Joseph Is Red Wings’ New Goalie

Scotty Bowman’s replacement as Detroit’s coach hasn’t even been hired but has already received a gift.

It came Tuesday when goaltender Curtis Joseph signed a three-year, $24-million contract with the Red Wings to replace Dominik Hasek, who has retired.

Jumping at a chance to join the defending Stanley Cup champions, Joseph, an unrestricted free agent, turned down more money and the chance to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who offered him a three-year, $26.5-million deal.

“Probably a year ago I couldn’t have seen myself playing anywhere else,” said Joseph, who has an option for a fourth year with the Red Wings. “But Detroit offers a very unique opportunity.

“Everybody who plays there says the future is now. That was enticing.”

Joseph’s signing was part of a busy day in the NHL. Toronto did not spend much time waiting to execute Plan B, signing veteran goalie Ed Belfour to an incentive-laden two-year, $13.5-million contract two hours after Joseph’s signing.

Although Belfour, 37, is coming off a disappointing, injury-plagued season with the Dallas Stars, Toronto Coach Pat Quinn had his eyes on him since the Salt Lake City Olympics in February. Belfour didn’t play a minute, but Quinn was impressed with how he handled himself in his role as No. 3 goalie behind Martin Brodeur and Joseph for Team Canada.

“[Canada assistant and former Dallas Coach Ken] Hitchcock spoke particularly highly of his goaltender, as a competitor, as a guy that in the big games he was the guy that he wanted in the net,” Quinn said. “And, in fact, he ranked him ahead of the other two guys [Brodeur and Joseph], quite frankly.”

Toronto chose Belfour, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, over another unrestricted free agent, Byron Dafoe, because of his winning track record. Quinn said Belfour’s history of back injuries and his .895 save percentage, 29th among No. 1 goalies in the 30-team NHL last season, was not a factor.

“I’ve admired his competitive instincts, watched him win a Cup and watched him outduel other goaltenders in playoff time,” Quinn said.

In other news, the New York Rangers outbid Toronto to sign their second big-name free agent in two days, picking up defenseman Darius Kasparaitis. Center Bobby Holik signed with the Rangers on Monday.

Kasparaitis will rejoin New York Coach Bryan Trottier, who was an assistant in Colorado and Pittsburgh when Kasparaitis played for those teams.

The Calgary Flames made its first free-agent signing of the summer when they landed veteran forward Martin Gelinas, whose overtime goal put the Carolina Hurricanes into the Stanley Cup finals. Gelinas had seven points in 23 playoff games for Carolina.

But the biggest signing was Joseph.

Although there were reports that the Toronto native wanted to leave the Maple Leafs because of a clash with Quinn, Joseph said that was not the case.

“No animosity at all,” Joseph said of Quinn, who replaced him as the starting goaltender for Canada after an opening-round loss to Sweden at Salt Lake City.

“I guess I refer to an analogy, that if I was 22, when I first started, and you said: ‘At 35 you haven’t won a Stanley Cup and you can go to a team that is the odds-on favorite. What would you do?’ There’s no guarantees that I’ll go to Detroit and win the Stanley Cup. But I’m willing to take that opportunity.”

At 35, Joseph gives the Red Wings another aging, high-priced All-Star goalie. Hasek, 37, led the Red Wings to their third NHL championship in six years before he decided to return home to the Czech Republic.

“He’s similar to Dom in the way he can make that save when you think the other team can score,” Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. “His reactions are so fast, especially on the shots in close. I think he’s really capable of playing good with a good team.

“I think maybe in Toronto, he and [captain Mats] Sundin were the two big players with all the focus on them. With us, he’ll have other guys to take the pressure off him.”

Joseph, who compiled a 133-88-27 record and a 2.42 goals-against average in four seasons with Toronto, earned $6.57 million last season, which was the last of a four-year, $24-million deal. He broke his hand last season but went 29-17-5 with a career-best 2.23 GAA and a .906 save percentage in 51 games.

He had a 2.30 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 20 playoff games.

The Maple Leafs were eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals by Carolina.

Joseph became an unrestricted free agent after failing to reach a deal Sunday with the Maple Leafs, who then traded his rights to Calgary for a 2004 eighth-round draft pick.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.