Veteran center Madden signed by Blackhawks

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago Blackhawks acquired double Stanley Cup champion John Madden on a one-year contract on Thursday as they continued to beef up their team in free agent shopping.

A day after signing high-scoring winger Marian Hossa to a lucrative 12-year deal, the Blackhawks picked up veteran center Madden who has played 10 seasons in the NHL.

"John is a proven winner and one of the premier defensive forwards in the game who also has the talent to contribute with timely offense as well," general manager Dale Tallon said in a statement.

"Adding his experience to our team is an important piece to the puzzle."

Canadian Madden, 36, had spent his entire league career with the New Jersey Devils, helping the franchise reach the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons including Stanley Cup titles in 2000 and 2003.

In other moves on Thursday, the second day of free agent signing, the Atlanta Thrashers agreed a multi-year deal with forward Nik Antropov while the Calgary Flames lured center Garth Murray and forward Riley Armstrong.

Antropov, who represented Kazakhstan at the 2006 Winter Olympics, joins the Thrashers a day after the team traded experienced Czech defenseman Pavel Kubina from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 29-year-old, a first-round pick by Toronto in the 1998 draft, set career highs last season with 59 points and 28 goals for the Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers.

"Nik Antropov is a proven scorer in this league and a top-line forward with tremendous size, skill and experience," said Thrashers general manager Don Waddell.

"Along with our addition of Pavel Kubina, we are excited to have greatly upgraded both the offense and defense of our club as we head into next season."

(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles, editing by Tony Jimenez)