The off-season free-agent signings continue, and three CHL clubs -- Genève-Servette, Linköping HC, HC Košice and Kölner Haie -- were especially active. Taylor Pyatt signing with Genève-Servette leads the list.

by Derek O'Brien

Genève-Servette's acquisition of free-agent winger Taylor Pyatt headlines the most recent list of transfers involving Champions Hockey League clubs. This is just the latest signing the Swiss club has made of players who played in the NHL last season, after reeling in Paul Ranger and Matt D'Agostini last week.

"We are very pleased to announce the signing of our fourth import in the person of Taylor Pyatt, a player who has a great deal of NHL experience," said Genève-Servette part-ownger, general manager and head coach Chris McSorley in a press release, one of many the club has recently issued. "During our investigation about it, we were able to count on the valuable advice of Matthew Lombardi, his former teammate in Phoenix. Matthew highly recommended Taylor to us, as did some former coaches with who I spoke with. Taylor is not only in human terms a great friend to his teammates, but also a leader, whether on the ice or off it. His experience of more than 850 NHL games will certainly improve the intrinsic quality of our current roster, and I'm convinced that Taylor will have an important role in our team. "

The 32-year-old Pyatt has played with the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. He had back-to-back 37-point seasons with the Canucks in 2006/07 and 07/08, and also had 6 points in 12 playoff games in 2007.

"I look forward to starting a new chapter my hockey career with the Geneve-Servette Hockey Club," said Pyatt, whose only previous experience in Europe came during the 2004/05 NHL lockout with Hammarby of the Swedish Allsvenskan. "I've heard the Geneva fans are passionate about the sport and their team, and I look forward to discovering that first-hand. I hope that we will have a good season together. "

As one player is leaving the Swiss NLA, another is leaving and heading to a Swedish CHL club. Jacob Micflikier is moving from Lugano to Linköping, his new club announced on Friday morning. Linköping is another club that's been quite active this week.

"We are delighted to sign Jacob Micflikier," said Linköping general manager Mike Helber. "Together with the signing of Jeff Taffe (Wednesday from the AHL's Hershey Bears), we've made a trade that is as close as possible to what you'd see in the NHL. We're replacing a top offensive player (Pär Arlbrandt) with two top players almost simultaneously and we believe that we have improved our team for next season. We have met all the parties desires and expect that our team is stronger after the change."

"It feels natural to come to Linköping, as we've been in contact for several years," said the 30-year-old Micflikier, who had 77 points in 83 games over the past two NLA seasons. He's also played for Team Canada in the last two Spengler Cups and had a cup of coffee with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL. "It's good that we were able to find a solution. I'm very glad to come to the SHL and want to show that I can contribute to a successful season in Linköping."

While the Swiss and Swedish clubs went the veteran youth, Slovak club HC Košice is trying to build with youth, and has added a quartet of talented young players. Forwards Milan Kolena, Adam Lapšanský, Václav Stupka and defenceman Adam Jánošík.

Twenty-year-old Kolena was the captain of the Slovak World Junior team last year and played part of the season in the KHL with Slovan Bratislava. Lapšanský, 24, earned 50 points in 57 Slovak Extraliga games last year with Poprad.

"Both forwards are young players and their age and talents are a perfect match for our team," said Košice general manager Juraj Bakoš. "I believe they will keep on developing their skills in Košice and strive to achieve their peak performance with the team."

At 27, Stupka is the oldest of the club's new players. He was an Extraliga all-star and helped ŠHK 37 Piešťany reach the semi-finals. Jánošík, the 21-year-old defenceman, is coming over from Czech club Liberec, who will face Košice in the CHL's Group A. He was drafted in 2010 by both the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning and KHL's Barys Astana.

Earlier this week, German club Kölner Haie, another Group A team, signed a trio of North American forwards. They acquired Evan Rankin from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, Mike Iggulden from Medveščak Zagreb and Jamie Johnson from Dinamo Riga, both of the KHL.