The Minnesota Wild hope to make Marian Gaborik an offer he won't refuse. Their first step was a visit to Slovakia for a face-to-face meeting with their franchise player. President and general manager Doug Risebrough and assistant GM for hockey operations Tom Lynn traveled to Gaborik's home in Trencin last week, armed with data and ready to listen.

The NHL refuses to entertain compensation offers from a newly formed Russian hockey league for the signing of forward Alex Radulov while the player was under contract with the Nashville Predators. And until Radulov's contract with the Predators is honored, the NHL won't consider negotiating a player transfer agreement with the Continental Hockey League (KHL), NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly...

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney will be out three to five months following surgery to correct a chronic problem with his left foot. The team didn't describe the nature of the problem in a statement released Saturday. Whitney told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review his left foot is misaligned and that attempts to correct it with orthopedic inserts in his skates didn't work.

The Philadelphia Flyers signed coach John Stevens to a two-year contract extension on Thursday that will keep him with the team through the 2010-11 season. The 42-year-old Stevens led the Flyers to a remarkable turnaround that included an appearance in the Eastern Conference finals in his first full season as coach.

Brett Hull and longtime New York Rangers Brian Leetch and Mike Richter are members of the 2008 class of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. The four-member group announced Tuesday also includes Cammi Granato, the all-time scoring leader for the U.S. women's hockey team with 343 points in 205 games. Hull, one of the leading goal scorers in NHL history with 741, recorded 1,391 points in a 20-year career that...

The Los Angeles Kings agreed to terms on a three-year, entry-level contract with defenseman Drew Doughty, the second overall pick in the 2008 draft. The 18-year-old Doughty had 13 goals and 37 assists in 58 regular-season games for Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League last season. The 6-foot, 219-pounder had three goals and six assists in 10 playoff games.