There were no big signings involving star players Tuesday, as the NHL's unrestricted free agents went on the market.

This year's class includes forwards Paul Kariya, Sergei Fedorov, Teemu Selanne, Joe Nieuwendyk, Adam Oates, Todd Marchant and Ray Whitney as well as defensemen Derian Hatcher, Brian Leetch, Greg De Vries, Bryan Marchment and Glen Wesley.

The Philadelphia Flyers made Tuesday's biggest move, signing goalie Jeff Hackett. Hackett replaces Roman Cechmanek, who was traded to Los Angeles in May.

``Our scouting staff, our coaching staff, our whole organization feels that Jeff Hackett will give us the solid and steady goaltending that we will need to take a run at the Stanley Cup,'' Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said.

Hackett was 15-17-2 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage in 36 games for Montreal and Boston last season.

The Chicago Blackhawks signed free agent center Scott Nichol with plans to play the enforcer on their fourth line.

Nichol played the past two seasons with Calgary. Last season he lead the Flames with 149 penalty minutes, but had only five goals and had five assists in 68 games.

Several players avoided free agency by agreeing to deals Monday night before the midnight deadline.

Andrew Cassels and the Columbus Blue Jackets agreed on a new two-year deal.

Cassels, the team's second-leading scorer a year ago, will receive 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.

Detroit signed right wing Darren McCarty and defenseman Jason Woolley to contracts.

General manager Ken Holland said Tuesday the team could not afford to pay Fedorov the five-year, $50 million deal he is seeking.

``When you're running a team, if you think that you're just negotiating with a player and that contract is just in a bubble and it has no effect on the rest of your payroll, I think you're dreaming,'' Holland said.

The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to 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.

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. They also 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 San Jose Sharks acquired New York Rangers captain Mark Messier for future considerations on Monday night, hours before he became an unrestricted free agent.

The move, announced Tuesday, allows the Sharks to collect a compensatory draft pick when Messier signs with another team. The Rangers made a similar trade on Monday, sending Leetch to the Edmonton Oilers for one day.

The Rangers also announced general manager Glen Sather will remain as head coach after failing to find a suitable replacement.

The Colorado Avalanche acquired defenseman Karlis Skrastins from Nashville for future considerations. The Monday night trade came with Colorado anticipating the loss of de Vries. 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.