TORONTO - Just days after locking up star point guard Kyle Lowry, the teams top offseason priority, the Raptors are following suit with restricted free agent forward Patrick Patterson. Brent Seabrook Jersey . Although the deal cannot be made official until the free agent moratorium period is lifted on July 10, Patterson has agreed to a three-year, $18 million extension to remain in Toronto, sources confirm to TSN.ca Friday afternoon. Patterson, 25, was acquired in the seven-player deal that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento in December and played a significant role in the Raptors resurgence last year. One of the leagues premier reserves at his position following the trade, the fourth-year forward appeared in 48 games for Toronto, starting seven, and averaging 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds while shooting 48 per cent from the field and 41 per cent from three-point range. As a restricted free agent, the Raptors could have matched any offer Patterson received on the open market but retaining him was a priority for general manager Masai Ujiri and something he moved on quickly after agreeing to terms with Lowry late Wednesday night. Patterson figured to draw a fair amount of interest from teams around the league after jumpstarting his young career in Toronto. Although he struggled to begin the year with the Kings, Patterson emerged as a versatile, two-way player that can stretch the floor at the power forward position. He became especially valuable as starter Amir Johnson began to wear down, battling a myriad of injuries late in the season. Patterson, often the first player off the bench last year, is expected to have a bigger role with the Raptors in 2014-15 and beyond. Toronto had a record of 42-22 following the early-season trade that made Patterson a Raptor, finishing the campaign with a franchise-best 48 wins and division title en route to a seven-game, first round defeat in the playoffs. Shortly after extending the contract of head coach Dwane Casey in May, Ujiri expressed his desire to keep his team, one that exceeded all expectations a year ago, together going forward. "As far as Im concerned, keeping our core group going forward, with Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez and Patterson and Nando, those guys are priorities for us," the Raptors GM had said. "And if you want to build, I think a team where we have young players, we have to build continuity. When free agency comes, we have to attack our guys first." With that goal in mind the next order of business will be retaining Vasquez, also a restricted free agent, expected to be done soon. In an effort to create the cap space required to complete a deal with the back-up point guard and perhaps add another piece while maintaining future flexibility and avoiding luxury tax penalties, the Raptors have also traded veteran sharpshooter Steve Novak to the Utah Jazz, reports Yahoo Sports. Toronto will send a future second-round selection to the Jazz as a sweetener and take back the non-guarantted contract of guard Diante Garrett, who will be immediately waived, in order to unload the $7.2 million Novak is owed over the next two years. After the Lowry and Patterson signings are made official and assuming guards Julyan Stone and Dwight Buycks are also waived (their deals are non-guaranteed if voided before July 7 and July 22 respectively), the Raptors will have roughly $62 million committed to 10 players under contract for next season, not including Vasquez, free agent guard Nando De Colo and rookies Bruno Caboclo, Lucas Nogueira or DeAndre Daniels. Even after signing their rookies and inking Vasquez to a new deal, the Raptors should be able to use most of their mid-level exception to address another need on the roster and remain under the salary cap. Aided by the trade of Novak, Toronto should have max or near max cap space next summer, with only Lowry, Patterson, DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross and this years rookies on their books for the 2015-16 season. Novak was acquired in the trade that sent Andrea Bargnani to New York a year ago. The 31-year-old forward and three-point shooting specialist averaged 3.3 points in 54 games with the Raptors last season, his eighth in the NBA. Brad Richards . A few changes have been made this year, as RDS will no longer be producing it. Instead, the Canadiens have hired their own team of creative masterminds to produce the reality series. Stan Mikita . Van Riemsdyk scored twice and Nikolai Kulemin picked up the game-winner as Toronto snapped a three-game losing skid with a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Maple Leafs (12-7-1) placed the newly acquired Holland on its top line between Phil Kessel and van Riemsdyk.In what might be his last appearance at the Bell Centre, Martin Brodeur is expected to get the start for the New Jersey Devils tonight as the Montreal Canadiens will try to complete a sweep of the season series. Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Habs at 7:30pm et/8:30pm at. The game is also available on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal. Unless the Canadiens and Devils meet in the playoffs, Tuesdays encounter in Montreal will be the final meeting between the clubs in 2013-14. Brodeur, a Montreal native, is 44-19-1 with five ties and a 1.85 GAA in his career against the Habs. The Habs are 2-0 against New Jersey so far this season, taking both tilts of a home- and-home series on Dec. 2 and 4. Carey Price will start for the Canadiens. The Canadiens havent swept New Jersey in a season series since winning all three encounters during the 1998-89 campaign. The Devils enter Tuesday on a 2-0-2 point streak, but the clubs shootout woes continued in its last outing as New Jersey fell 2-1 in Sundays setback at Toronto. Peter DeBoers club has an 0-7 record in shootouts this season and his players have combined to go 1-for-23 in the penalty shot round. New Jersey had won two in a row before losing Sunday against the Maple Leafs. James van Riemsdyk scored the lone goal of the shootout to help Toronto earn the extra point. Van Riemsdyk opened the games decisive phase with a nifty backhander past Cory Schneeider before Jonathan Bernier turned aside all three New Jersey shooters to give the Leafs the victory. Marcus Kruger Blackhawks Jersey. Adam Henrique and Ryane Clowe scored regulation goals for the Devils, while Schneider made 23 saves in defeat. "I couldnt have drawn it up much better than how we played and the effort we got," DeBoer said. New Jersey is 9-12-4 as the visiting team this season and is making the second stop on a four-game road trip tonight. Montreal is 3-1-1 in January and is coming off Saturdays overtime win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. Andrei Markovs second goal of the contest, coming at 1:28 of the extra session, lifted the Canadiens to their second win in three game. Markov blasted a shot from the left point to beat Corey Crawford for the decisive tally. It was the fifth goal of the season for the veteran defenseman and his first game-winner. "It was gut-wrenching. I couldnt wait for it to be over," said Habs assistant coach J.J. Daigneault. "Still, this was probably our teams best 60-minute effort of the season." Carey Price needed to make only 19 saves in the win for the Canadiens and he expects to be in net again on Tuesday. Price is 8-9-1 with a 2.39 GAA in 18 career games against the Devils. Montreal has won four of its last five meetings against New Jersey overall. The Devils have lost two straight in Quebec after winning their previous eight at the Bell Centre. ' ' '
