The number of notable free agents still available in this summer’s NHL UFA free agent market has shrunk considerably, and over the past two days the list grew even smaller with the announced signings of veteran forwards Pavol Demitra and Sergei Fedorov.

Demitra signed with the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, while on Wednesday the Washington Capitals announced a one-year, $4 million contract enticed Fedorov to return.

Neither signing was unexpected. Demitra’s former agent is Canucks GM Mike Gillis and it’s been rumored for some time that Demitra would land in Vancouver, while the Capitals made no secret of their willingness to bring Fedorov back into the fold.

Demitra will be expected to replace the offensive gap left by former captain Markus Naslund, who signed last week with the NY Rangers as a UFA, but it seems at this point he’s scarcely an upgrade. Demitra and Naslund had virtually the same number of points last season and unlike Naslund has been frequently hampered by injury over the past four NHL seasons.

If the injury bug continues to bite Demitra next season it could have an adverse effect on his performance which won’t bode well for a Canucks team hoping to bolster their offensive production.

Fedorov isn’t the superstar he once was during his days with the Detroit Red Wings and appeared last season headed toward retirement or playing out his days in Russia until he was dealt by the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Washington Capitals, where he enjoyed an offensive resurgence, with 13 point in 18 regular season games and five points in seven playoff games.

$4 million seems a bit steep for a declining star like Fedorov but the term is right and he brings other intangibles, such as experience and leadership, to a young Capitals team.  If he can contribute even 50 points this season and help the Caps advance beyond the first round of the playoffs that will be consider $4 million will spent.

-The Ottawa Senators resolved their need for experienced blueline depth by signing former Philadelphia Flyer Jason Smith to a two-year contract. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

It was rumored Senators GM Bryan Murray was in the market for a trade with Anaheim for Mathieu Schneider or San Jose for Kyle McLaren. Smith’s signing negates the need for the latter and appear to indicate they’ll re-sign Andrej Meszaros which would remove the need for Schneider

Smith was believed in talks with the Buffalo Sabres but evidently he liked what the Sens had to offer. His gritty performance in this spring’s playoffs, particularly against Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, raise his stock on the UFA market, and heading into this week was the best available blueliner left on the market.

-Reports claim Pavol Demitra is either close to signing or has signed a multi-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

That could raise complaints of tampering from some Minnesota Wild fans given Demitra’s spring sojourn to Vancouver as the guest of former Canucks captain Markus Naslund as well as the fact Mike Gillis, the Canucks new general manager, is Demitra’s former agent.

The league already looked into that matter and found no evidence of tampering. Gillis’ previous relationship with Demitra obviously has some influence but the bottom line is the Canucks desperately need offensive depth and are willing to consider taking on an aging, injury-prone forward.

-Speaking of the Canucks, they now have seven days to decide if they’ll keep forward Steve Bernier.

The St. Louis Blues signed Bernier, who was acquired from the Sabres last week by the Canucks, to a one-year contract offer sheet worth $2.5 million.

Consider that a bit of revenge on the part of Blues president John Davidson for Gillis’ attempt last week to sign forward David Backes to a three-year, $7.5 million contract offer sheet, which the Blues matched almost immediately.

Gillis will likely match this offer but like the Blues with Backes will end up paying him more than desired.

**UPDATE** As expected the Canucks management announced they would match the Blues offer sheet for Bernier.

-Defenseman Paul Mara is returning to the NY Rangers, signing a one-year, $1.95 million contract, a significant cut in pay from the $3 million he made last season with the Blueshirts.

Given that fact it’s a good bet he wasn’t attracting much interest or offers of note from rival clubs on the UFA market.