Berlin scored a coup Thursday in signing Ray Whitney, the old but remarkably productive left winger from the Bern Bears. The Smurfs paid big money – $8.5 million – to acquire the 40-year-old all-star who finished 14th in the league in scoring. Whitney played in 75 games for Bern, racking up 41 goals and 95 points. In the playoffs, his production continued with 6 goals and 13 points in 12 games. In Berlin, Whitney is more than a full decade older than any other Smurf other than Brian Campbell and goalie Mika Kiprusoff. He will get top-line ice time as well as action on the number 1 powerplay unit. In Berlin, David Krejci  will try to recreate the chemistry Jason Spezza had with Whitney in Bern. Berlin also signed Josh Holden, a 28-year-old center who is new to the EURO League.

Rich Peverley also left Bern, where he played 80 games last season and scored 45 points, to join Moscow at $3.4 million over the next three or four years.  He joins a crowded field of centers in Moscow but should play plenty, although Anze Kopitar will get the most ice time at center with Alexander Ovechkin on his left.

Bern was able to resign regular defenseman Adrian Aucoin and reserve center Andrew Murray.

The Whitney signing was one of a several eye-openers on a day that has already overshadowed the NHL trade deadline news from a day earlier. Here are more EURO free agent signings:

It’s not the first time Jaromir Jagr has signed with a rival team. In 2011, he returned to the NHL and signed across the state from his former club in Pennsylvania. Today, he jumped ship in Dublin to sign with the other Irish city.  Jagr played in 82 games for Dublin, scoring 38 points and playing a large role in the Fighting Irish’s playoff run, chalking up nearly a point a game through 20 playoff games. The big 40-year-old played an average of 11 minutes per game in Dublin and could see more ice time in Belfast. He will also be paid a little more than he was in Dublin.

Olli Jokinen, 34, also bolted from Dublin, signing in St. Petersburg, another Northern Conference rival, for $2.5 million. The Finnish center tallied 40 points in 70 games last season for the Fighting Irish and also contributed a lot in the 20 playoff games.

Dublin did manage to resign one of their forwards and pick up another today. Mikael Samuelsson (78 games in Berlin last season) and Petr Sykora, who was a regular fourth-liner for them last year, both signed with Dublin.

Nicklas Lidstrom signed for $6.5 million to stay in Geneva for a Cup defense. The 42-year-old was a key component of the Generals and they surely would have to start some sort of rebuild if he hadn’t signed. He scored 13 goals last season and was a plus 23 in 72 games. They also signed 27-year-old Czech defenseman Karel Rachunek to a long-term deal at $2.65 million per year.

Geneva did lose a big piece of the Season 1 puzzle when Teemu Selanne, the 42-year-old Finnish legend, opted to play his next season in Sweden – in Gothenburg, to be precise. The right winger who scored 24 goals last season and didn’t miss a game will earn $5.5 million. Geneva will miss his playoff production of 11 goals and 26 points in 21 games. Selanne will probably see top-line duty this season with Vinny LeCavalier feeding him goal-mouth passes. Gothenburg also signed 32-year-old Chris Kelly to play anywhere from second- to fourth-line center.  Kelly was in Frankfurt last season and he will earn nearly $4 million per year for at least two seasons.

Veteran left wing Ryan Smith, who played in Stockholm last season, is in Helsinki today, signing for nearly $3 million less than he earned  with the Spartans. His numbers there were good, with more than 200 shots on goal, 26 goals and 55 points. He was also a plus 15 and didn’t miss a shift during the regular season. Helsinki might try to milk first-line minutes out of his 36-year-old legs, and that would put him on the ice with Martin St. Louis and Paul Stastny.

To make up for the loss of one veteran left winger, Stockholm signed another: Ruslan Fedotenko,  33, who played in all 82 games for Prague last season, scoring 9 goals and 31 points with a plus 6 rating.

Paris resigned Russian right winger Alexander Semin to a 3-year, $5 million deal. They will be expecting more for their money than the 12 goals and 29 points he put up in 64 games last season.

Goalies were in demand this week and five signed on for new seasons. Minsk got two of the five. Carey Price resigned in Minsk and will be among the league’s wealthiest players.  The 25-year-old who had a 90.0 save percentage in 72 games last season re-upped for 3 years and a player option at $7.95 million. That’s about a $5 million raise for Price. The Hussars also signed veteran Martin Biron, formerly of Madrid, for three years and a player option at $2.8 million.

Goalie Niklas Backstrom moved from one Swiss club to another, signing a 3-year-deal worth $3.85 million with the Zurich Lions. Last season, he was a backup in Geneva, playing in just 5 games.  Backstrom will earn more than six times what Zurich is paying Brian Elliott, but it is probable that Elliott will play in more games. Elliott had a 3.39 goals against average last season as the Lions’ main man.

Bratislava signed a backup goalie today, inking Nikolai Khabibulin to a one-year deal.  Having drafted 20-year-old Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni and releasing Richard Bachman,  they felt they needed a more experienced and proven option on Craig Anderson’s days off. Khabibulin played 23 games for Moscow last season, stopping pucks at a 90.5 percent rate.

Evgeni Nabokov, Dublin’s Tim Thomas backup last year, will continue in that role after agreeing to a 3-year deal at $1.5 million.