Five-time All-Star Naslund joins Blueshirts

Former Canucks captain said Rangers were his top choice

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent forward Markus Naslund.

Naslund, 34, is a former Lester B. Pearson Award winner (2003) as the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by his peers, and Hart Memorial Trophy runner-up (2003) as league MVP. The five-time NHL All-Star (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004) has also been named to three NHL All-Star First Teams (2002, 2003 and 2004).

Naslund appeared in 82 games with the Vancouver Canucks this past season, registering 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points, along with 46 penalty minutes. He ranked second on the club in goals (25), power play goals (nine) and shots (237), and finished third on the team in points (55) and assists (30). He also posted 14 multiple-point games, including two three-point efforts.

“Initially, there were quite a few teams contacting me,” Naslund said of his three days as an unrestricted free agent. “I gave him (my agent) instructions early on that there was only a limited number of teams that I was interested in playing for, and the Rangers were on the top of that list. … Right from noon on July 1, my eyes had been set on the Rangers.”

By collecting 55 points last season, Naslund surpassed the 50-point mark for the 10th time in 14 NHL seasons, and reached the 20-goal plateau for the ninth consecutive season. In addition, Naslund notched the 11th hat trick of his career on November 21 at Minnesota. He reached 800 career points on December 27 vs. Calgary, and skated in his 1,000th career NHL game on January 17 at Detroit.

Source: More from the Rangers Official Website

Rangers sign defenseman Kalinin

27-year-old defenseman has played in 446 NHL games

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent defenseman Dmitri Kalinin.

Kalinin, 27, appeared in 46 games with the Buffalo Sabres this past season, registering one goal and seven assists for eight points, along with 32 penalty minutes. He tied for fifth on the Sabres in blocked shots (52) and finished ninth on the club in average icetime (17:20). He established a career-high with three assists on January 18 vs. Atlanta, which also tied his personal-best for points in a single game.

Kalinin tallied points in consecutive games from February 1 at Atlanta to February 5 at Boston, collecting two points (one goal and one assist) over the span. He missed 36 games this past season due to knee and shoulder injuries.

In 2006-07, Kalinin led Buffalo defensemen in goals (seven) and shorthanded goals (one), tied for second in points (29) and tied for third in assists (22). He ranked fifth on the club in average icetime (19:30) and tied for sixth in plus/minus rating (19), which established a career-high. He also finished second on the team with 148 blocked shots, tying for 27th among all NHL skaters, while appearing in all 82 games.

Kalinin posted four multiple-point games and registered two, three-game point-streaks, including a three-game assist-streak from March 18, 2007 at Atlanta to March 23, 2007 vs. Toronto. In the 2007 playoffs, Kalinin recorded career-highs in games played (16), goals (two), assists (three), points (five), and penalty minutes (14) helping Buffalo advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. He finished second on the team with a plus-nine rating.

Source: More from the Rangers Official Website