UNIONDALE, N.Y., July 3 -- The offseason overhaul of the New York Islanders continued Monday with the signings of defenseman Kevin Haller and center Mike Stapleton, a pair of unrestricted free agents. Both were captains of their respective teams last season.
Haller, who spent last season with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, was signed to a three-year contract and Stapleton, formerly of the Atlanta Thrashers, received a two-year deal. No financial terms were disclosed for either deal.
"After the moves at the draft, we still had a few areas we wanted to address with experienced players," said General Manager Mike Milbury. "These two signings are great veteran additions for us."
The Islanders have failed to make the playoffs each of the last six seasons, but a new ownership group headed by software executives Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar have given Milbury the resources to attempt to improve the club.
At last month's entry draft, the Islanders drafted goaltender Rick DiPietro with the first pick and traded away two other goalies, Kevin Weekes and Roberto Luongo.
The Islanders made a series of other trades on draft weekend, acquiring forwards Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish, defenseman Roman Hamrlik and goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck.
Haller played the last two years in Anaheim. Last season he had three goals and five assists with 61 penalty minutes in 67 games. He has played 10 NHL seasons with Buffalo, Montreal, Philadelphia, Hartford-Carolina and Anaheim and has 40 goals and 92 assists in 611 games.
Haller won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993.
"He's just 29 but he has over 600 games of NHL experience and a Stanley Cup ring and he plays with an edge," Milbury said. "We believe Haller can join Kenny Jonsson, Roman Hamrlik and Zdeno Chara among our top four on the blue line."
Stapleton, 34, last season and had 10 goals and 12 assists in 62 games for the Thrashers.
"Stapleton is an excellent penalty killer, faceoff man and do-it-all kind of role player who will help out Claude Lapointe on a checking line," Milbury said.
Over his 13-year NHL career with Chicago, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, Winnipeg/Phoenix and Atlanta, Stapleton is 69-105-174 with 332 penalty minutes in 645 games.
Also, the Islanders elected not to give qualifying offers to defenseman Jamie Rivers and center Johan Davidsson, making them free agents.
