As Free Agency Begins, Big Moves Still Await The N.H.L."s free-agent drama will very likely extend beyond Canada Day after the top players to hit the market - Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Martin Brodeur - did not seem to be on the move Sunday. Parise spent the day in Mississauga, Ontario, at the offices of his agents, Wade Arnott and Don Meehan. On Saturday night, Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello made a pitch to keep Parise in New Jersey, but he opted to become a free agent at noon Sunday. Parise, 27, could still re-sign with the Devils, for whom he has scored more than 30 goals in each of his last five full seasons and eight playoff goals in their run to the Stanley Cup finals last spring. But the debt-ridden club seems unable to match offers he reportedly received Sunday from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Carolina and Minnesota, believed to be in excess of $100 million for 10 years. Brodeur, 40, also became a free agent Sunday, raising the prospect that he will end a 22-year association with the Devils that began when Lamoriello drafted him in 1990, and has lasted through three Stanley Cups, five trips to the finals and N.H.L. career records for wins and shutouts. He may wind up finding a place with a financially secure contender that needs a goalie, like Chicago. Nashville's roster is also on the brink of disintegration, with Suter entertaining lucrative offers from the same teams pursuing Parise. Suter spent the day at his farm outside Madison, Wis., while his agent, Neil Sheehy, fielded phone calls from his office in International Falls, Minn. Some free agents did move on Sunday. Ray Whitney, who scored 77 points in 82 games last season for Phoenix as a 39-year-old, signed a two-year deal with the Dallas Stars worth $9 million. Whitney said he moved because of the uncertainty of the situation in Phoenix, where the Coyotes face a possible referendum to block the sale of the league-operated team to Greg Jamison. Despite General Manager Glen Sather's vow that the Rangers would be "as aggressive as possible" in the free-agent market, they made few moves Sunday. The Rangers lost their useful and pugnacious winger Brandon Prust to Montreal, which signed him to a four-year deal worth $10 million - a substantial raise over the $800,000 he made in each of two full seasons in New York. The Canadiens added a number of tough role players. But Sather made up for the loss by signing Arron Asham, an equally useful and pugnacious third-line type. After starting his career with Montreal in 1998, Asham played for the Islanders, the Devils, the Flyers and the Penguins. Now that he has signed a two-year, $2 million deal with the Rangers, he has been with every team in the Atlantic Division. The Rangers also lost the fourth-line center John Mitchell to Colorado, which signed him to a two-year, $2.2 million deal. The Islanders lost forward P. A. Parenteau, who had 67 points in 80 games last season. Parenteau signed a four-year contract with Colorado for $16 million. The Islanders did pick up defenseman Matt Carkner, who as an Ottawa Senator jumped Rangers forward Brian Boyle in a first-round playoff game last spring. They also signed forward Brad Boyes, who scored 43 and 33 goals for St. Louis in 2007-8 and 2008-9, and Eric Boulton, a Devils enforcer last season. Carkner's deal was for three years and $4.5 million, Boyes's for one year and $1 million, Boulton's for one year at the league minimum, $525,000. The Devils" midseason acquisition Alexei Ponikarovsky, a third-line forward, signed with Winnipeg for one year and $1.8 million. The Hurricanes signaled their intention to become contenders when they signed Jordan Staal, the center they acquired from Pittsburgh last week, to a 10-year, $60 million contract. Later in the day they made rich offers to Parise and Suter. Once Parise and Suter have chosen teams, which may happen as early as Monday, big trades involving the disgruntled forwards Rick Nash of Columbus and Bobby Ryan of Anaheim are expected to take place. The Rangers are considered the top contender for Nash, who has scored 289 goals in nine seasons with the Blue Jackets.