NEW YORK — The Rangers bought out the final year of captain Chris Drury’s contract Wednesday, making the veteran forward an unrestricted free agent after four seasons in New York.
The move will give the Rangers some salary cap relief for the upcoming season and could help them sign Stars center Brad Richards, who is expected to be the best available player in the unrestricted free-agent market that opens Friday.
Drury will be given $3.333 million for the buyout that closes the five-year, $35.25 million deal he signed with the Rangers after leaving the Sabres as a free agent in 2007.
Injuries limited Drury to 24 games in 2010-11, when he didn’t score a goal until the final day of the season. He finished with five points.
Kariya calls it a career.
Paul Kariya announced his retirement from the NHL after being unable to return from postconcussion symptoms that forced him to miss all of last season.
Kariya, 36, scored 402 goals and helped set up 587 others over 15 seasons with Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis. He was also a two-time Lady Byng Trophy winner.
Footnotes.
The Penguins offered former NHL MVP Jaromir Jagr a one-year contract worth $2 million. Jagr, 39, has played the past the past three years in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.
• Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff joined his third team in two days after the Sabres acquired his rights from the Islanders for a fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft. The move was made a day after the Islanders gave up a fourth-round pick to acquire his rights from Vancouver.
• There is less than a 50-50 chance the Flyers will sign an offer sheet for Lightning star Steven Stamkos, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
• The Panthers locked up former Blackhawks center Tomas Kopecky to a four-year deal worth $12 million.
• The Canucks re-signed center Maxim Lapierre and defenseman Andrew Alberts to two-year contracts.
• The Sabres re-signed center Nathan Gerbe to a three- year contract.
• The Canadiens traded the rights to defenseman James Wisniewski to the Blue Jackets for a conditional draft pick.
The Associated Press
