Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin of Russia has been sentenced to 30 days in jail stemming from his Arizona drunken-driving conviction. The four-time All-Star received the sentence Tuesday in Scottsdale City Court. He also was fined $5,100 and must enroll in an alcohol-treatment program. He was ordered to report to jail Saturday, but that could be delayed because he’s appealing his… Read Original Post Here
The Buffalo Sabres have re-signed unrestricted free agent forward Matt Ellis to a one-year contract. A gritty fourth-line player, Ellis rejoins the team for a third season after setting career-highs with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) and 72 games played last year. The signing was announced by the team as Ellis celebrated his 29th birthday on Tuesday. Read Original Post Here
Chris Chelios finally is retiring at the age of 48 after 26 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cups. The longest-tenured defenseman in league history made the announcement at a news conference in Detroit on Tuesday. He says he’s “been dreading this day for a long time.” Chelios won three Norris Trophies during a career that included stops in Montreal, Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta. Read Original Post Here
The Phoenix Coyotes have re-signed right wing Lee Stempniak to a two-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Stempniak, 27, arrived in Arizona in a trade deadline deal with Toronto last season and gave the Coyotes a playoff-run boost with 14 goals and four assists in 18 regular-season games. Read Original Post Here
If the team signs Kovalchuk to the $100 million, 15-year deal that is rumored to have been submitted to the NHL for approval, it will need to get rid of between $3 million and $5 million of salary to get under the cap.
The signing of Jason Arnott this summer has made Zajac more expendable, though the paper notes that "conventional wisdom suggests Bryce Salvador ($2.9 million) and Dainius Zubrus ($3.4 million) are the obvious candidates" to be sent packing when Kovalchuk eventually signs.
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
Read Original Post Here
The New Jersey Devils took a new contract for Ilya Kovalchuk to the NHL on Monday only to have it rejected, according to the New York Post. So the KHL in Russia continues to try to woo him back to his homeland.
Yahoo! Sports’ Nicholas J. Cotsonika was told by KHL president Alexander Medvedev, "Ilya knows that our proposal is still on the table." Medvedev claimed that he was set to call Kovalchuk’s agent after hanging up with Cotsonika. Cotsonika also spoke with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who said the league doesn’t want to lose Kovalchuk to Russia.
"Obviously he’s a great player, and we want him playing in the National Hockey League, and I believe he wants to play in the National Hockey League," Daly told Cotsonika. "As a matter of fact, during our arbitration on the first contract, he said as much. His priority is to play in the National Hockey League."
The problem with the new contract is its length, according to the Sporting News. The league already rejected New Jersey’s 17-year, $102 million contract for Kovalchuk. According to the Sporting News, Sovietsky Sport is reporting that the latest framework the Devils provided the league was for a deal spanning 15 years, and the league won’t approve anything longer than 13 years.
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
Read Original Post Here
In the group for the Devils were owner Jeff Vanderbeek, president and general manager Lou Lamoriello and Kovalchuk’s agent, Jay Grossman.
The first contract offer to Kovalchuk for 17 years and $102 million was voided by the league and an arbitrator.
"There was no new contract submitted," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Toronto Sun. "We talked conceptually."
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
Read Original Post Here
The 35-year-old, who spent the Stanley Cup Finals being a nasty pest to the eventual Cup winner Chicago Blackhawks, had surgery in late July to remove "loose bodies" and he still has no timetable to start skating, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
However, he is riding a stationary bike and aiming to return for the Oct. 7 opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins. But he won’t put himself at risk to make that deadline. He tells the paper he’s in "no hurry" as he wants to make sure the leg has regained its strength and feels as strong as his left leg before he hits the ice, the paper reports.
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
Read Original Post Here
Kaberle, who has one year and $4.25 million left on his deal, has a no-trade clause that shut off at the start of the draft this summer since the team didn’t make the playoffs. The no-trade clause kicks in again after Sunday.
Burke told Consonika that he’s getting plenty of interest for Kaberle right now. "The deadline is Sunday, and I don’t expect to see anyone’s best cards until probably Friday," Burke said. "That being said, the offers improved dramatically over the weekend. We’re at a double-digit number of teams that are in. Unilaterally, without any phone calls from us, two teams dramatically improved their offer over the weekend. It’s going the way I thought it would go."
Meanwhile, Kaberle’s agent Rick Curran is saying Kaberle wants to stay in Toronto and isn’t happy about Burke being so public about fielding offers for him. Burke indicated that the trade clause in the contract was drafted by Kaberle and his agent, saying "this isn’t my handiwork. … I’m dealing with what I inherited."
Curran told Cotsonika that the Leafs asked if he would discuss an extension for Kaberle if there is no trade and he said "of course, I would." Kaberle will be an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
Read Original Post Here
"We have complied with the NHL request for information and are awaiting further instructions," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis told The Vancouver Sun via email. "Cannot say anything further at this point."
TSN reports that the league has been looking into the similarly long-term contracts of Luongo, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger, Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard and Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa.
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said Tuesday that his team is cooperating with the league in its investigation of the Savard contract, according to TSN.
Prominent player agent Kurt Overhardt tells The Sun, though, that he doesn’t think the league will overturn any of these contracts that have already been signed.
Overhardt told The Sun: "Any and all speculation that the league is going to claw back these other contracts … would be in complete violation of the collective bargaining agreement and it would be a complete infringement of the players’ rights under the CBA. Any attempt to do so would be absolutely predatory behaviour by the league, would be in bad faith and not in the spirit of the CBA."
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
Read Original Post Here
