Metropolitan Division Discussion

CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty reports that the Boston Bruins signed head coach Claude Julien to a multi-year extension. The exact amount of years isn’t clear yet, although that might be revealed during tomorrow’s press conference.

Boston represents the third stop of Julien’s head coaching career (Julien began with three seasons in Montreal and one season with New Jersey). The Bruins won a Stanley Cup in 2011 and three Northeast division titles during his five seasons with the team, making the playoffs in every campaign.

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Kris Versteeg and the Florida Panthers have avoided arbitration and agreed to a four-year contract, the club announced today.

TSN is reporting it’s a $17.6 million deal (cap hit $4.4 million).

“Kris played an important role in our club’s success last season and we are pleased to have reached a long-term contract agreement with him,” said Panthers GM Dale Tallon in a release. “He is a skilled player who recorded career highs in goals and points last season, while playing on our top line alongside Stephen Weiss and Tomas Fleischman. We look forward to his continued offensive production, as well as his off-ice contributions in the South Florida community.”

Versteeg, 26, finished third in Florida scoring with 23 goals and 31 assists in 71 games.

So that’s another RFA that avoids his arbitration date and signs a contract.

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Steve Staios has hung up his skates and moved right on to a new job in hockey.

After 18 seasons in the league, he’s called it a career as a player and joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as a Player Development Advisor. Staios says he’s excited to move on to a new place in his career.

“I am looking forward to doing everything I can to help the team have success. The time is right for me and my family to step away from the game that I love to play and move on to a new chapter in my life. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Brian Burke and Dave Nonis and learn from their experience and knowledge.”

In Staios’ 18 seasons in the league, he found his way on to just three playoff teams playing in just 33 career postseason games and came within one win of the Stanley Cup with the 2006 Oilers. Staios was forever a serviceable blue liner and played for six different teams in his career (Boston, Vancouver, Atlanta, Edmonton, Calgary, Islanders).

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For the second year in a row, Hockey’s Future called the Florida Panthers’ farm system the best in the NHL.

While organizations like the Detroit Red Wings reveal the wisdom of patience, the post-lockout league has been relatively friendly to prospects making quick jumps. Yet aside from hulking defenseman Erik Gudbranson, the Panthers killed their playoff drought without their prospects.

So the question is: when will the Panthers tap into their rich reserves of young talent?

The well is deep, but the two standout guys are forward Jonathan Huberdeau and goalie Jacob Markstrom.

Hockey’s Future claims that there’s “little doubt” Huberdeau will make the jump next season. The Panthers’ forward lineup is solid but could absolutely accommodate a talented player who apparently thrived in the CHL playoffs.

Markstrom seemed like he was on a fast track to ease into at least a backup job in the NHL, but the Panthers now seemingly boast a crowded crease. Jose Theodore has one year left on his deal and they re-signed Scott Clemmensen amid rumors of a Roberto Luongo trade.

In the grand scheme of things, it might just come down to how well training camp goes for this team’s talented array of prospects.

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Justin Faulk made a big impression on the Carolina Hurricanes last year. In his first season out of Minnesota-Duluth the 19 year-old played big minutes and killed it on the power play. The impression he made on his GM Jim Rutherford, however, was even bigger.

Mike Morreale of NHL.com heard from the Canes executive and finds out he believes Faulk will end up in some very elite company.

“We’ve had defensemen come into the League like [Bobby] Orr, [Denis] Potvin and [Phil] Housley, who were great offensive players, but I’ve never seen a player play so well defensively and offensively at his age,” Rutherford said. “I can’t describe it well enough to tell [fans] what they’re in store for having this great young player.”

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Uh, hey Justin… No pressure there, guy. For the record that’s two Hall Of Famers and a guy who will probably end up there eventually that he’s comparing Faulk to.

The truth on Faulk is that he’s a good player already and a guy who helps the Hurricanes’ sketchy blue line corps have one guy they can count on. That said, putting him in the same company as Orr and Potvin… Maybe Rutherford is a bit too jacked up about the upcoming season.

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The Winnipeg Jets have announced that defenseman​

Dustin Byfuglien will return to the lineup Tuesday evening

when they host the Flyers at the MTS Centre.​

Byfuglien, 27, has missed the last five games with a lower-body injury. He’ll replace Grant Clitsome in the Jets lineup and pair with usual defense partner Tobias Enstrom.​

It’ll be interesting to see how much ice time Byfuglien gets in his first game back. He was averaging close to 27 minutes per game prior to the injury and, in his absence, Jets head coach Claude Noel has spread the ice time out evenly, giving the likes of Zach Redmond and Paul Postma expanded roles (Postma on the power play especially.)​

In other news, the Jets will give backup goalie Al Montoya his second straight start after shutting out Ottawa 1-0 on Saturday.​

Montoya turned aside 33 shots against the Senators and was named the game’s first star — he’s now 2-0 on the season and could be in line for some extended playing time, given starter​

Ondrej Pavelec

is battling both the flu and consistency issues.​

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The Winnipeg Jets have added some size up front by​

acquiring winger Eric Tangradi from the Penguins

in exchange for a seventh-round pick (2013).​

Tangradi, 23, was Anaheim’s second-round pick (42nd overall) at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and came to Pittsburgh in 2009 as part of the Chris Kunitz-Ryan Whitney trade.​

The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder has appeared in 40 career contests, all with the Penguins, recording 1G-4A-5PTS. He’s played in five games this year, averaging 8:32 of ice time, without registering a point.​

Tangradi’s always been a promising prospect, yet failed to materialize at the NHL level. Injuries have played a role — he suffered a serious concussion in Feb. 2011 on a Trevor Gilles elbow — but he’s never found the consistent offensive production that saw him score 62 goals over his final two seasons in Belleville.​

Of note, this is Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero’s fourth deal since the season began on Jan. 19.​

He sent forward Benn Ferriero to the Rangers (in exchange for Chad Kolarik), forward Carl Sneep to Dallas (for a seventh-round pick) and defenseman​

Ben Lovejoy

to Anaheim (for a fifth-round pick).​

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that forward​

Matt Frattin will be out for a minimum of seven days

after undergoing a procedure on his surgically repaired knee.​

The knee issue dates back to an injury sustained while playing in the playoffs for the AHL Marlies last year,one that required surgery and ended Frattin’s 2011-12 campaign.​

According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, Frattin will undergo this latest procedure within the next 24 hours.​

The loss will sting the Leafs as the 25-year-old has been one of their best forwards this year. He sits second on the team with seven goals and is tied withJames van Riemsdyk for the scoring lead, with 10 points.​

Toronto has four games over the next seven days — Thursday’s away date in Carolina, Saturday’s home game against Ottawa, then a Monday/Tuesday back-to-back in Florida and Tampa Bay.​

Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle

said the club thinks Frattin “can be playing before the end of the month.”​

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The Winnipeg Jets will have an added weapon tonight in trying to shut down​

Sidney Crosby

and the Pittsburgh Penguins —​

Zach Bogosian

.​

The 22-year-old defenseman will make his regular season debut tonight for Winnipeg, coming off wrist surgery that has sidelined him for the first 12 games of the year.​

Bogosian will skate alongside veteran blueliner Ron Hainsey.​

The former first-round pick (third overall, 2008) had a career year in 2011-12, recording 5G-25A-30PTS in 65 games while averaging over 23 minutes per game.​

Tonight will also mark the Jets debut of Eric Tangradi, acquired from Pittsburgh earlier this week.​

It looks as though Tangradi will skate on Winnipeg’s third line alongside​

Olli Jokinen

and​

Kyle Wellwood

.​

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