Marian Hossa signs one-year deal with Detroit

DETROIT (Reuters) - Stanley Cup champions the Detroit Red Wings have strengthened their potent offense by signing right wing Marian Hossa on a one-year contract, the team said on Wednesday.

Hossa, regarded as the top free agent forward on the market, had agreed to a deal estimated by local media to be worth $7.4 million.

Although media reports linked Hossa to a $9 million offer from the Edmonton Oilers, the 29-year-old Slovak was eager to join the Red Wings.

"I wanted the best chance to win the Stanley Cup and I feel like Detroit is the team," Hossa said in a teleconference call. "I know I could get more money somewhere else but the thing that I was looking for ... was to win the Stanley Cup.

"It wasn't easy to throw that much money away but I know I made the right decision. I truly believe that I made the right decision."

Hossa is a five-times All-Star who helped the Pittsburgh Penguins reach the 2008 Stanley Cup finals where they lost the best-of-seven series 4-2 to Detroit.

He scored 12 goals and 26 points in 20 playoff games in Pittsburgh's impressive post-season run, including three goals and four assists in the finals.

A first-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 1997 draft, Hossa joins a free-scoring Red Wings offense headlined by Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom.

In 10 NHL seasons with Ottawa, the Atlanta Thrashers and Pittburgh, Hossa has registered 299 goals and 349 assists.

(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by John Mehaffey and Greg Stutchbury)