BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins and center Ryan Spooner avoided arbitration on the day of their hearing, agreeing to a one-year, $2,825,000 deal Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Spooner became a restricted free agent July 1 after finishing a two-year contract that was worth $950,000 per season.
Spooner said that he didn't want to go through the hearing because it's "not a pleasant thing" and he didn't think the Bruins wanted to participate, either. He's the 24th player to settle this summer without a hearing after filing for arbitration.
Spooner can be a restricted free agent again next summer.
"For me, I'm going to spin that into a positive and say that I'm going to take that as a challenge to have a good year and show that I can be the player that they want me to be," Spooner said during a conference call. "And then on the (other) side too, it kind of just shows that they need to see a little bit more out of me as a player. There's a lot of things that I can also bring to the table that I need to work on" (see full story).
Devils: Five forwards re-signed to deals
NEWARK, N.J. -- The Devils have re-signed Stefan Noesen and four other forwards who spent most of last season with New Jersey's top minor-league franchise in Albany, New York.
General manager Ray Shero announced the signings of Noesen, Blake Coleman, Blake Pietila, Kevin Rooney and Ben Thomson on Wednesday.
NHL
Noesen, who split the 2016-17 season between Anaheim, San Diego (AHL) and New Jersey, got a one-year, two-way contract worth $660,000 at the NHL level. The Plano, Texas native had six goals in 32 regular-season games with the Devils.
Pietila signed a two-year, two-way contract with an average annual salary of $667,500 at the NHL level. The 24-year-old had an assist in 10 games with New Jersey.
Coleman got a one-year, two-way contract worth $660,000 at the NHL level. He played in 23 regular-season games for the Devils and had a goal and an assist.
Thomson and Rooney each signed one-year, two-way contracts worth $650,000 at the NHL level. Rooney played in four regular-season games with the Devils, one more than Thomson.
Coyotes: MacLean, Allen hired as assistants
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Coyotes hired John MacLean and Scott Allen on Wednesday as assistant coaches on Rick Tocchet's staff.
MacLean played 18 NHL seasons with four teams before becoming an assistant coach in the New Jersey Devils organization for seven seasons. He was an assistant with the Carolina Hurricanes from 2011-14 and served as an analyst for the NHL Network from 2015-17.
A former minor league player, Allen served as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers from 2009-12 and has held numerous coaching jobs in the minors, most recently with the San Antonio Rampage.
The Coyotes also hired Mike Van Ryn as head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners, the team's AHL affiliate.
Tocchet was hired earlier this month to replace Dave Tippett.
Sharks: Barr hired as assistant coach
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks have hired Dave Barr as an assistant coach on Peter DeBoer's staff.
Barr will serve as the team's "eye in the sky" this season. Barr had previously worked with DeBoer for four years in New Jersey and helped the Devils make the Stanley Cup Final in 2012.
Barr was associate coach in Florida last season and has also been an NHL assistant with Buffalo, Minnesota and Colorado.
Barr joins assistants Steve Spott and Rob Zettler, goaltending coach Johan Hedberg and video coach Dan Darrow on the staff.