The San Jose Sharks yesterday re-sign three key players, inking forward Jeremy Roenick and backup goalie Brian Boucher and forward Joe Pavelski to a two-year contract.

Pavelski’s deal is worth $3.3 million, breaking down as $1.65 million per season. Roenick will be paid $1.1 million, Boucher $650K.

Good affordable signings by the Sharks, particularly Pavelski's given his notable improvement in the second half of last season and in the playoffs. Roenick will again provide veteran leadership and timely scoring whilst Boucher is an experienced backup for Evgeni Nabokov.

No word as to how contract talks with Brian Campbell are going. The Sharks gave several Eastern Conference clubs permission to speak to Campbell’s agent but apparently haven’t rule out re-signing him.

The parade of potential buyouts continued on Thursday as the Calgary Flames placed defensemen Rhett Warrener and Anders Eriksson and forward Marcus Nilson on waivers.

Flames GM Darryl Sutter needs to free up cap space in part to absorb the potential new contract of impending UFA center Daymond Langkow and to further bolster the roster.

It’s been speculated for weeks that Sutter tried shopping Warrener, Eriksson and Nilson but could find no takers, which isn’t surprising given the decline in their respective performances last season.

Nilson has one year, $1 million remaining on his contract, Eriksson one-year, $1.5 million and Warrener one-year at $2.5 million. Their buyouts will be spread out over the next two seasons.

The Buffalo Sabres announced the signing of goaltender Jocelyn Thibault to a one-year contract.

A former starter, Thibault spent the last two seasons backing up Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh, and last season proved himself quite capable spelling off Fleury when the young netminder would occasionally falter.

Sabres GM Darcy Regier obviously wasn't comfortable with Ty Conklin backing up Ryan Miller for another season. The last thing the Sabres need is for the wiry Miller to be overworked before the playoffs. Bringing in Thibault gives them a quality backup with plenty of experience who can spell off miller for 25-30 games next season.  

The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers have pillaged each other’s roster via unrestricted free agency this summer.

Having signed former Rangers defenseman Karel Rachunek earlier this week the Devils on Thursday signed former Ranger backup goalie Kevin Weekes to a two-year, $1.375 million contract.

It’s obvious Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is concerned that too much playing time may be wearing down franchise player Martin Brodeur, who played in 78 games last season which may have contributed to his uneven performance in this year’s playoffs.

Brodeur will probably still see considerable playing time but Weekes, an experienced, reliable backup, should allow Brodeur the opportunity for more rest during the season, perhaps cutting him back from 70-plus games to a more reasonable 60-65.

The Calgary Flames signed veteran blueliner Anders Eriksson to a two-year contract. This’ll be the sixth NHL team for the much-traveled Eriksson and could be considered a replacement for Andrei Zyuzin, whom the Flames dealt to Chicago last month for Adrian Aucoin.

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed former Edmonton Oilers blueliner Jan Hejda to a two-year contract.

Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson obviously like what he saw of Hejda last season when Howson was assistant GM of the Oilers.

The Anaheim Ducks signed UFA defenseman Shane Hnidy to a two-year contract.