July 1 is just around the corner, and although the free agent market isn’t as loaded as it has been in year’s past, there were still be a few scorers out there that plenty of teams would be happy to nab. Here are the top five forwards on the free-agent market.
1. Brad Richards
Everyone in the NHL was a little surprised when Marc Crawford was fired by the Dallas Stars just days after the the team failed to make the postseason for the third straight year. The Stars chances of qualifying for the playoffs came down to the final regular season game, but they were unable to come up with the two points needed to extend their season.
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It’s a bad time to be the coach of an NHL team that failed to make the playoffs this season.
The first two victims happened to be coaching against each other in the final game of the regular season. After the Minnesota Wild crushed the Dallas Stars’ playoff hopes with a 5-3 victory on Sunday, the Wild decided to parts ways with head coach Todd Richards after failing to make the playoffs for the second straight year under his tenure. Just two days later, the Stars gave head coach Marc Crawford the boot following a two-year playoff-less stint of their own.
After 82 games of regular season hockey, the defending Stanley Cup champions found themselves in an unusual spot: needing help to get back into the postseason.
“I can’t even believe we’re here right now,” Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “It’s so frustrating that it has to come down to this. I’m pretty much speechless.”
With only three games left in the season for the majority of teams, it’s hard to believe that there are still eight playoff spots that have yet to be clinched. However, tonight there are two divisions and four playoff spots on the line. Here is a look at a handful of games with playoff-clinching implications.
The Anaheim Ducks got a great bit of news today as All-Star goaltender Jonas Hiller was activated off injured reserve.
Hiller, who has missed the Ducks‘ last 15 games with vertigo, will join the Ducks on their three-game road trip that begins tonight in Dallas. The 29-year-old has a 26-16-3 record, a 2.50 goals-against average and a save percentage of .925 in 48 games this season, but he hasn’t played since Feb. 13.
Hiller will dress tonight as Ray Emery’s backup as the Ducks look to move ahead in the Western Conference standings.
It’s no secret that the primary focus of the GM meetings that took place earlier this week was on the the safety of the players in relation to hits to the head.
Apparently, the players didn’t get the memo.
Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand has been suspended for two games and will forfeit $6,330.64 in salary for delivering an elbow to the head of Columbus Blue Jackets player R.J. Umberger in Tuesday night’s game in Columbus.
Although the NHL trade deadline is Feb. 28, a steady stream of deals have shown that general managers aren’t waiting until the last minute. A large part of this has to do with the fact there are so many hopeful teams who are still in contention for a playoff spot, especially in the Western Conference.
“The sooner you can do the hockey deal, the sooner you can get the team together, the better,” said Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray, who has been once of the busiest gms over the last week.
For the Anaheim Ducks, their disastrous 0-3 road-trip to start the season now seems like a distant memory. The three losses in Detroit, Nashville and St. Louis revealed a team that was out of sync and unprepared. Through the three games, the Ducks had allowed 145 shots on goal, piled up 141 penalty minutes and managed to score just two goals. The team continued with their struggles through the month of October, winning just three games as a result of their listless style of play.
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