TAMPA - The Lightning avoided salary arbitration with two players on Tuesday and immediately showed them they were part of the grand scheme, signing defenseman Brad Lukowich and right wing Andre Roy to two-year deals.
The club also agreed to terms with one of its top prospects - 20-year-old right wing Evgeni Artukhin - and attempted to fortify its thin defensive situation by re-signing veteran Darren Rumble to a one-year deal.
Lukowich, 26, had a career-best 15 points in 70 games last season and had become an increasingly valuable part of the defensive system before the orbital bone in his eye was fractured in the final regular-season game. He returned earlier than expected but a fractured hand ended his season in Game 4 of the East semis against New Jersey. Lukowich earned $825,000 last season but will make $1.1-million next season and $1.2-million in 2004-05.
"At the end of the season I finally got where I wanted to be," Lukowich said. "I got the itch in me right now. I've already booked ice time to get ready."
Roy, 28, set career-highs with 10 goals and 17 points in 62 games and led the team with 119 penalty minutes. The timing and magnitude of some of them became an issue, and coach John Tortorella scratched Roy for much of the end of the season.
But the Lightning proved itself willing to forgive what Roy deemed "bumps in the road." Lukowich said his "personality conflict" with Tortorella was over last season once they understood each other.
"So many times the media decides when there is a problem with a player you have to trade him," general manager Jay Feaster said. "But you have to believe in your system and not make a knee-jerk reaction."
Roy, who earned $700,000 last season, will make $825,00 next year and $925,000 in 2004-05.
"It's great to think they have confidence in me to re-sign me and show me I am part of the plan," Roy said. "Everything finished on a pretty good note. Everything pretty well is settled now and I look forward to the future."
Artukhin's immediate future will be in the American Hockey League, Feaster said. The Lightning traded up in the 2001 entry draft to select the 6-foot-5, 237-pound Russian 94th overall.
Artukhin, a gifted skater, plays a physical North American style, prompting Feaster to depict him as "the prototypical Tampa Bay Lightning forward of the future."
Artukhin, who has participated in two team training camps, signed a three-year rookie deal with a $525,000 bonus. He will earn $450,000 the first season, $500,000 the next and $550,000 the third if he maintains a spot on the roster.
Rumble, 34, signed a $275,000 deal.
Backup goaltender John Grahame and recently acquired forward Cory Stillman filed arbitration papers, but Feaster said he had spoken with both players' agents and expected deals to be worked out. The team never has completed an arbitration hearing.
WHERE?: Ritch Winter, agent for Lightning forward Vinny Prospal, was quoted in Tuesday's editions of the Los Angeles Times as saying his client would sign with either Anaheim or Atlanta.
CANUCKS: The team avoided arbitration with former Lightning goaltender Dan Cloutier and defenseman Marek Malik by signing them to new contracts.
COYOTES: Phoenix signed free agent forward Daniel Cleary to a multiyear deal. The left wing played 57 games with the Oilers last season, scoring four goals and 13 assists.
FLAMES: The team re-signed center Stephane Yelle and agreed to terms with right wing Matt Davidson.
- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
