Montreal Canadiens: The Canadiens bought out the contracts of underperforming forwards Mariusz Czerkawski and Randy McKay on Tuesday, making them unrestricted free agents.

Montreal, under new general manager Bob Gainey, also re-signed Chad Kilger to a two-year deal. Kilger wasn't extended a qualifying offer by Monday's midnight deadline -- his qualifying price was $1.24 million. Gainey then signed Kilger for less money Tuesday.

Kilger, a checker, had nine goals and seven assists in 60 games last season. Czerkawski, a former 35-goal scorer, dropped to five goals and nine assists in 43 games last season. McKay had six goals and 13 assists in 75 games.

Nashville Predators: Left wing Rem Murray was re-signed. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Murray, who started last season with the Rangers, had six goals and 13 assists in 53 games with the Predators. The 30-year-old was acquired in a deal for goaltender Mike Dunham.

Because of the trade, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Murray played a total of 85 games with the Predators and Rangers, tying the NHL record for most games played in one regular season.

Murray has 85 goals and 111 assists in 512 games over seven seasons with Edmonton, the Rangers and Nashville.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Andrew Cassels and the Blue Jackets agreed on a new two-year deal shortly before the veteran center would have become eligible for free agency.

Cassels, 34, agreed late Monday to a base salary of $3.05 million a year with a $175,000 signing bonus. He holds the option on a third year of the contract if he meets incentives.

The Blue Jackets did not reach contract terms with leading scorer Ray Whitney, who had 76 points. He became an unrestricted free agent.

Cassels was the Blue Jackets' second-leading scorer last season with 68 points. He has spent 14 seasons in the NHL with Montreal, Hartford, Calgary, Vancouver and Columbus, playing 926 games with 194 goals and 500 assists.

He was second on the team in assists (48), points (68) and power-play goals (9) last season after coming to the Blue Jackets as a free agent during the offseason.

Cassels led the Blue Jackets with five game-winning goals last season and the team went 12-4-1-0 in games in which he scored.

The Blue Jackets did not reach contract terms with leading scorer Ray Whitney, who had 76 points. He became an unrestricted free agent.

Colorado Avalanche: The team signed defenseman Karlis Skrastins from Nashville for future considerations.

The move came with Colorado anticipating the loss of defenseman Greg de Vries, an unrestricted free agent.

Skrastins has played in 269 consecutive games, the third-longest active streak in the NHL. He had three goals, 10 assists and 44 penalty minutes last season.

Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix said Monday that the team "offered everything we could" to keep de Vries, who made $1.4 million last season.

With the free-agent season now open, Lacroix said the team is unlikely to pursue a big-name player. He also said backup goalies David Aebischer and Phil Sauve deserve a chance to succeed Patrick Roy, who retired after last season.

"It's an issue of respect, and that's the way we operate," Lacroix said.

Detroit Red Wings: Darren McCarty avoided becoming an unrestricted free agent when he agreed to a four-year deal late Monday night to remain with the Red Wings.

McCarty, 31, has spent his entire 10-season career with Detroit, winning three Stanley Cups.

The right wing was taken by Detroit in the second round of the 1992 NHL draft.

McCarty, who had 13 goals, nine assists and 138 penalty minutes in 2002-03, said it was important for him to have a four-year deal, considering the economic climate of the NHL.

Some people expect the owners to lockout the players in September 2004 when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. The move may be an attempt to secure some kind of salary cap or luxury tax system.

"I've got a four-year deal,'' McCarty said. "These days, that's like gold. With the question marks in the game right now, a guaranteed contract is pretty good.''

Another team could have offered McCarty more money, but he said it wouldn't have been enough for him to leave Detroit.

Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins didn't make a qualifying offer Tuesday to former No. 1 draft pick Alexander Daigle, allowing him to become a free agent less than a year after he began his NHL comeback.

The Penguins also let defensemen Joel Bouchard, Shawn Heins and Hans Jonsson and forward Ville Nieminen become free agents by not offering them 10 percent raises over the 2002-03 salaries.

None of the moves was a surprise, though letting Nieminen go means the Penguins have nothing to show for their March 2002 trade that sent defenseman Darius Kasparaitis to Colorado.

The Penguins also declined their $550,000 option on center Mathias Johansson, meaning he also becomes an unrestricted free agent, but did pick up defenseman Richard Lintner's $650,000 option.

As part of the Penguins' overhaul that began with a succession of trades in March, the Penguins also made no move to re-sign center Kent Manderville, goalie Robbie Tallas or defenseman Jamie Pushor before they became free agents Tuesday.

The Penguins made qualifying offers to forwards Ramzi Abid, Matt Bradley, Rico Fata, Milan Kraft and Toby Petersen, goalie Sebastien Caron and defensemen Micki DuPont, Rob Scuderi and Dick Tarnstrom by offering them the 10 percent raises.

The Penguins acquired Johansson and DuPont from Calgary for forward Shean Donovan during their flurry of late-season trades.