The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have signed three recent draft choices to contracts, according to club Assistant General Manager Paul Holmgren. Forwards Frederik Cabana and Steve Downie have each signed a three-year entry-level contract, while defenseman Jussi Timonen has signed a two-year entry-level contract.

“These three players are all athletes that we have drafted over the past few years,” said Holmgren in making the announcement. “Steve Downie was our first round draft pick from last year (2005). We are extremely excited to have him under contract. He has had a whirlwind year with what happened this past year. He got suspended from his team in Windsor and consequently was traded to Peterborough. He was one of the stars for Team Canada in the World Junior Championships where they won the gold medal. He ended up having a tremendous playoff run with Peterborough, making it to the Memorial Cup before losing out there. We think he’s going to be a very good prospect. He still has another year of junior eligibility so he will most likely go back to playing with his junior team. Steve is a hard-nosed, gritty, two-way player who has good skills. He is a lot like Mike Richards as to how he plays the game. He’s a plugger with extremely good hockey sense and ability.

Cabana is a guy who we drafted in 2004 and he has come on nicely. He is another kid that works really hard, knows the game and skates well. He has not put up great numbers in juniors, but he is a good, well-rounded player. He really understands the game and will be a good player in our organization with a chance to develop over the next few years.

Timonen was drafted in 2001. His brother, Kimmo, plays in Nashville and has been a good player in the NHL. Jussi is actually bigger than his brother. He is a good skater and good with the puck. It was time for him to come over here. He was excited when we contacted him and is looking forward to coming over here and getting started. We will see how he can adapt and adjust to the North American game.

They all will be here for Training Camp.” [.continue.]

It will be interesting to see how well they do.