The Hurricanes said Thursday that they avoided arbitration with the physical forward by signing him to a deal worth $11.4 million.

The 26-year-old Ruutu is coming off a regular season in which he had career highs with 26 goals, 28 assists and 54 points, then added a goal and three assists during the Hurricanes' run to the Eastern Conference finals.

Ruutu will make $3 million this season, $4 million in 2010-11 and $4.4 million in 2011-12. He made $2.25 million last season.

General manager Jim Rutherford calls Ruutu "one of the cornerstones of our team moving forward."

Maple Leafs hire Poulin

TORONTO (AP) -- Former Philadelphia Flyers captain Dave Poulin has joined the Toronto Maple Leafs front office.

Poulin was unveiled Thursday as the club's new vice president of hockey operations.

Best known for his days with the Flyers, where he captained the team from 1984-90, Poulin played 12 seasons in the NHL with Philadelphia, the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals before retiring after the 1994-95 season.

He played 724 career NHL games, with 205 goals and 325 assists. Poulin retuned to Notre Dame after his retirement, coaching his alma mater to the NCAA tournament.

Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said that Poulin had helped him in a scouting capacity for parts of the past two seasons.