Quick Hits from around the league:

  • Brendan Guance reached an agreement with the Vancouver Canucks on a three-year, entry-level deal, according to the Vancouver Canucks official site. The 26th overall pick in the 2012 draft had 68 points and 68 penalty minutes in the Ontario Hockey League last season. Terms of the deal were not released.
  • Gilbert Brule has signed a one-year contract with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss League, according to the Lions’ website. Brule split last year in the AHL and NHL, recording 14 points with the Phoenix Coyotes in 33 games and 18 with the Oklahama City Barons in 27 contests. The forward was a 2005 first-round pick (sixth overall) of the Blue Jackets who has certainly disappointed in the NHL with 43 career goals and 52 career assists in 233 games.
  • The NHL doled out more than $6 million for legal costs related to the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy and ownership soap opera during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, according to Sports Business Daily. The NHL’s tax records reveal it paid $6.08 million to the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP that gave legal counsel during the Coyotes’ legal fights. The NHL rescued the Coyotes from Chapter 11 in 2009 for $140 million after blocking the purchase and move to Canada by Jim Balsillie. The league is currently in the midst of trying to sell the team to Greg Jamison.
  • The Oilers have begun preliminary talks with Taylor Hall on a new contract, according to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. Hall’s entry-level deal that paid him $900,000 a year plus $2.85 million in bonus money per season is set to expire after the 2012-13 campaign. The 20-year-old recorded 42 points in his rookie season, then went out and scored 27 goals and notched 26 assists this past year in only 61 games.

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