J
ason Taylor wanted out of Miami, and Bill Parcells was happy to let the defensive end go. The six-time Pro Bowl defensive end who was also the 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year — got into his teams bad books after spending his offseason on the TV show Dancing With The Stars rather than working out with teammates. So when the Washington Redskins lost a starting lineman to a season-ending injury Sunday, a significant swap quickly got done. The Redskins gave the Dolphins a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round choice in 2010 for Taylor, who is leaving the only NFL team he’s ever played on.

The Columbus Blue Jackets traded forwards Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche to the New York Rangers for blueliners Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman. Columbus also signed free-agent forward Kristian Huselius for $19 million over four years.

The New York Islanders added 37-year-old centre Doug Weight for one year at $1.75 million.

The Ottawa Senators signed Penguins pest Jarkko Ruutu, an unrestricted free agent, for three years.

The Vancouver Canucks signed free-agent forward Ryan Johnson and free-agent defenceman Nolan Baumgartner.

Carolina signed defenceman Joni Pitkanen, acquired on Tuesday from Edmonton for Erik Cole, to a $12 million, three-year contract.

Calgary stole forward Curtis Glencross from the rival Oilers, signing the unrestricted free agent to a three-year deal; signed brothers Jim and Peter Vandermeer.

The Atlanta Thrashers signed free-agent defenseman Ron Hainsey, adding size and youth to their blue line — and making him the team’s highest-paid defenseman (five years, $22.5 million). He spent the last three years with Columbus.

The Minnesota Wild re-signed injured defenseman Kurtis Foster to a one-year, $1.025-million contract.

The New York Islanders and Center Doug Weight agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.75 million plus incentives.

The Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin signed a five-year extension worth $43.5 million. His deal is the same as the one signed by Sidney Crosby that begins next season.

The Maple Leaf’s Mats Sundin got an offer from Vancouver, which is set to make Sundin the highest-paid player in the league. The Canucks’ bid was for two years, and the price is believed to be $20 million.

A day after Davis surprised the Golden State Warriors by getting out of the final season of his contract to become a free agent, the big-game point guard is on the brink of signing a long-term deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Though Davis would not directly confirm his agent’s declaration to The L.A. Times that they have agreed to sign a five-year, $65 million deal with Golden State’s Pacific Division rivals, he left no doubt about his upcoming move back to his homebase in Southern California.

Davis can’t sign with the Clippers until July 9, but he already was speaking about the Warriors in the past tense to the press on Tuesday night. Davis averaged 21.8 points, 7.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds while playing in all 82 games last season for the Warriors, who led the NBA in scoring and finished with 48 wins — the best record by a non-playoff team in recent league history.