Milan Lucic is staying in the Western Conference. The 28-year-old power forward signed a seven-year, US$42-million contract with the Edmonton Oilers on Friday as NHL free agency opened.
Lucic will count for $6 million against the Oilers’ salary cap. The terms of the deal were confirmed by agent Gerry Johannson in an email to The Associated Press.
Lucic scored 20 goals and 35 assists in 81 games last season for the Los Angeles Kings.
Edmonton had a void to fill on the left wing after dealing Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for defenceman Adam Larsson on Wednesday.
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Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres also made an early splash when the window to sign unrestricted free agents opened at noon ET on Friday. A person with direct knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press that the Sabres have reached an agreement to sign forward Kyle Okposo, one of the top players available on the NHL’s free-agent market.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Sabres have not announced the agreement with the former New York Islanders forward in a move reached shortly after the signing period began on Friday.
The 28-year-old Okposo has eight-plus seasons of NHL experience and is a three-time 20-goal-scorer. Last year, he finished third on the Islanders with 22 goals, and second with 64 points.
In Buffalo, Okposo immediately becomes a top-line forward on a team that has spent the past two years rebuilding through youth.
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A person with direct knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press that the Calgary Flames have agreed to a one-year contract to sign free-agent goalie Chad Johnson. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Flames have not announced the agreement reached shortly after the NHL’s free-agency period opened on Friday.
Johnson has six seasons of NHL experience, and showed he has starting potential after enjoying a career-best season in Buffalo last year. In playing a career-high 45 games, he posted a 22-16-4 record in filling in for Robin Lehner after the starter hurt his right ankle in the Sabres season opener.
The Flames are re-shuffling their goalies after struggling at the position last season. Last week, Calgary acquired goalie Brian Elliott in a trade with St. Louis.
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Defenceman Michael Kostka as well as forwards Phil Varone, Casey Bailey and Max McCormick all signed one-year, two-way contracts with the Ottawa Senators on Friday.
Kostka’s contract will carry an annual value of $800,000 in the National Hockey League and $325,000 in the American Hockey League.
Varone’s deal has an annual value of $700,000 in the NHL and $325,000 in the AHL, while Bailey will earn $874,125 in the NHL and $70,000 in the AHL. McCormick will earn $650,000 in the NHL and $72,500 in the American Hockey League.
Kostka played in 15 games with Ottawa last season, recording one assist and four penalty minutes.
The 30-year-old Kostka appeared in 50 games with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators, scoring five goals and adding 29 assists with 20 penalty minutes. He represented Binghamton at the AHL’s 2016 All-Star Classic.
Varone was acquired by the Senators on Feb. 27 along with forward Jason Akeson, defenceman Jerome Gauthier-Leduc and a conditional draft pick from the Buffalo Sabres. Following the trade, Varone scored six goals and 23 points in 21 games with the B-Sens.
Ottawa acquired Bailey on Feb. 9 in part of the nine-player trade that brought defenceman Dion Phaneuf to the Senators. Following the trade he played in 30 games with Binghamton, scoring seven goals and adding 14 assists. In 68 AHL games between the Toronto Marlies and the B-Sens in his first full professional season, he scored 11 goals and added 28 assists for 39 points.
McCormick, 24, appeared in 57 games for the B-Sens last season, setting new career highs in goals (15), assists (15), points (30) and penalty minutes (143). He made his professional debut with Binghamton in 2014-15 and has registered 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists) and 276 penalty minutes over 119 American Hockey League games.
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The Detroit Red Wings were busy just before and after the start of NHL free agency. Centre Frans Nielsen agreed to a six-year, $31.5-million contract with the Detroit Red Wings, a person familiar with the move said Friday in the opening hour of free agency. The person said the franchise also agreed to deals to retain forward Darren Helm and defenceman Alexey Marchenko just before they would have been available on the market.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreements haven’t been announced.
Nielsen averaged 51 points over the last three years with the New York Islanders. The 31-year-old Nielsen, who is from Denmark, has scored 119 goals and made 230 assists over his decade in the NHL.
Detroit retained Helm with a five-year contract, counting $3.85 million against the salary cap each season. The Red Wings are keeping Marchenko for two more seasons, taking $1.45 million off their cap each year.
Helm had 13 goals and 26 points last season. He has 72 goals and 90 assists since making his debut during the 2007-08 season.
Marchenko is coming off his first full season in the NHL. The Russian played in 66 games last season, scoring twice and adding nine assists.
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The St. Louis Blues wasted little time getting down to business in NHL free agency, signing winger David Perron and goaltender Carter Hutton and extending goaltender Jake Allen.
The Blues signed winger David Perron to a $7.5-million, two-year deal. He’ll count $3.75 million against the cap in each of the next two seasons.
Perron spent last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks and had 12 goals and 24 assists. He’s returning to St. Louis, which drafted him 26th overall in 2007. In 570 NHL games, Perron has 141 goals and 191 assists.
Perron helps replace right wing Troy Brouwer, who signed an $18 million, four-year deal with the Calgary Flames.
Allen’s extension is worth $17.4 million over four years. It begins with the 2017-18 season.
The Blues got his backup in Hutton, who signed for two years and $2.25 million. That $1.25 million cap hit is a significant savings over Brian Elliott, whom the Blues traded to the Calgary Flames at the draft last weekend.
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Defenceman Brian Campbell has agreed to a one-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks and is returning to the team he helped win the Stanley Cup.
The 37-year-old Campbell played in Chicago from 2008 to 2011 and was part of a team that won it all in 2010 — the first of three titles in a six-year span for the Blackhawks.
He spent the past five seasons with the Florida Panthers, appearing in all of the team’s 376 regular-season games. He had 28 goals and 147 assists.