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2010 NHL Free Agency: The Forwards

By NBC SportsJun 29, 2010, 7:31 PM EDT

With the 2010 NHL Free Agency market set to open on Thursday, we’ll
be listing the top unrestricted free agents in all three positions throughout the
day. This isn’t the
full list of free agents, but it’s a good chunk of them. The forwards:

Player

 Age

 Team

 09-10 cap hHit
Ilya Kovalchuk
 27
 New Jersey
 $6.389
million
Olli Jokinen
 31
 New York
 $5.25 million
Ray Whitney
 38
 Carolina
 $3.55 million
Mike Modano
 40
 Dallas
 $3.45 million
Alexander Frolov
 28
 Los Angeles
 $2.9
million
Matt Cullen
 33
 Ottawa
 $2.875 million
Owen Nolan
 38
 Minnesota
 $2.75 milion
Coby Armstrong
 27
 Atlanta
 $2.4 million
Alexei Ponikarovsky
 30
 Pittsburgh
 $2.1
million
Matthew Lombardi
 28
 Phoenix
 $1.816 million
Ruslan
Fedotenko
 31
 Pittsburgh
 $1.8 million
Brendan
Morrision
 34
 Washington
 $1.5 million
Wayne
Primeau
 34
 Toronto
 $1.4 million
Kyle
Wellwood
 27
 Vancouver
 $1.2 million
Kirk
Maltby
 37
 Detroit
 $833,333
Maxim
Afinogenov
 30
 Atlanta
 $800,000
Adam
Burish
 27
 Chicago
 $712,000
Manny
Malhotra
 30
 San
Jose
 $700,000
Aaron
Asham
 32
 Philadelphia
 $640,000

Quick
analysis:

Obviously all of the focus is on Kovalchuk and
where’s going, but after that this is obviously a bit of an
underwhelming group of players. The bad news for some teams — and the
good news for these free agents — is that teams will likely overspend
for just “okay” players.

If Mike Modano does decide to come back
this next season, he’s going to make a contending a team very happy.
He’ll provide solid leadership and experience, and he still has that
scoring ability that mkes him so special.

Let’s just hope that
Kyle Wellwood ends up in a city that is known for being healthy. I don’t
know if that city exists in North America, however.

Maxim
Afinogenov will be a great pickup, as he was one of the most valuable
forwards in the NHL last season. He’ll be looking for a raise, but he
won’t be completely out of reach for teams in need of a scoring forward.

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    The Buzzer: Voracek leads Flyers to fifth straight win; Wild remain in wild-card race

    Kevin Hayes #13, Jakub Voracek #93, and Scott Laughton #21 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrate
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    By Scott CharlesFeb 29, 2020, 12:55 AM EST
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    Three Stars

    1) Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers

    Voracek dished out four helpers in the Flyers’ 5-2 win against the New York Rangers Friday. Philadelphia picked up their NHL-leading 23rd home victory and improved its current winning streak to five games in addition. Voracek had several pretty passes throughout the evening to set up his teammates. In the opening period, he fed Sean Couturier while Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith broke his stick and was unable to break up the pass. Late in the second period and early in the third, Voracek helped Claude Giroux score twice to seal the victory in favor of Philadelphia. All of a sudden, the Flyers only trail the Washington Capitals by three points for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

    2) Alex Stalock, Minnesota Wild

    The odds were stacked against them, but the Wild are not giving up on their pursuit of a spot in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Stalock made 24 saves and picked up his fourth shutout of the season as Minnesota blanked the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-0. Stalock has quietly put together an impressive season with an 18-9-4 record, 2.60 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Only two points separate the Wild from the top wild card spot in the west.

    3) Tyson Jost, Colorado Avalanche

    With Mikko Rantanen sidelined, the Avalanche need more offensive production from everyone in the lineup. Jost stepped up with two goals as Colorado defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 and extended its winning streak to five games. The first-round pick from the 2016 NHL Draft opened the scoring 6:34 into the first period when his shot whizzed past Anton Forsberg. Jost took a bouncing puck away from Jake Gardiner prior to the goal. He gave the Avalanche a two-goal lead when he tucked a shot past Forsberg halfway through the middle frame. Colorado has two games in hand on the division-leading St. Louis Blues and only trail by three points. Home-ice advantage in the Western Conference will be awarded to the eventual winner of the Central Division.

    Other notable performances from Friday

    • Pavel Francouz made 45 saves and would be in the Calder Trophy conversation if not for the outstanding play of defensemen Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes.
    • Teuvo Teravainen scored twice in the Hurricanes’ 3-2 loss and Sebastian Aho extended his point streak to 14 games.
    • Zach Parise and Kevin Fiala each recorded a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild won their third straight game.
    • Jason Zucker recorded two goals but the Penguins fell in regulation for the fifth consecutive game.

    Highlights of the Night

    Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog delivered a pretty cross-ice pass to set up Samuel Girard for the third-period go-ahead goal.

    Artemi Panarin extended his point streak to 12 games with this jaw-dropping stretch pass to set up Jesper Fast.

    Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy converted this slick deke to even the score at 1-1.

    Giroux pushed the Flyers lead to two goals with this one-timer that clanked off the crossbar before finding the back of the net.

    Stats of the Night

    Scores

    Philadelphia Flyers 5, New York Rangers 2

    Minnesota Wild 5, Columbus Blue Jackets 0

    Colorado Avalanche 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2

    Vegas Golden Knights 4, Buffalo Sabres 2

    Anaheim Ducks 3, Pittsburgh Penguins 2

    —
    Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.

    Rangers’ Kreider fractures foot vs. Flyers

    Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers
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    By Scott CharlesFeb 28, 2020, 8:30 PM EST
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    New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider suffered a fractured foot against the Philadelphia Flyers Friday.

    The alternate captain blocked a shot from Philippe Myers with 7:40 remaining in the opening period. He played one more shift for 10 seconds before heading to the locker room. The Rangers have not provided a timeline for the injury.

    “We’ve proven we can overcome losing one of our top players and we’re going to have to do it again,” Rangers coach David Quinn told reporters after the 5-2 loss. “Listen, teams throughout the League are handling injuries, and we’ve been pretty fortunate for the most part this season for injuries.”

    New York signed Chris Kreider to a $45.5 million, seven-year extension prior to the trade deadline. The 28-year-old power forward has 24 goals and 21 assists in 63 games this season.

    —
    Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.

    Robin Lehner to make Golden Knights debut; Mark Stone injured

    Golden Knights
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    By Adam GretzFeb 28, 2020, 4:38 PM EST
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    The Vegas Golden Knights have been one of the league’s hottest teams over the past month and will be looking to extend their current winning streak to eight games on Friday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres.

    Coach Pete DeBoer had some significant lineup news ahead of the game on Friday afternoon, including a potentially significant injury.

    First, is the news that big trade deadline acquisition Robin Lehner will be making his first start in goal for the team. The Golden Knights acquired Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks just ahead of the NHL trade deadline on Monday for a draft pick and a prospect. Lehner has been one of the league’s best goalies for the past two years and alongside Marc-Andre Fleury should give them one of the league’s best goaltending duos.

    The far more serious news, though, was the announcement that forward Mark Stone will not play on Friday due to a lower-body injury.

    DeBoer had no immediate information on how long Stone could be out, only to say that he is still being evaluated.

    When asked if it could potentially be a long-term injury DeBoer said “There’s always fear. We don’t know, but we’ll see,” via NHL.com.

    Stone is one of the league’s best all-around forwards and has not only been a point-per-game player for the past three seasons, he is also one of the best defensive forwards in the league. He finished the 2018-19 season as the top runner-up for the Selke Trophy, something that has become almost unheard of for a winger.

    The Golden Knights enter Friday’s game in first place in the Pacific Division, four points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.

    Related: Blackhawks trade Robin Lehner to Golden Knights

    —

    Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

     

    Oilers’ Mike Green to miss 3-4 weeks with sprained MCL

    Oilers
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    By Adam GretzFeb 28, 2020, 2:43 PM EST
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    Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland was busy at the NHL trade deadline adding Mike Green, Andreas Athanasiou, and Tyler Ennis to his roster in an effort to improve its depth. But just two games later his team has already lost one of those new players to injury.

    The Oilers announced on Friday that Green, acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for Kyle Brodziak and a draft pick, will be sidelined for the next 3-4 weeks due to an MCL sprain.

    That is the way things seem to be going for the Oilers right now as injuries keep adding up throughout their roster.

    Green joins an injury list that already includes the team’s top defenseman (Oscar Klefbom), as well as James Neal, Kailer Yamamoto, and Kris Russell.

    Green played 19 minutes in the Oilers’ 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

    Athanasiou was also injured in that game, but is expected to play on Saturday when the Oilers host the Winnipeg Jets.

    The Oilers enter the weekend in third place in the Pacific Division with 74 points, four points back of Vegas and only two points ahead of the non-playoff teams in the Western Conference.

    Related: Red Wings send Mike Green to Oilers

    —

    Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.