1-year Deal For Isbister

To wrap up their offseason pursuit of free agents, the Carolina Hurricanes signed Brad Isbister to a one-year deal this past Wednesday.

Happy with their acquirement, the defending Stanley cup champions now have another threat to replace the injured player Cory Stillman, who, according to the Team president and general manager Jim Rutherford, will brindes promocional be missing up to 40 games due to the surgery he had earlier this month, to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

"It gives us a player who has proven in the National Hockey League that can score goals, Stillman's injury opens up an opportunity for a lot of different players, and he's one of them." coach Peter Laviolette said.

Isbister's salary will be of $600,000 a year at the NHL level and $95,000 if he is sent to the Hurricanes' American Hockey League affiliates in Albany.

During an 8-year career, he has 99 goals and 107 assists, with the Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers. Last season he had six goals and 17 assists last season for the Boston Bruins.

The 29-year-old Isbister already had the chance to be coached by Laviolette for two seasons beginning in 2001-02 when both were with the Islanders.

"He's a big, strong, hard-skating forward who can score goals," Laviolette said. Rutherford is not sure that they finished acquiring players: "We've got quite a few guys signed, probably to the point right now where maybe (there are) a couple more than we thought, especially when we look at the whole organization with how many slots we have in Albany," Rutherford said.

Besides signing forwards Jesse Boulerice and Shane Willis along with defenseman David Tanabe, Laviolette is satisfied that they could maintain the nucleus of the team that won the cup; players like team captain Rod Brind'Amour, defenseman Glen Wesley and forwards Justin Williams, Erik Cole and Eric Staal.

"There's a big core of our team that came back, and to be honest, that was the strength of the summer," Laviolette said.