Anchorage Daily News

If you can’t beat the Stanley Cup champions, join them.

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Ty Conklin

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That’s exactly what Anchorage goaltender Ty Conklin did on Tuesday when NHL free agency opening with a rush of lavish spending and player moves.

Conklin, fresh off a fine season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, signed a one-year deal with Detroit, the club that beat the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Conklin’s deal is for $750,000, a 50-percent raise over the one-year, $500,000 gig he had with the Penguins.

Conklin, 32, who started last season in the American Hockey League, helped the Penguins not only persevere, but flourish, in midseason after starter Marc Andre-Fleury missed substantial time with a high ankle sprain. Conklin went 18-8-5 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

He was at his best early on when the Penguins were foundering. Conklin started with a 7-0 record to help Pittsburgh move from the bottom of the Atlantic Division to the top, with a 1.71 GAA and two shutouts in that span.

Detroit is Conklin’s fifth NHL club — he previously played for Edmonton, Columbus, Buffalo and Pittsburgh. In his NHL career, he is 48-32-4 with a 2.60 goals-against average and .909 save percentage. He is the only Alaska goaltender who has ever ascended to the world’s best league.

Meanwhile, former UAF Nanooks winger Aaron Voros signed a free-agent deal with the New York Rangers, giving that club three Alaska connections — the team’s top two centers, Scott Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky, are from Anchorage.

Voros, who turns 27 Wednesday, last season played for the Minnesota Wild, making his NHL debut and earning 7-7—14 totals and 141 penalty minutes in 55 games.

Former UAF Nanooks winger Kyle Greentree, who made his NHL debut with Philadelphia last season, getting two games, was traded to the Calgary Flames Monday . Greentree, 24, racked 24-24—48 totals in 72 games with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL.

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