Rangers President and GM Glen Sather announced today that the club has bought out the contract of forward Chris Drury. “Chris is a consummate professional, a tremendous competitor and an even better person,” stated Sather. “He gave his heart and soul to the Rangers organization in his time here and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.” In four seasons as a Ranger, Drury registered 62 goals and 89 assists for 151 points, along with 116 penalty minutes in 264 games. He made his debut with the team on October 4, 2007, tallying the game-winning goal and adding two assists vs. Florida in the season opener. That season, he led the club in power play goals (12) and game-winning goals (seven), tied for the team lead in goals (25), and ranked third in assists (33) and points (58). Drury led the team in power play goals (10) for a second consecutive season in 2008-09, en route to capturing his first of two Players’ Player Awards (2008-09, 2009-10). Drury, 34, is a Stanley Cup Champion and the only player in history to win both the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top collegiate player and the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. He has served as Rangers’ captain for the last three seasons, having been named the 25th captain in franchise history on October 3, 2008.

The Ducks announced Wednesday that veteran Todd Marchant is retiring after 18 years in the league, but he'll immediately join the team's front office as director of player development. "I'd like to personally thank Todd for his invaluable contributions to this organization over the last six years," Ducks executive vice president/general manager Bob Murray said in a statement released by the team. "His character and presence in our locker room will be missed, but we're extremely grateful that he has agreed to join the front office as Director of Player Development. Congratulations to Todd and his family on a wonderful career."

After missing the entire 2010-11 season because of post-concussion symptoms, Paul Kariya has announced his retirement after 15 seasons. Kariya said there was no angst about the decision. "This is a black-and-white issue," he told ESPN.com's Scott Burnside. "It wasn't very difficult at all." When Kariya was concussed for the final time in late December 2009, after Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta delivered a blindside elbow, there was no suspension. "It's been a little disappointing that in the time I've been in the league, nothing much has been done to stop that," Kariya said. "We shouldn't be having this conversation right now. To me there's never been enough of a deterrent not to do it."

Forward Steve Sullivan was informed last week by Predators GM David Poile that his services won't be retained in Nashville. "It's time to move on," Sullivan told ESPN.com Tuesday. "It'll be interesting to see what happens once the market opens."

The most promising potential buyer of the beleaguered Coyotes to come along since the team was thrown into bankruptcy two years ago has walked away from the process, a source told ESPN.com on Monday afternoon. Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer, who had hoped to have a deal in place to purchase the team from the NHL last spring, had set aside over $100M for the purchase of the team but ongoing issues over a new arena lease agreement with the City of Glendale have led to Hulsizer withdrawing from the deal.

In a somewhat shocking move last week, the Flyers dealt center Jeff Carter to the Blue Jackets. Carter went through a range of emotions last week, but that's all over now. "I'm in Columbus now," Carter said. "I'm not worried about what's going on (in Philadelphia) anymore." In a conference call with Ohio media on Monday, Carter began to move forward with his new club, and in particular, his new linemate, Rick Nash. "Anytime you can get a chance to play with Rick, it puts a smile on your face," Carter said. "I'm excited to get out there and see what we can do together. A lot of people have been keying on him, and it's not easy to do things by yourself. I'm looking forward to helping him out, and helping the team out."

Dmitry Chesnokov insists goaltender Semyon Varlamov is "unlikely" to re-sign with the Capitals. A resolution is expected to take place before July 1. A move to the Kontinental Hockey League seems to be in the cards for Varlamov.

The return of the Winnipeg Jets to the NHL will create a ripple effect throughout the league with a dramatic realignment for the 2012-13 season as a result, multiple media outlets have reported. Winnipeg will play the upcoming 2011-12 season in the Eastern Conference's Southeast Division despite being 70 miles north of Minnesota. The Jets' division features the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. With Western Conference teams Detroit, Nashville and Columbus hoping to be relocated to the East, the NHL has opted to realign the entire league rather than shifting Winnipeg, according to the Sporting News. The purveying plan seeks to divide the league into four divisions, two with eight teams and two with seven teams. The plan will likely be finalized at December's Board of Governors meeting.

Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman said he didn't have to do the convincing to get Brian Campbell to waive his no-trade clause and accept a deal to Florida. That was Panthers GM Dale Tallon's task. But Bowman was glad the former Blackhawks defenseman agreed to the trade, because it gave his team instant salary cap flexibility, according to an ESPN.com report on Saturday.

With rumors swirling at the NHL draft that Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell was on the trade block, a source familiar with the situation says he was recently asked to waive his no-trade clause but refused. Campbell is in the middle of an eight-year, $56M deal with a salary-cap hit of $7.14M.