The Ducks announced today that the club has named Paul MacLean assistant coach. Winner of the 2013 Jack Adams Award as the NHL Coach of the Year with Ottawa, MacLean returns to Anaheim where he served as an assistant coach for two seasons from 2002-04. MacLean will join Bruce Boudreau’s coaching staff with fellow assistant coaches Trent Yawney and Scott Niedermayer, goaltending consultant Dwayne Roloson and video coordinator Joe Piscotty.  

MacLean most recently served as head coach of the Senators from 2011-15, leading the club to a 114-90-35 record and a pair of Stanley Cup Playoff appearances in 2012 and 2013. MacLean helped the Senators to a 25-17-6 record in 2013-14 and the club’s second consecutive postseason appearance en route to his first career Jack Adams Award in his second straight year as a nominee.
  

The Blue Jackets have acquired left wing Brandon Saad, defenseman Michael Paliotta and center Alex Broadhurst from the Blackhawks in exchange for forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp and a fourth round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, club GM Jarmo Kekalainen announced today.  

Saad, 22, has registered 52 goals and 74 assists in 208 career NHL games, helping Chicago win a pair of Stanley Cup championships in 2013 and 2015.

“We’re very excited to bring Brandon Saad, a 22-year old two-time Stanley Cup champion with great size, speed, power and the ability to score goals, to our organization,” said Kekalainen.  “He is a proven winner and exactly the kind of player we want as a Columbus Blue Jacket.”

Paliotta, 22, was Chicago’s fifth pick, 70th overall, in the 2011 NHL Draft.  He spent the past four years at the University of Vermont (Hockey East), where he registered 19-64-83 in 144 games. 

Broadhurst, 22, was Chicago’s 10th pick, 199th overall, in the 2011 NHL Draft.  He spent the past two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs.
 
Anisimov tallied 40-44-84 in 168 career games with the Blue Jackets, including 7-20-27 in 52 games in 2014-15, since joining the club prior to the 2012-13 season as part of the trade that sent Rick Nash to the New York Rangers.  Dano was Columbus’ third pick, 27th overall, in the 2013 NHL Draft.  He tallied 8-13-21 in 35 games with the club as a rookie last season.  Tropp was claimed off waivers from Buffalo on Nov. 28, 2013 and picked up 3-15-18 in 105 games with Columbus over the past two seasons.  Morin was acquired by the Blue Jackets from Chicago in exchange for defenseman Tim Erixon last season.  

  

The Hurricanes have placed winger Alexander Semin on buyout waivers, the team announced Tuesday.

It's an expensive decision for a small-budget team, but Semin wasn't living up to his $7 million salary, scoring only six goals in 57 games last season.

Mike Richards, whose contract has been terminated by the NHL Kings, is part of an ongoing investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for an off-ice incident, a source told ESPN.com on Tuesday.

Chris Pronger always seemed destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Going in this year is unprecedented, however, since he is still under contract as an NHL player.

His inclusion took a bylaw change that specifies a player's final game must be three full seasons ago. The defenseman last played in 2011 because of post-concussion syndrome.

"Nothing I've done has been the easy way, so I guess this would follow suit," Pronger said on a conference call Monday, brushing off any awkwardness about going into the Hall with two years left on his contract.

He was named along with Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov and former NHL star Phil Housley. Rounding out the class of seven are Angela Ruggiero, Bill Hay and Peter Karmanos Jr.

The Kings have terminated the contract of forward Mike Richards, the club announced today.
 
The club has issued the following statement and will not comment any further at this time:
 
“The Los Angeles Kings today have exercised the team’s right to terminate the contract of Mike Richards for a material breach of the requirements of his Standard Player’s Contract.  We are not prepared to provide any more detail or to discuss the underlying grounds for the contract termination at this time.”

The Lightning have re-signed right wing Mike Blunden to a one-year, two-way contract today, vice president and GM Steve Yzerman announced.
 
Blunden played in two games with the Lightning last season, recording two penalty minutes.  He played in 33 games with Tampa Bay’s top minor league affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, in 2014-15, recording 13 goals and 22 points. Despite a limited number of games he ranked tied for sixth on the Crunch for goals.
 
A native of Toronto, Ontario, Blunden has appeared in 104 NHL games with the Lightning, the Canadiens, the Blue Jackets and Blackhawks.  
 
Blunden was drafted by Chicago in the second round, 43rd overall, at the 2005 NHL Draft.
  

As the first buyout window closes in the NHL offseason, three more players were put on unconditional waivers Sunday for purpose of buying them out, including two-time Stanley Cup champion Mike Richards of the Kings.

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau of the Canadiens, and Mark Fistric of the Ducks also were placed on unconditional waivers.

The deadline for the first buyout window is June 30.

The Wild have re-signed goalie Devan Dubnyk to a six-year contract, the team announced Saturday.

The deal is worth $26 million, a source told ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun.