"The Carolina Hurricanes caused a few small ripples in the NHL with their free-agent signings late last week.

The ripple was much bigger Tuesday.

The Hurricanes, outbid for power forward Erik Cole by the Montreal Canadiens, signed defenseman Tomas Kaberle to a three-year deal that will pay the four-time All-Star $4.25 million per season.

To help make room for Kaberle's $12.75 million contract, the Hurricanes traded defenseman Joe Corvo to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday for a fourth-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

"Tomas is a player we have liked for a long, long time," Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said Tuesday. "He's one of the best puck-moving defensemen and power-play specialists in the league. When he's on his game, he can do a lot of things."

Kaberle, 33, has played 902 regular-season games in his NHL career - all but 24 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who drafted him in 1996. With Kaberle in the final year of his contract, speculation built this past season that he would be traded, and the Leafs sent him to the Bruins on Feb. 18 in exchange for Boston's first-round draft pick this year, a second-round pick in 2012 and a prospect.

Kaberle helped Boston win its first Stanley Cup since 1972, notching 11 assists in 25 playoff games, and appeared to be at his best in the Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Canucks. His older brother, Frantisek, was a member of the Canes' Stanley Cup champions in 2006, when the defenseman had the distinction of scoring the winning goal in Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers.

"I told Tomas today, 'Each of you has a Stanley Cup, and this gives you the chance to go one-up on your brother,' " Rutherford said. "Hopefully, he will have that opportunity in the next three years.""