Stars make four-year deal with French wing Roussel
Maple Leafs sign forward Booth
DALLAS, July 23, (Agencies): French left wing Antoine Roussel has agreed to terms on a four-year deal with the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars, the team announced Tuesday.
The deal, worth a reported $8 million, avoids a salary arbitration hearing between Roussel and the club.
The 24-year-old from Roubaix, who moved to Canada at age 16, had a career-best campaign last season with 14 goals and assists on 15 others over 81 games.
Roussel also ranked third in the NHL with 209 penalty minutes.
“Since coming into the NHL, Antoine has been a very effective and hard player for opposing teams to compete against,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said.
“His skill combined with his competitive grit create energy for our club that impacts our whole lineup.”
In his NHL career, Roussel has compiled 21 goals and set up 22 others over 120 games.
Roussel scored six goals and set up five others for France in their eighth-place finish at this year’s World Championships.
Kyle Dubas was named assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who recognized the 28-year-old as a rising personnel man while clearing out assistant general manager Claude Loiselle and vice president of hockey operations Dave Poulin, general manager Dave Nonis’ right-hand men in the organization.
Dubas spent the past three seasons as general manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and was a scout for the team while attending Brock University.
He was hired as general manager while serving as a player agent, but left that career to be involved in team personnel.
Rookie defenseman Sami Vatanen signed a two-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks.
Vatanen was fifth among firstyear defenders in goals and sixth in plus-minus last season. The 23year-old had six assists and 15 goals with a plus-9 rating.
The deal last year that kept the Arizona Coyotes in Glendale, Ariz., could face a challenge after the city’s mayor called for an investigation of a meeting last June between City Council members and a team attorney.
The meeting that took place several days before the council voted to approve a $225 million agreement with the NHL franchise could have violated the state’s Open Meeting Law because key information was disclosed regarding the city’s negotiating plans.
On Monday, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers asked the state attorney general to investigate the previously undisclosed meeting. Weiers voted against the deal in June 2013 to keep the Coyotes in Glendale.
If an investigation is opened and a violation of the state’s Open Meeting Law is found, the team’s deal with the city could be potentially voided. If that happens, the city council would have 30 days to ratify the Coyotes’ deal in an open meeting.
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed forward David Booth to a one-year deal reportedly worth $1.1 million. It is a team-friendly deal for Toronto, which adds a veteran forward known for his strong two-way play.
Booth, 29, had nine goals and 10 assists in 66 games with the Vancouver Canucks last season, but was bought out of the final year of his six-year contract.
Instead of earning $4.75 million next season, he will be paid $1.853 million over the next two seasons as part of the buyout.
The Vancouver Canucks signed forwards Darren Archibald and Brandon DeFazio. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Archibald, 24, had three points in 16 regular-season games for the Canucks last season. He also played in 59 games for the Utica Comets, recording 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) and 102 penalty minutes.
DeFazio, 25, recorded 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) and 106 penalty minutes in 76 games with Utica last season.
Defenseman Nate Prosser signed a one-year, two-way contract with the St. Louis Blues.
The 28-year-old Prosser spent parts of the past five seasons with the Minnesota Wild. In 2013-14, he had eight points (two goals, six assists) in 58 regular-season games and 12 penalty minutes in 10 playoff games.
Prosser totaled 21 career points (three goals, 18 assists) and 127 penalty minutes in 126 regular-season games for the Wild.