Thrashers sign free agent Antropov to multi-year deal

The Thrashers’ whirlwind offseason continued Thursday with the signing of free-agent forward Nik Antropov to a four-year, $16-million contract.

The signing of the Antropov gives the Thrashers a top-6 forward, one of their offseason priorities.

The Thrashers also traded for top-4 defenseman Pavel Kubina on Wednesday. They drafted nine players last weekend, including forward Evander Kane, who could make the NHL roster next season.

The 29-year-old Antropov, who is 6 foot 6 and 230 pounds, had career-highs last season with 59 points, 28 goals and 31 assists while splitting the season between Toronto and New York. He recorded 46 points (21 goals, 25 assists) with the Maple Leafs, where he had spent his first nine seasons, before a trade-deadline move to the Rangers.

The native of Kazakhstan was the 10th overall selection in the 1998 draft by the Leafs.

Also Thursday, the Thrashers as expected re-signed forward Chris Thorburn to a multi-year contract.

The Thrashers did not offer Thorburn, a restricted free agent, a qualifying offer earlier this week in the hopes of signing him to a multi-year deal.

Thorburn, 26, had 15 points last season with a career-high seven goals and eight assists. He appeared in all 82 games, also a career-high. The 6-3, 225-pound right wing has 12 goals and 21 assists in two seasons with the Thrashers, after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2007 for a third-round draft pick.