Reichel

"I don't intend to be idle all season," Reichel told the Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper on Saturday. "I want to play hockey and I haven't reached an agreement with any NHL club."

Reichel, who earned $1.7 million last season, has been seeking a multiyear contract for more than $3 million a season. He has repeatedly said he would not return to the NHL if his expectations were not met.

Reichel has already started the season at his native Litvinov, scoring five goals in seven matches in September. Under the new contract, he can leave for the NHL if he gets a suitable offer.

Reichel was traded to Phoenix from the New York Islanders in March and became a restricted free agent at the end of the last season.

The Czech has chosen Europe over the NHL before. After back-to-back 40-goal seasons in Calgary, Alberta, and scoring at a 40-goal pace in the strike-shortened 1994-95 season, he reached a contract impasse with the Flames. The following season he played in the German Hockey League with the Frankfurt Lions.

He returned to Calgary in 1996-97 and signed a three-year deal in Phoenix that expired at the end of the last season.

He has scored a total of 209 goals in the NHL. In the 1998-99 NHL season, he was the league's 22nd most productive player.

Although getting only a fraction of their NHL's salary, Czech players often decide to return home if they feel they are not being paid adequately by their NHL clubs.