The Carolina Hurricanes brought another former Maple Leaf to town as they signed Alexei Ponikarovky to a one-year deal for $1.5 million. The forward was originally drafted by Toronto and arguably had his best seasons playing under coach Paul Maurice. He most recently was a member of the Los Angeles Kings, but had an injury plagued season last year and only played in 61 games.
Carolina GM Jim Rutherford said that Ponikarovsky suffered from various groin injuries, but they were told that those problems have been resolved. The GM also said that they originally had plans to bring in this player in addition to re-signing Erik Cole.
"Ponikarovsky and Cole on Eric Staal's wings might have looked pretty good," Rutherford said. But now Canes' management will have to go back to the drawing board to try to find a replacement for Cole. They might be able to add a player via trade or might continue to look at the free agent pool.
The winger only scored 5 goals last season, but has been a 20 goal scorer in the past. He'll be looking to re-establish his game in Carolina.
The following from the Canes' press release:
‘CANES AGREE TO TERMS WITH ALEXEI PONIKAROVSKY
Veteran winger played 61 games with Los Angeles in 2010-11; Agrees to one-year deal
RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky (al-EHX-ay poh-nih-kahr-OHV-skee) on a one-year contract worth $1.5 million.
“Alexei is a big forward and a very good skater who brings 10 years of NHL experience to the Hurricanes,” said Rutherford. “He plays a strong two-way game and has shown that he can put up good offensive numbers.”
Ponikarovsky, 31, notched five goals and earned 10 assists (15 points) in 61 games with the Los Angeles Kings in 2010-11, despite missing 18 games due to injury. He averaged 12:35 of ice time per game, and ranked seventh among Kings forwards with a plus-1 plus/minus rating. Ponikarovsky (6’4”, 229 lbs.) has scored 121 goals, earned 160 assists (281 points) and compiled a plus-51 plus/minus rating in 554 career NHL regular-season games with Toronto, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. The Kiev, Ukrain, native was originally drafted by the Maple Leafs in the fourth round, 87th overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Ponikarovsky’s career statistics are below.
The Carolina Hurricanes will open their 2011 exhibition schedule on Sept. 19 at Buffalo. For information on 2011-12 Carolina Hurricanes ticket packages, please visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com, or call 1-866-NHL-CANES.
ALEXEI PONIKAROVSKY’S CAREER STATISTICS
YEAR TEAM LGE GP G A PTS PIM GP G A PTS PIM
1997-98 Dynamo Moscow Russia 24 1 2 3 30 - - - - -
1998-99 Krylja Sovetov Russia 13 2 1 3 2 - - - - -
Dynamo Moscow Russia
1999-00 TSK Tver Russia-2 29 8 14 22 26 - - - - -
Dynamo Moscow Russia 19 1 0 1 8 1 0 0 0 0
Dynamo Moscow EuroHL 2 0 2 2 0 - - - - -
2000-01 Toronto NHL 22 1 3 4 14 - - - - -
St. John's AHL 49 12 24 36 44 4 0 0 0 4
2001-02 Toronto NHL
2001-02 St. John's AHL 72 21 27 48 74 5 2 1 3 8
2002-03 St. John's AHL 63 24 22 46 68 -- -- -- -- --
Toronto NHL 13 0 3 3 11 -- -- -- -- --
2003-04 Toronto NHL 73 9 19 28 44 13 1 3 4 8
2005-06 Toronto NHL 81 21 17 38 68 -- -- -- -- --
2006-07 Toronto NHL 71 21 24 45 63 -- -- -- -- --
2007-08 Toronto NHL 66 18 17 35 36 -- -- -- -- --
2008-09 Toronto NHL 82 23 38 61 38 -- -- -- -- --
2009-10 Toronto NHL 61 19 22 41 44 -- -- -- -- --
Pittsburgh NHL 16 2 7 9 17 11 1 4 5 4
2010-11 Los Angeles NHL 61 5 10 15 36 4 1 0 1 0
NHL Totals (10 seasons)