Flyers Sign Stevenson, Knuble

philidelphiaflyers.com

The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Saturday that they have signed 6’3”, 230-pound right wing Mike Knuble (kuh-NOO-buhl) and 6’3”, 220-pound right wing Turner Stevenson each to a three-year contract, according to General Manager Bob Clarke. Per club policy, financial terms were not disclosed. Knuble and Stevenson each became Group III unrestricted free agents on July 1.

“Both are huge players, skate well and play physical,” said Clarke in making the announcement. “Knuble is the better scorer of the two and Stevenson is the more physical. They bring real good size to our forward crew.”

Knuble, 31, recorded 21 goals and 25 assists for 46 points and 32 penalty minutes in 82 regular season games for the Boston Bruins this past season. He was first on the Bruins in plus/minus at +19 and was third on the team in goals with 21. In parts of eight NHL seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Boston (1996-97 through 2003-04), Knuble has registered 101 goals and 107 assists for 208 points and 224 penalty minutes in 510 regular season games. He was a member of Detroit’s Stanley Cup Championship team in 1998 after being selected by the Red Wings in the fourth round (76th overall) of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Stevenson, 32, registered 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points and 76 penalty minutes in 61 regular season games for the New Jersey Devils this past season. He was scoreless against the Flyers in the five games of their 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series. His 14 goals this past season were a new career high for goals in a season. In 613 career NHL regular season games over parts of 12 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey (1992-93 through 2003-04), Stevenson has posted 186 points (74G,112A) and 924 penalty minutes. In four seasons with the Devils (2000-01 through 2003-04), the native of Prince George, British Columbia recorded 29 goals and 46 assists for 75 points and 313 penalty minutes in 228 games. He was a member of the Devils’ 2003 Stanley Cup Championship team. He was originally drafted by the Canadiens in the first round (12th overall) of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

Both were reached by phone and commented on joining the Flyers through a team spokesman.


29 Responses to Flyers Sign Stevenson, Knuble

  1. Lint07 says:

    Mike Knuble is the perfect fit for the Flyers, we’ll see how he’ll manage without Joe Thornton and Glen Murray on his line though, but he is the Bobby Clarke type of player. If he could, I’m sure he’d sign 25 players like Knuble.

    As for Stevenson, he is a role player that I’ve always liked. Ever since he played for the Habs, I always thought he was a great player to have on your team. Do what he’s aked to, never complains and gets the job done. Has a great work ethic.

    Good signings.

  2. nocuphere says:

    Gotta hand it to the flyers. Two great additions.

  3. gojiclan says:

    even though the terms were not disclosed, i can garuntee they were fairly inexpensive. Kanuble brings a bit of a scoring touch to the team, i think he can keep it up with good centers like roenick and handzus, and stevenson was someone i always thought of as a hard worker and defensive asset, which was why he worked so well in new jersey i thought.

    great additions by philly,……but what about zhamnov?! for gods sakes keep him, puleasE!!

  4. Flyers_Fan_In_LA says:

    I watch the Flyers as closely as anyone on this site and I can officially say…

    I have NO idea what to make of these signings.

    Both are good, big, hard hitting players but are they supposed to replace Mark Recchi and Zhamnov? I hope not!!!!

  5. B-Rad says:

    Mike Knuble is the replacement for Recchi. Overall I think the Flyers did good on these signings.

  6. Bishop7979 says:

    Its funny I got the impression that the flyers were taking a step away from the big slow north american beast of a team that Clarke was famous for building.

    I figured with some of his recent signing/drafts/trades and the letting go of Recchi and the possible buyout of Leclair and amonte that he might be going a little euro friendly in his old age . . . Knuble and Stevenson . . . guess not

  7. big_booty says:

    You just gotta love Bob Clarke.

    These are perfect signings for the Flyers, although they totally take me by surprise.

    Organizational depth on the wings has been a concern of the team over the past year or so. There are not many quality winger prospects in the system, so plugging those holes with a couple of decent veterans like Knuble and Stevenson makes perfect sense.

    If Knuble is the replacement for Recchi than I have absolutely no problem seeing Recchi walk – sad though I am to see him go.

    If Zhamnov and Malakhov are re-signed then I will consider this off-season a success.

  8. dkball7 says:

    Watch out for that groin boys. Too bad they will have to get their respective asses kicked when my devils come to town with DARREN LANGDON!!!!

    WOOOOOOOOOO BRASHEAR SUCKS

  9. Viller02 says:

    Knuble definately is taking Recchi’s spot and Stevenson just adds very good depth.

    I too dont have much to make out of the stevenson signing, but Knuble is a good replacement to Recchi and alot cheaper too. He made only 800K last year, so hes probably gonna make around 1.5million id say this year.

  10. Viller02 says:

    Langdon… hah…

  11. WLFHCommishJava says:

    good move by the flyers. they need these type of players more than they need big money players like recchi and zhamnov.

  12. RangerSteve says:

    Please do not make a post like this ever again. You are kidding yourself if you think Darren Langdon even has a shot at going with Brashear. Not to mention the fact that Cheap-Lou let Turner Stevenson go to their biggest rival in the Eastern Conference. As for Langdon, you better pray that he at least cracks the line-up.

  13. qsilver31 says:

    pretty sure knuble was brought in to replace recchi wether philly fans like it our not

    Stevenson is sorta a compensation since everybody would rather have recchi over knuble if salary wasn’t an issue.

    I still expect them to make another fairly large signing to replace Zhamnov. Though I have no idea who yet…

  14. big_booty says:

    I expect that Stevenson was signed to play alongside Primeau. Primeau and Hitch***** will make Stevenson look like a Selke candidate.

    Someone said that Knuble is a “poor man’s LeClair.” I’m not so sure that’s true, but I love his size, and he has enough speed to keep up with the speedier centermen (JR and Zhamnov). I think he’ll do fine by not playing alongside puck hogs like Murray and Thorton.

  15. Flyers_01 says:

    Big doesn’t necessarily mean slow. I don’t know the footspeed of either but if Knuble can skate with Thornton and Murray I doubt he’s slow. Big and fast are good.

    Get a grip on the whole Clarke doesn’t like Euro’s crap. That’s like saying whenever he trades for a Euro that he hate’s north americans. His team is totally international.

  16. Flyers_01 says:

    I say get Rolston and call it a summer. An underrated player in my opinion. Fill any other spots with young guys from the phantoms and buy out LeClair and Amonte.

    Let’s go CBA!

  17. NYR-Rangers says:

    wawt about the flyers?

  18. Flyers_01 says:

    At this point I’d rather have Rolston than Zhamnov even though Zhamnov was very good for us this year. Zhamnov turned his back on the team because he listened to his agent saying that there’s a pot of gold out there waiting for him. Philly made it known they wanted him back and he told them it was all about the greenbacks so he can go back to the Blackhawks for all i care. I want guys who want to win, Zhamnov is not one of those guys.

  19. Flyers_Fan_In_LA says:

    I am starting to think that the Flyers are NOT going to be buying out ANYBODY.

    From what I understand it will cost as much as 2/3 of the contract to buy out big dollar players like Amonte and LeClair. They are both still productive so why pay them and then have to fill the holes. LeClair and Amonte are still better than Knauble and Stevenson in a head to head comparison. Value is another topic.

    It seems like the GMs know that buyouts might count against the cap thus they are not doing it. I can’t see how that is since there is a CBA in place for a few more months but that is how it has been explained to me by some hockey experts.

    Any thoughts?

  20. gojiclan says:

    what if they bought out the players before a cap is put into place? would it have to be pu against it because it happened before a cap was put into place? i wonder this beause what baout the teams with 60+ million salaries and all of a sudden a 40 million cap is put into place, are these teams given a grace period or are they nailed with cap penalties for being over? that would not be too fair i dont think, of couse they had time to slash salaries but still…

  21. cgolding says:

    I would say it is almost certain that they are going to buy them out prior to the next season of hockey. You have to buy-out 2/3 of the contract(in the current CBA… that number could get lowered in any new CBA).

    The reason that they aren’t buying them out right now is because if there is no season then they don’t need to pay the money on the contract for those missed games… so why would you buy a guy out if you could save money by buying him out at a later date…

    another issue is that supposedly under the current CBA players had to be notified by July 1st if this was going to happen to them, which makes sense… so who knows how that will work in the new CBA as well…

    you obviously save money in the long run by buying out contracts… so that isn’t a real issue.

    I can live with Amonte… but Leclair at 9mil is a bit ridiculous.

  22. UsedandAbused says:

    Not a bad signing…. Those two guys def won’t hurt our team. I hope Clarke leaves some room on the lineup for some youth.

  23. AfroCon says:

    Clarke doesn’t like Euro players?

    11 europeans cracked the roster last year at some point or another… Guess Clarke hates his team…

  24. flyersfan10897 says:

    i agree. id like to get rid of amonte altogether, but theres still that attachment to leclair. i wish he was man enough to say “i dont deserve 9 million a year, wanna restructure?” but what the hell are the chances of that happening? ZERO

  25. OldNord says:

    Langdon can match Brashear easily. Don is no more the fighter he was, still a tough one but nonetheless. Langdon had only lost one fight last year with the Habs and I can’t understand why Gainey didn’t sign him.

  26. Flyers_01 says:

    Makes you wonder what kind of crap Turek is getting from the NHLPA and agents for restructuring.

  27. CupBoundFlyers says:

    I’ve never seen Brashear lose a fight…..the man is as tough as they come, bring on langdon and throw in elias and gomez at the same time then it might be a fair fight.

    Devils suck, Flyers = Cup!

  28. CechmanekForVezina says:

    Exactly… once Desjardins was injured his entire defense was Euro/Russian players.

  29. aafiv says:

    …the Devils are wussies. Stevens is toast and so is your reign of stupidity. Brashear sucks because you fear him. Nightie-night ladies!

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