Saturday, July 01, 2006

TB signs Kuba to replace Kubina; Wild sign Carney and Johnsson on D

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) - After letting one Czech defenseman leave via free agency, the Tampa Bay Lightning recruited another.
Following the departure of Pavel Kubina to Toronto earlier in the day, the Lightning on Saturday signed blue-liner Filip Kuba to a three-year, $9 million contract.
An eighth-round pick of Florida in 1995, Kuba was traded to Calgary in March 2000 but never played for the Flames. The 29-year-old was selected by Minnesota in the expansion draft that June and spent the last five seasons with the Wild, making his lone All-Star appearance in 2004.
Last campaign, Kuba recorded six goals, 19 assists and 44 penalty minutes in 65 games with Minnesota while leading the team with an average ice time of 21 minutes, 46 seconds.

The Minnesota Wild continue to re-tool their defence.
After signing Keith Carney earlier to help on the blueline, the club has signed Kim Johnsson to a four-year, $19.4 million contract.
Also earlier, the team added established goal scorer Mark Parrish as a free agent.
An 11th-round pick of the New York Rangers in 1994, Johnsson was acquired by Philadelphia in the August 2001 deal that sent Eric Lindros to the "Big Apple."

The 30-year-old Swede developed into an offensive weapon with the Flyers, recording 41 points in his first season with the club in 2001-02 and registering a career-high 42 two campaigns later.

"We are very excited to add a player of Kim's caliber to our blue line," Wild general manager Doug Risebrough said. "Adding his offensive skills is another step towards assembling the team we believe will compete at a high level in the coming seasons."
In 2005-06, Johnsson notched six goals and 19 assists in 47 games before missing the final 31 contests with post-concussion symptoms.
Johnsson, who represented his country at the 2002 Winter Olympics, has collected 51 tallies and 194 points in 442 career contests with the Rangers and Flyers.

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