offseason.

During the 2014-15 postseason, Johnson led the Lightning with 23 points as Tampa Bay advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.

Johnson joined the Lightning in 2011 as an undrafted free agent. He has since appeared in 308 games and has recorded 89 goals and 122 assists.

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Jagr gets offer from ECHL’s Florida Everblades

As a great man once said, "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."

The ECHL's Florida Everblades took a shot Monday and made a pitch to Jaromir Jagr in hopes he'll join their roster next season.

The club is offering a 2017-18 roster spot to Jagr, who claimed he wasn't getting any calls from NHL teams during the free-agent wooing period late last month.

Here are some of the selling points the team included in its press release:

(Courtesy: Florida Everblades)

Jagr spent parts of the last three seasons with the Florida Panthers, but the living legend is still without a contract for the upcoming campaign.

Everblades spokesman Alex Reed says the club would be willing to keep things simple for the 45-year-old forward.

"We are definitely open to a 'Weekend Warrior' contract for Jaromir," Reed said. "He could make the easy 90-minute drive across Alligator Alley and just play in our Friday and Saturday home games. Heck, we will even send an intern to personally pick him up and drive him over if necessary."

The league's third all-time goal-scorer and second all-time point producer will surely get at least one NHL offer before the fall, but if you're an ECHL team with local ties to the former superstar, it never hurts to shoot your shot.

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Report: Stafford interested in playing for Wild

Drew Stafford wouldn't mind continuing his career with the Minnesota Wild.

An unrestricted free agent, the veteran forward's camp has been in contact with the Wild, Michael Russo of the Star Tribune reports.

Stafford, 31, split last season between the Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins, where he was dealt at the NHL trade deadline. He finished the season with 21 points in 58 games.

Stafford made his NHL debut in 2006-07 with the Buffalo Sabres. A move to Minnesota would reunite him with some of his former Sabres teammates, including Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno, who were traded to the Wild last month.

In 725 career games, Stafford has recorded 183 goals and 217 assists.

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Look: Hischier suits up for 1st time at Devils’ development camp

He has arrived.

Nico Hischier took to the ice as part of the New Jersey Devils' development camp Monday, marking the first time he's suited up with his NHL club.

The Devils selected Hischier first overall in this year's entry draft, making him the first Swiss-born player to be taken with the top pick. It bested Hischier's countryman Nino Niederreiter, who was picked fifth by the New York Islanders in 2010.

Hischier spent last season with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, notching 38 goals and 48 assists in 57 games.

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Nassau County wants Islanders to return to Coliseum

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

A group of local lawmakers is proposing the New York Islanders return to Nassau Coliseum, the barn which the team called home for more than 40 seasons before it uprooted for Brooklyn's Barclays Center in 2015.

Nassau and Suffolk county lawmakers will hold a press conference Friday, urging the firm redeveloping Nassau Coliseum to make the required upgrades needed for the Islanders' return.

"We have been assured by (developer) Nassau Events Center that they are very willing to make necessary modifications to accommodate an NHL team," Nassau lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Islanders' ownership, according to Robert Brodsky and Jim Baumbach of Newsday.

Seating capacity was a primary concern why the Islanders left Nassau Coliseum, a 1971-built arena that had 16,170 seats. The ongoing renovation has reduced it to 13,000. The Winnipeg Jets are home to the NHL's smallest arena by seating capacity, coming in at 15,294.

In a statement to Newsday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Nassau Coliseum is not a "suitable option" for the Islanders.

However, the move to Brooklyn has not been without its own concerns, as the arena was initially built for basketball, leaving many seats with an obstructed view of the Islanders' ice surface.

The Islanders have a 25-year lease at Barclays Center, but can opt out of the agreement as early as 2018. In April, the team submitted a request for proposal to build a new arena at Belmont Park in Nassau County.

While the location of the team's future home remains uncertain, the Islanders will play at least one more game at Nassau Coliseum, as it was announced last month that the arena will host a preseason game next season between the Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers.

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Stars re-sign Faksa to 3-year, $6.6M contract

The Dallas Stars have re-signed restricted free agent Radek Faksa to a three-year contract worth $6.6 million, the club announced Monday.

Faksa, 23, is coming off his first full NHL season, in which he recorded 12 goals and 21 assists in 80 games, averaging 16:10 per night.

"We're thrilled to have Radek locked in for the next three seasons as he is an important part of what we're building here," general manager Jim Nill said. "He has proven to be a trustworthy, 200-foot player and we fully expect him to continue growing in all areas of the game."

Faksa was drafted by the Stars 13th overall in 2012, and is now locked into a Stars roster that underwent major changes this offseason. Dallas lured high-powered winger Alexander Radulov and Martin Hanzal in free agency, traded for Marc Methot and goaltender Ben Bishop, and also hired Ken Hitchcock as head coach.

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Oilers sign Yohann Auvitu to 1-year deal

The Edmonton Oilers signed defenseman Yohann Auvitu to a one-year contract Monday.

Auvitu joined the Devils organization on a one-year, entry-level contract signed last summer. The French blue-liner spent the previous five seasons plying his trade in the Finnish Elite League, and brings a wealth of experience on the international stage.

The signing gives the Oilers a total of nine defensemen under contract for 2017-18, according to Cap Friendly.

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Kings hire Pierre Turgeon as offensive coordinator

The Los Angeles Kings have hired 500-goal scorer Pierre Turgeon as an assistant coach, strictly dedicated to the role of offensive coordinator, club vice president and general manager Rob Blake announced Monday.

"Pierre had great success as a player and has a tremendous hockey background on the whole. He is a person who brings a lot of energy, passion, and insight to the job along with a great deal of enthusiasm about the game," head coach John Stevens said.

The new gig will be Turgeon's first behind an NHL bench, and he'll be tasked with overhauling a troubled Kings' offense that mustered 199 goals last season - a mark good for 25th in the league.

Turgeon joins Blake, Stevens, and Kings legend Luc Robitaille in Los Angeles' new braintrust, which came to power after the firings of general manager Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter upon failing to qualify for the playoffs in 2016-17.

After being selected first overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1987, Turgeon suited up in 1,294 career games across 22 seasons, accumulating 1,327 points and five All-Star nods along the way.

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Rangers name Ruff assistant coach

Lindy Ruff is back in the game.

The veteran bench boss has been named an assistant coach with the New York Rangers, the team announced Monday.

Ruff arrives in New York after a four-year stint as head coach of the Dallas Stars in which he posted a 131-85-30 record. The Stars did not renew his contract at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

Prior to joining Dallas, Ruff was the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres for 15 seasons. He led Buffalo to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 and won the Jack Adams Award in 2006.

Ruff ranks fifth all time with 736 career wins.

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Devils remain hopeful of signing Hobey Baker finalist Kerfoot

The New Jersey Devils believe they are a good fit for Alexander Kerfoot.

A fifth-round pick by the Devils in 2012, Kerfoot has spent the past four years with Harvard University, where he tallied 16 goals and 29 assists in 36 games to tie for the team scoring lead this past season.

But the NCAA forward has yet to put pen to paper with the Devils, and given that he can become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15, Kerfoot now has more than one path forward.

"I hope Alex signs with us," Devils general manager Ray Shero told Chris Ryan of NJ.com. "He knows that. Would love to have him. I think what we're doing, he'd fit in the way he'd play. The speed he brings, the hockey sense, would love to have him. But I don't control that. He does."

Free agency certainly isn't unfamiliar to Kerfoot, as it was the route chosen by his former Harvard teammate, Jimmy Vesey, a Nashville Predators draft pick who signed with the New York Rangers last offseason.

Vesey was the 2016 Hobey Baker winner, presented to the NCAA's top hockey player. Kerfoot was a finalist this year, with the Hobey Baker ultimately going to defenseman Will Butcher, a Colorado Avalanche prospect who has already informed the team there is no need to "rush" into a contract.

As for Kerfoot, the Devils remain hopeful that he will sign on the dotted line, believing their organization provides a good opportunity for the college star.

"If it's meant to be, great, we'd love to have him," Shero added. "Nothing's changed on my part. He has a greater look at what we have now."

It's been an exciting offseason in New Jersey no doubt. Most recently, the Devils added Marcus Johansson in a deal with the Washington Capitals, just weeks after the team selected Swiss scorer Nico Hischier with the first pick in this year's draft.

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