The New Jersey Devils have brought back two stars of yesterday, signing free agent forward Brian Rolston to a four-year, $20.25 million contract and centre Bobby Holik to a one-year, $2.5 million contract.
"Brian Rolston has developed into one of the top two-way players in the game and certainly will add to our centre-ice position and also to our power play," Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said. "Bobby is still one of the top size-strength forwards and will add size and strength to our centre ice."
Rolston scored 31 goals and 59 points with Minnesota last season.
Rolston, who played three seasons with the Wild, was picked 11th overall by the Devils in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He was a member of the 1995 Stanley Cup champion New Jersey team coached by current Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire, and signed with the Wild in 2004 after four seasons between Colorado and Boston.
"The Devils were high on my list and I'm glad I got here and things worked out the way we wanted it," Rolston said. "I'm very fortunate where I am in my career to have a choice like I had today, especially to play with an organization I know is second to none in the National Hockey League."
The six-foot-two, 210-pound right-winger has 286 goals and 348 assists in 977 career NHL games with the Wild, Devils, Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins.
Last season, the 37-year-old Holik scored 15 goals and added 19 assists in 34 games with Atlanta, collecting $4.25 million for his efforts. The veteran centre drew plenty of attention in the 2002 offseason when he signed a five-year, $45 million contract with the New York Rangers.
"A lot has happened since and I am at a different point in my career," Holik said. "What I want to do now is to be in a place that has a legitimate chance of contending."
