BHN Daily Links: Rangers Sign Panarin, Predators Sign Duchene

As tradition would have it when the clock struck 12pm on July 1 and NHL Free Agency Opened, teams began to announce their free agent signings. Most of the big fish were off the market right away. The biggest fish of them all Artemi Panarin decided to take his talents to the Big Apple and sign with the Rangers. Along with the free agent signings, there were two trades, both involving the Toronto Maple Leafs as they opened up cap space for Mitch Marner, and improved their blue line in the process Here is the news that made headlines on Monday July 1.

As late as Sunday night Artemi Panarin had four options on the table, but in the end, Panarin agreed to a seven-year contract with the New York Rangers. (New York Post)

The worst kept secret in the NHL was the fact that David Poile wanted Matt Duchene in Nashville and that was made official on July 1 when Duchene agreed to a seven-year contract worth $56 million. (The Tennessean)

Sergei Bobrovsky will be taking his talents to South Beach as the number one free agent goalie signed a seven-year contract worth $70 million similar to the one Carey Price signed in Montreal. (Sun-Sentinel)

A couple of days after trading Phil Kessel, the Pittsburgh Penguins were active on July 1 and signed free agent forward Brandon Tanev to a six-year contract extension. More on that from Dan Kingerski over at Pittsburgh Hockey Now. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

The Colorado Avalanche had an active July 1. The day began with the signing free agent forward Joonas Donskoi to a four-year extension. The Avalanche then added a couple of depth forwards. More on that from Adrian Dater over at Colorado Hockey Now. (Colorado Hockey Now)

The Avalanche also completed a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs as they sent Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot, and a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft to Toronto for center Nazem Kadri, minor-league D-man Calle Rosen and Toronto’s third-round pick in 2020. (Colorado Hockey Now)

The Dallas Stars were another Central Division team that was active on July 1 as the team signed free agent forwards Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry. (Dallas Morning News)

The Central Division continued its trend of getting stronger as the Minnesota Wild added forwards Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman to multi-year deals. (Star Tribune)

The Boston Bruins made news on July 1 as the team extended defenseman Connor Clifton for another three years. (Boston Hockey Now)

After losing forward Noel Acciari to the Florida Panthers via free agency, the Bruins went out and signed forward Brett Ritchie to a one-year contract. (Boston Hockey Now)

For the first time since 2013, there was an offer sheet presented to an RFA as the Montreal Canadiens tendered an offer sheet to RFA forward Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes. (TSN)

The Nazem Kadri trade was not the only trade the Maple Leafs completed on the day, Toronto traded Nikita Zaitsev along with Connor Brown to Ottawa for Cody Ceci . (Ottawa Sun)

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