NHL: Fedotenko is 3d Penguin to take pay cut
It turns out more than one player is willing to take a hometown discount to stay with the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ruslan Fedotenko signed a $1.8 million, one-year contract yesterday, becoming the third forward to take a pay cut so he wouldn't have to leave a mostly young team that expects to be a championship contender for years.
Fedotenko made $2.25 million last season, when he bounced back from a disappointing regular season (16 goals, 39 points) to get seven goals and seven assists in the playoffs.
Craig Adams ($600,000 to $550,000) and Bill Guerin ($4.5 million to $2 million) also accepted salary cuts to stay after the free-agent signing period began Wednesday.
Enforcer-type forward Mike Rupp got a raise from $500,000 to $800,000 to leave New Jersey.
"I think it says a lot about Bill Guerin, Craig Adams, and Ruslan Fedotenko to want to come back here and be part of this group," general manager Ray Shero said yesterday. "A guy like Mike Rupp really adds to our depth, our grit, and our character."
Tom Fitzgerald is returning to the Penguins' front office in the new position of assistant to Shero.
Fitzgerald, a former NHL player, was the team's director of player personnel before becoming an assistant coach after Dan Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien as coach Feb. 15.
Nash has deal. Left winger Rick Nash and the Columbus Blue Jackets have agreed on an eight-year contract extension through the 2017-18 season.
General manager Scott Howson confirmed the signing to the Associated Press last night. The Canadian Press first reported it, saying the deal was worth $62.4 million. Nash will make $7 million in 2009-10.
Nash set career and team highs last season with 79 points (40 goals, 39 assists) in 78 games in leading Columbus to its first trip to the playoffs in the franchise's eighth season.
Samuelsson to Canucks. Free-agent forward Mikael Samuelsson signed a $7.5 million, three-year contract with Vancouver.
The Swedish right winger spent the last four seasons in Detroit, winning the Stanley Cup in 2008 and falling one game short this past season. The 32-year-old forward has 86 goals and 208 points in 466 NHL games.
Coyotes sign Heshka. Phoenix signed defenseman Shaun Heshka, 24, to a one-year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Heshka was acquired from Vancouver for the Coyotes' seventh-round pick in last month's draft.
Farewell tour. Anaheim forward Teemu Selanne, a 10-time all-star, said the next NHL season would be his last.
Selanne turned 39 yesterday and told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper in Finland that a man his age did not belong in the NHL.
