Russia's Radulov joins Canadiens as free agency opens

Alex Radulov, who led Russia in scoring at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, returned to the National Hockey League by signing a one-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens as free agency signings began.

The star forward, who turns 30 on Tuesday, was considered among the world's best players not in the NHL. Radulov played 53 games with the Kontinental Hockey League's CSKA Moscow in 2015-16, leading his team with 23 goals and ranking second in the league with 42 assists and 65 points.

Radulov, who has won gold twice at the World Championships, was the top scorer for the Russian national team in Sochi with six points in five games. He is expected to compete for Russia in September's World Cup of Hockey.

But Radulov hasn't played in the NHL in over four years and has played in just nine regular season games over the past eight seasons.
Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin admitted he was taking a chance on a player who failed to live up to the high expectations he had coming out of the junior ranks.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what happens, but at the end of the day it's still a gamble," Bergevin said. 

Radulov appeared in 154 regular-season games with the NHL's Nashville Predators, scoring 47 goals and assisting on 55 others.

Radulov was originally selected in the first round of the NHL Draft, 15th overall by Nashville in 2004, and joined the Predators a year after scoring 61 goals for the junior level Quebec Remparts.

The Edmonton Oilers also took a chance by signing forward Milan Lucic to a seven-year contract worth $6 million a season.
The 28-year-old Lucic has been on a downward slide the last few years after scoring a career high 30 goals for the Boston Bruins in 2010-11.

Lucic scored 20 goals last season for the Los Angeles Kings, just the fourth time in nine NHL seasons he has hit the 20-goal mark.

But the move reunites Lucic with general manager Peter Chiarelli, with whom he won a Stanley Cup while both were members of the Bruins in 2011.

- Big bucks for Backes -
The Bruins also signed American Olympic center David Backes to a five-year, $30 million deal. Backes, 32, departed the St. Louis Blues as a free agent after 10 seasons.

By getting Backes, the Bruins will try to fill a hole left by the departure of 30-goal scorer Loui Ericksson, who signed with the Vancouver Canucks for six years at a total of $36 million.

In 725 career NHL games over 10 seasons with the Dallas Stars and Bruins, Eriksson has 212 goals and 292 assists.

A pair of backup goaltenders who had strong seasons in 2015-16 also changed teams on Friday.

The Oilers signed goaltender Jonas Gustavsson to a one-year contract. Gustavsson, 31, appeared in 24 games last season with the Bruins, posting an 11-9-1 record, a 2.72 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

The Canadiens also signed Al Montoya, who appeared in 25 games with the Florida Panthers last season. He amassed a 12-7-3 record, a 2.18 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in 22 starts.

Source: AFP