MONTREAL, July 7 -- The "for sale" sign at the Molson Centre did not prevent the Montreal Canadiens from signing seven players Friday, including oft-injured captain Saku Koivu and fellow center Patrick Poulin.
Koivu accepted the team's qualifying offer for 2000-01, which had to at least match his $3.3 million salary from last season.
Poulin agreed to a three-year deal at undisclosed terms.
The Canadiens, put up for sale by Molson Inc. on June 27, also signed four free agents -- left wing P.J. Stock, defenseman Enrico Ciccone, forward Eric Bertrand and center Eric Landry -- while re-signing rugged left wing Sylvain Blouin.
Shoulder and knee injuries limited the 25-year-old Koivu to 24 games last season, and he had three goals and 18 assists. The former All-Star has spent his entire five-year career with Montreal, which selected him in the first round of the 1993 draft. He has played just one injury-free season in the NHL and has never scored more than 20 goals.
The 27-year-old Poulin played all 82 games last season and had 10 goals and five assists. He also has had one 20-goal effort in an eight-year career that has included stops in Hartford, Chicago and Tampa Bay.
"Saku Koivu is dedicated to his role as the team captain," general manager Rejean Houle said. "With Saku healthy and in our lineup, there is no doubt that our offense will be improved. Patrick Poulin wanted to stay in Montreal and his contribution as a defensive forward was an important part of our penalty-killing's success last season."
