Nhl Entry Draft

Simon Gagne has signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Flyers, the Canadian Web site TSN.ca reported last night. Gagne, 25, has collected 113 goals and 132 assists in five seasons with the Flyers, who selected the winger with the 22d pick in the 1998 NHL entry draft. In the last season before the NHL lockout, Gagne scored 21 goals in 80 games and helped the Flyers reach the 2004 Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

The Flyers yesterday signed right wings Mike Knuble and Turner Stevenson to three-year contracts, general manager Bob Clarke announced. Financial terms were not disclosed. Knuble, 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, and Stevenson, 6-3, 220 pounds, were Group III unrestricted free agents. "Both are huge players, skate well and play physical," Clarke said. "They bring real good size to our forward crew. " Knuble, 31, recorded 21 goals, 25 assists and 32 penalty minutes in 82 regular-season games for the Boston Bruins last season.

The Flyers have signed four players to AHL contracts for next season, the team announced Wednesday. The four are goaltender Nicola Riopel, and defensemen Logan Stephenson, J.P. Testwuide and Jesse Dudas. Riopel was the Flyers' fifth-round pick of the 2009 NHL entry draft. Last season, the 21-year old goalie played in 11 games for the team's AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. He also played for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Stephenson, 24, will be in his second season with the Phantoms.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren isn't a psychic, but he likes the way negotiations have gone thus far with Russian goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. On a conference call on Monday afternoon, Holmgran said he would like to have a deal done with Bryzgalov by the start of the NHL entry draft that is set to start Friday. But, he added, that wasn't a completely neccessary goal. Talks between the sides will continue Tuesday, Holmgren said. As for the growing league-wide opinion that the Flyers will have to trade veterans to get under the salary cap, Holmgren was resistent.

The Flyers were scheduled to have former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen in for a physical on Sunday and planned to sign the native of Oslo, Norway, if he passed, the Delaware County Daily Times reported Sunday. With Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren on vacation, a team spokesman was unable to confirm yesterday that the unrestricted free agent had been in town. The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Tollefsen is a four-year veteran who was taken by the Blue Jackets in the third round of the 2002 NHL entry draft.

The Flyers have re-signed defenseman John Slaney and goaltender Neil Little to multiyear contracts, the team announced yesterday. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed, in keeping with the team's policy. "They are both key, veteran players that we had targeted [to re-sign] from the end of the season," assistant general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement released by the team. Slaney, 30, was scoreless in one regular-season game with the Flyers last season.

Milan Kraft scored two goals and added an assist as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Phantoms last night, 4-2, in the American Hockey League. Kraft, Pittsburgh's first-round pick in the 1998 NHL entry draft, was playing in his second game with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after being sent down by the Penguins on Friday. Both of his goals came on assists by his linemates, Eric Meloche and Martin Sonnenberg. The Phantoms closed to within 3-2 after their coach, John Stevens, successfully challenged the legality of the stick of Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi, citing excessive curvature.

The Winnipeg Jets officially became the Phoenix Coyotes yesterday and finally hired a coach, picking Calgary Flames assistant Don Hay. Financial terms of the three-year deal were not disclosed. Coyotes general manager John Paddock and Bobby Smith, the team's executive president of hockey operations, said Phoenix plans to sign "one or two" veteran free-agent defensemen possibly by the end of this week. In other news: PENGUINS: SIGN WRIGHT The Pittsburgh Penguins said they have signed center Tyler Wright, acquired June 22 from Edmonton in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in this year's NHL entry draft.

The Flyers have signed center John Kalinski to a 1-year contract extension and officially announced two other moves that previously were reported. Kalinski, 24, appeared in 22 games for the Flyers last season, with a goal and four assists. He was a sixth-round choice in the 2007 NHL entry draft. Over parts of four seasons with the Flyers' AHL affiliate, he has posted 26 goals and 45 assists in 193 games. The Flyers also announced the signings of free-agent goalie Jason Bacashihua and center Marcel Noebels, their fourth-round pick last month.

After two frustrating losses in Philadelphia, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins introduced a different concept to their AHL East Division finals series with the Phantoms last night - defense. The Penguins, who allowed eight goals combined in the first two games of this best-of-seven series, tightened up and rode the hot goaltending of Andy Chiodo to a 3-1 victory last night at the cozy and boisterous Wachovia Arena. The Phantoms lead the series, two games to one; Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday in Wilkes-Barre.

The Flyers have signed center John Kalinski to a 1-year contract extension and officially announced two other moves that previously were reported. Kalinski, 24, appeared in 22 games for the Flyers last season, with a goal and four assists. He was a sixth-round choice in the 2007 NHL entry draft. Over parts of four seasons with the Flyers' AHL affiliate, he has posted 26 goals and 45 assists in 193 games. The Flyers also announced the signings of free-agent goalie Jason Bacashihua and center Marcel Noebels, their fourth-round pick last month.

All the moves the Flyers have made during a dizzying offseason probably won't mean much if future Hall of Famer Chris Pronger doesn't return to form. It's going to take a while for that to happen. In an interview Wednesday on Canada's TSN radio, Pronger said he did not know if he would be ready for the start of training camp on Sept. 16. Pronger is recovering from back surgery, and he is limited to walking on a treadmill and light bike riding. The 36-year-old defenseman said he was at least three weeks away from training hard, adding that his doctor wanted his back to "scar up and then fully heal" before he did any strenuous workouts.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren isn't a psychic, but he likes the way negotiations have gone thus far with Russian goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. On a conference call on Monday afternoon, Holmgran said he would like to have a deal done with Bryzgalov by the start of the NHL entry draft that is set to start Friday. But, he added, that wasn't a completely neccessary goal. Talks between the sides will continue Tuesday, Holmgren said. As for the growing league-wide opinion that the Flyers will have to trade veterans to get under the salary cap, Holmgren was resistent.

SOMETIMES, it looks like an old replay. A big body with long, raptor-like arms picks up a loose puck in the neutral zone and swoops down one side of the ice as opposing defensemen scramble to protect their net as prey defends its eggs. Sound familiar? Look familiar? "He's turned into a very fun player to watch," Keith Primeau said yesterday. He, of course, is James van Riemsdyk, the Flyers' 6-3 left winger who, after two seasons of occasional flashes, tortured and trashed Buffalo's defensive strategy in the first-round series by, in the word of Keith Jones, "bulling" his way through the neutral zone and into the opponent's zone the way Primeau once did. Van Riemsdyk scored four goals in the seven-game series and created havoc and uncertainty nearly every time he jumped over the boards, using his speed and reach to create countless scoring opportunities.

The Flyers have signed four players to AHL contracts for next season, the team announced Wednesday. The four are goaltender Nicola Riopel, and defensemen Logan Stephenson, J.P. Testwuide and Jesse Dudas. Riopel was the Flyers' fifth-round pick of the 2009 NHL entry draft. Last season, the 21-year old goalie played in 11 games for the team's AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. He also played for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Stephenson, 24, will be in his second season with the Phantoms.

LOS ANGELES - Glued to the NHL Network at his father's home in Cincinnati, Jimmy Mullin noticed a missed call on his cell phone. His family advisor had given him a ring to let him know that the Flyers would be picking him, a lifelong Flyers fan and Delaware County native, with the 119th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. But the Flyers never got that chance. Under new general manager Steve Yzerman, the Tampa Bay Lightning swooped in and grabbed Mullin at No. 118. "I never really expected to go that high, I had not even thought about it," Mullin said.

After signing a three-year free-agent deal with the Flyers last July, Ian Laperriere said other NHL clubs were interested in a 14-year veteran with considerable wear and tear on his body. Among them, he said, were Calgary, Phoenix, and Toronto. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound veteran said he opted for Philadelphia, in part, because he thought the team was closest to winning a Stanley Cup. And here the Flyers are, on the doorstep of sipping from Lord Stanley's Cup for the first time in 35 long years.

Sens sign a Brodeur Goaltender Mike Brodeur signed a one-year contract with the Ottawa Senators, after spending most of last season with their AHL affiliate in Binghamton, N.Y. Terms were not disclosed. Brodeur, 27, was recalled to Ottawa twice last season, going 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage. He went 13-13-2 with a 3.06 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 36 games for Binghamton. Taylor or Tyler? The top pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft seems to have come down to either center Tyler Seguin or left wing Taylor Hall.

The Flyers were scheduled to have former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen in for a physical on Sunday and planned to sign the native of Oslo, Norway, if he passed, the Delaware County Daily Times reported Sunday. With Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren on vacation, a team spokesman was unable to confirm yesterday that the unrestricted free agent had been in town. The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Tollefsen is a four-year veteran who was taken by the Blue Jackets in the third round of the 2002 NHL entry draft.

After James van Riemsdyk was selected by the Flyers with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft, most expected the forward to quickly embark on a professional career. Instead, he spent two seasons playing at the University of New Hampshire. Chicago selected Patrick Kane at No. 1 that year, and the winger has had two productive seasons with the Blackhawks. The 20-year-old van Riemsdyk, who totaled 28 goals and 46 assists in 67 games with the Wildcats, said that college was something he was eager to experience.