DETROIT -- Joel Hanrahan is still working back from elbow surgery for a team eagerly awaiting his return. Cam Neely Bruins Jersey . The former All-Star agreed to a $1 million, one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers, who are hopeful the right-hander can bolster a shaky bullpen when hes ready to pitch again in the majors. Hanrahan had Tommy John surgery last May after nine appearances for the Boston Red Sox in 2013. He saved 76 games over the previous two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. "The one area we wanted to address the most with our ballclub has been our bullpen," general manager Dave Dombrowski said after announcing the deal Friday. The Tigers put Hanrahan on the 15-day disabled list, saying they will not rush him back to the majors. Hanrahan is expected to throw to hitters next week. "Right now I feel good. My arm feels good, my body feels good," Hanrahan said. "Im able to throw a slider again, which I havent been able to do for a while." Hanrahan will earn $819,672 of his base salary, or 150-183rds given that he wasnt on the roster until Friday. He can make $2.17 million in bonuses based on time on the active major league roster: $310,000 each for 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 and 105 days. "Im not going to jump to the conclusion that hes going to be 100 per cent just because of the nature of the recovery from these surgeries, but the reports are his velocity has been good," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "I dont know necessarily back to where he was pre-surgery, but it doesnt mean he wont get back. "I do know hes battle-tested in late innings," Ausmus added. "He wont be intimidated by a situation, which I think is very important, especially if you work your way into a pennant race by September." The 32-year-old said Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter -- a friend of his -- helped recruit him. Detroit signed veteran Joe Nathan to be the closer in the off-season, but the bullpen was hurt by a season-ending injury to Bruce Rondon. Tigers relievers had a 5.37 ERA entering Friday nights game at Kansas City. The 6-foot-4 Hanrahan is hesitant to put any timetable on his return. "I dont think anybodys really saying like, Youve got to be back on June 1," Hanrahan said. "Its kind of a situation where I havent faced a hitter yet, I havent bounced back from throwing in a game. Its a situation that, itll come day by day." Ausmus also tried to temper expectations that Hanrahan will be able to help soon. "Youre making the assumption that everything is going to go well, and I hope it does," he said, "but theres some Ts to cross and Is to dot before Im ready to say how great this is. But all things equal, Id rather have him if hes healthy than not have him." If Hanrahan is healthy and effective, he could end up being one of the teams top right-handed options in the bullpen, along with Nathan. Al Alburquerque and Joba Chamberlain have shown the ability to strike hitters out, but they had ERAs of 4.50 and 4.35 entering Friday. Hanrahan was an All-Star in 2011 and 2012, and in 2010 he struck out 100 hitters in 69 2-3 innings for the Pirates. "When anybody comes back from injury thats got an established big league history, we try to watch all of those guys throw whenever we can," Dombrowski said. "Were always looking to upgrade." Jake DeBrusk Bruins Jersey . He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr. Brandon Carlo Jersey . -- David Price didnt think he would be in Port Charlotte this spring. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/jaromir-jagr-hockey-jersey/ . - Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb.There is some irony in the fact that Jason Spezza was finally traded on Canada Day. After all, there had been weeks of speculation that the star centre wasnt enamoured with the idea of playing in a Canadian market. But a few hours after the trade, Spezza wanted to make it clear that he wasnt leaving Ottawa because he couldnt stand the pressure and scrutiny that came with playing in the nations capital. “I dont think thats accurate," Spezza told TSN.ca. "My biggest motivator for a trade was to win. It will be portrayed however they want it to be portrayed, but the last thing I was worried about was coming out and doing interviews in front of my stall.” During the past month, it was widely reported that Spezza put the other Canadian teams on his no-trade list and that his desire was to go south of the border, where he would face less scrutiny. However, Spezza said the fact that most Canadian teams are struggling right now was the biggest reason why he put them on his no-trade list. He is never one to shy away from microphones and says he would welcome playing in a Canadian market again down the road if the opportunity arose. “It was more circumstance than anything of why those (Canadian) teams were on my list. I have one year left on my deal and I wanted to go someplace where I could win a Cup,” Spezza said. The troubling trend for Senators fans, however, is that Spezza is the latest superstar to have a somewhat messy departure from their city. In the summer of 2009, Dany Heatley demanded a trade and ultimately forced the clubs hand into trading him to San Jose. Last summer, Daniel Alfredsson and the organization had a sudden and bitter divorce, prompting the long-time captain to sign with Detroit as a free agent. Now that Spezza has been shipped to Dallas, it only adds to the growing perception that superstars have a short shelf life in Ottawa. But Spezza says the fans in Ottawa arent to blame for a number of players wanting to leave in a short window of time. “Its a fine market for stars, but just like any hockey market, its tough when youre not winning. All three situations are unique. I didnt make my decision because of Alfie and Alfie didnt make his decision because of Heater,” Spezza explained. “We all had our own reasons. There were some similarities, but in the end, each was a unique case.” In some ways, this does appear to be different than the Alfredsson saga from last summer, when the captain abruptly ended his tenure with the club. Spezza appeared to have a more calculated, long-term approach – far less emotional than the course Alfredsson seemed to take. But there is a striking similarity between Alfredssons comments last summer and the ones made by Spezza today. Kevan Miller Jersey. In each case, the captain felt like he had a better chance to win a Stanley Cup with a different organization. “All I can say is my goal is to win a Cup. I think Ottawa has a good chance. They have a good core of young players and a good nucleus. But for me right now, I just felt like Dallas was a great fit,” Spezza added. Spezza said he had discussions with Bryan Murray towards the end of the season and alerted the front office that he likely wasnt going to re-sign a contract extension beyond 2015. And rather than make it awkward for everyone during the 2014-15 season – constantly answering questions about his future – he felt it was best for all parties involved to make a preemptive move this summer. “I didnt have any interest in signing an extension and that kind of hinted to them that maybe it was time to move on. I met with Bryan and had some really good and frank discussions. And I was being honest with them when I said it was best for me and best for them if I moved on,” Spezza explained. Spezza was asked if he knew the regular season finale in Pittsburgh on April 13 would be his last game in a Senators jersey. He scored a brilliant goal in the shootout to secure a Senators 3-2 victory and he admitted, “It wasnt lost on me that it could have been my last goal with Ottawa.” Spezza said he stayed quiet for the past few weeks out of respect for the process, but once Murray told reporters at the NHL GM meetings last month that Spezza had indeed requested a trade, he knew the writing was on the wall. “Once Bryan went public, I knew it was probably done for me there,” he said. (Spezza also went out of his way to point out that he still has a terrific relationship with Murray and holds the Senators general manager in the highest regard). Spezza isnt sure how the crowd at Canadian Tire Centre would react to his appearance when he makes his return to Ottawa on January 29, 2015 in a Dallas Stars jersey, but he does want Senators fans to know that he does not hold a grudge against them – even though he was often seen as a lightning rod for criticism by the fan base. “My time in Ottawa was fond and I know a lot of people are upset," Spezza said. "I would have loved to have the storybook career, where you spend your whole life in one city and play for one team, but thats part of the hard decision we had to make. This didnt just happen overnight and I woke up one morning and said ‘I want to leave. There was a lot of thought put into this.” ' ' '