Loui Eriksson wasn’t the only Boston Bruins winger to find work elsewhere Friday on the first day of NHL free agency.
Shortly after Eriksson signed a six-year, $36 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks, free agents Lee Stempniak and Brett Connolly both landed with new teams, too.
Stempniak, whom the Bruins acquired at last season’s trade deadline, signed a two-year, $5 million deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.
[NEWS] #Canes agree to terms with forward Lee Stempniak on a two-year contract. Details: https://t.co/T4DSzHPqCB pic.twitter.com/7KHjnu2DZp
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) July 1, 2016
The Hurricanes are Stempniak’s 10th NHL team and his seventh since 2013. The 33-year-old came within one point of his career high last season, tallying 19 goals and 32 assists for the Bruins and New Jersey Devils after entering training camp on a professional tryout agreement.
Connolly, meanwhile, joined the Washington Capitals on a one-year, $850,000 deal, according to multiple reports. The 24-year-old struggled in his first full season in Boston, notching nine goals and 16 assists in 71 games.
The Bruins sent two second-round draft picks to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2015 trade deadline to acquire Connolly, who was selected sixth overall in the 2010 NHL Draft.
Two other unrestricted free agents also choose to leave Boston: defenseman Zach Trotman, who signed a one-year, $650,000 contract with the Los Angeles Kings, and backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who joined the Edmonton Oilers on a one-year deal worth a reported $800,000.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
