Stanley Cup champions the Detroit Red Wings have strengthened their potent offense by signing right wing Marian Hossa on a one-year contract, the team said on Wednesday.
Hossa, regarded as the top free agent forward on the market, had agreed to a deal estimated by local media to be worth US$7.4 million.
Although media reports linked Hossa to a US$9 million offer from the Edmonton Oilers, the 29-year-old Slovak was eager to join the Red Wings.
"I wanted the best chance to win the Stanley Cup and I feel like Detroit is the team," Hossa said in a teleconference call. "I know I could get more money somewhere else but the thing that I was looking for...was to win the Stanley Cup."
Hossa rebuffed a chance to re-sign with the Penguins, who were reportedly offering US$7 million a season as part of five-year contract. Hossa is a five-time All-Star who helped the Pittsburgh Penguins reach the 2008 Stanley Cup finals where they lost the best-of-seven series 2-4 to Detroit.
He scored 12 goals and 26 points in 20 playoff games in Pittsburgh's impressive postseason run.
A first-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 1997 draft, Hossa joins a free-scoring Red Wings offense headlined by Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom.
In 10 NHL seasons with Ottawa, the Atlanta Thrashers and Pittburgh, Hossa has 299 goals and 349 assists.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily July 4, 2008)