The New York Islanders bolstered their depleted forward corps on Thursday, signing veteran winger Bill Guerin to a two-year contract and Mike Comrie to a one-year deal.
The club did not release financial details of the pacts.
Bill Guerin will join his seventh NHL club after signing with the Islanders.
(Tom Gannam/Associated Press)
Guerin bounced back from a disappointing 2005-06 campaign, potting 36 goals with 20 assists last season with St. Louis and then San Jose, after joining the Sharks at the trade deadline.
"My family and I are so happy to be coming to Long Island," Guerin said in a statement. "[General manager] Garth Snow first contacted me on Sunday and was so positive, so persistent right from the outset explaining to me why I would be ideal for his team."
Guerin has recorded 364 goals and 355 assists in 1,026 games, with other stops in New Jersey, Edmonton, Boston and Dallas. He was a member of the Devils' Stanley Cup team of 1995 and has played in three Olympics with the United States.
Comrie arrives at Long Island after a brief stint with the Ottawa Senators. Comrie went to Ottawa in a trade from Phoenix in January and tallied four goals and two assists in the team's playoff run to the Stanley Cup final. His regular season totals were 20-25-45 in just 65 games.
Just 26, Comrie has also suited up for Edmonton and Philadelphia in his career, scoring 123 goals and 139 assists in 386 regular-season games.
"We really wanted Mike Comrie because [coach] Ted Nolan, the scouts and I were unanimous in wanting to bring his offensive production, creativity and competitiveness to our team," said Snow.
The Islanders have now made three significant forward signings in the last two days, filling holes made my player departures. Ruslan Fedotenko, who last played with the Tampa Bay Lightning, signed on Wednesday.
Within the first two days of free agency, New York saw a quartet of forwards sign with other clubs — Jason Blake (Toronto), Viktor Kozlov (Washington), Ryan Smyth (Colorado) and Richard Zednik (Florida).
Hudler stays in Motown
The Detroit Red Wings reached a deal with promising forward Jiri Hudler, who scored 15 goals in 76 games last season. The restricted free agent agreed to a two-year contract Thursday worth $2.03 million US.
"We felt it was important to get him signed because he's a young player that was able to score 15 goals in part-time duty last season," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said.
Hudler, 23, led all Detroit rookies in goals (15), assists (10) and points (25) last year.
In other signings Thursday:
- The New York Rangers brought back free-agent forward Petr Prucha for two years and $3.2 million US. The 24-year-old Czech had 22 goals and 40 points in 79 games last season. Prucha has 87 points in 147 career games with the Rangers.
- Free-agent forward Marek Svatos re-signed with Colorado for one year and $1.2 million. Svatos, 25, appeared in a career-high 66 games last season, his third with the Avalanche, recording 15 goals and 30 points.
- Pittsburgh re-signed forwards Max Talbot and Erik Christensen to two-year contracts. Talbot, 23, had 24 points in 75 games last season. Christensen, 23, tallied 33 points in 61 games.
- Unrestricted free-agent defenceman Anders Eriksson is the newest Calgary Flame, agreeing to a two-year contract. He had 23 assists and a plus-12 rating in 79 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season.
- Defenceman Jan Hejda settled on a two-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. An unrestricted free agent, he had one goal and eight assists in 39 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season.
- Buffalo found someone to back up Ryan Miller, signing veteran netminder Jocelyn Thibault to a one-year deal. In addition to Thibault, who spent the last two seasons in Pittsburgh, the Sabres re-signed forwards Andrew Peters and Michael Ryan.
