Looking forward to the top UFAs of 2013

By Jason BroughJul 5, 2012, 1:29 PM EDT

By most accounts, next summer’s unrestricted free-agent class is stronger and deeper than the current one. With that in mind, let’s look at pending UFAs who, if still available and healthy, should draw considerable interest. (Of note, we’re not including current RFAs that could become UFAs, e.g. Shea Weber.)

Corey Perry (Anaheim) – Based on the contracts Ryan Suter and Zach Parise just signed, the 2011 Hart Trophy winner is set to cash in big time. Granted, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to get one of those long-term, front-loaded deals, as those are sure to be addressed in the new CBA. Perry will also want to improve on last season’s offensive totals (37G, 23A) and get them more in line with the ones he racked up in 2010-11 (50G, 48A).

Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim) – Perry’s running mate, the big playmaking center already has Leafs fans thinking he could be the No. 1 center they’ve been looking for in Toronto. The Ducks will obviously want to bring both Perry and Getzlaf back; whether they can afford to is the question. (“I think it’s imperative for the hockey team [to get them signed],” GM Bob Murray said recently. ”We’ve reached out to the agents and that will be an ongoing process. I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight. But we’ve reached out to both sides.”)

Scott Hartnell (Philadelphia) – The 30-year-old power forward is coming off a career best 37-goal season, and as of now the Flyers have cap space to get something done. However, that could change quickly. Bobby Ryan has expressed a desire to be traded to Philly, Wayne Simmonds will need a raise, Kimmo Timonen is a pending UFA, and if Weber becomes available, GM Paul Holmgren is sure to be an aggressive suitor.

Jarome Iginla (Calgary) – He’s not getting any younger, but the Flames’ captain scored 30-plus goals for the 11th straight season in 2011-12. If the 35-year-old wants to leave Calgary for a contender – and as we all know, that’s a big if – teams will be lined up to bid on his services.

Alex Edler (Vancouver) – Sometimes he plays like a Norris Trophy candidate, other times he really, really doesn’t. Regardless, his 49 points were tied for sixth among NHL defensemen. The Canucks already have four d-men under contract until at least 2014-15 for a combined cap hit of $17.9 million, and they’re another team that’s expected to push hard for Weber. Plus, Alex Burrows is a pending UFA and deserves a steep raise. If GM Mike Gillis could trade Keith Ballard, it would make it a lot easier to reach a deal with Edler. What won’t be easy? Trading Ballard.

Mike Fisher (Nashville) – If there’s one guy the Predators should be able to lock up, it’s Fisher, aka Carrie Underwood’s husband. But if Fisher doesn’t feel like he can win a Stanley Cup in Nashville, you never know what he’ll decide. Every hockey player wants to win a championship, and Fisher hasn’t done that yet.

Patrik Elias (New Jersey) – It’s hard to picture the 36-year-old in anything but a Devils uniform considering he’s never worn another one. Elias is also a two-time Cup winner, so he can retire in peace when the day comes. Still, nobody wants to play for a loser, and after watching Zach Parise walk away, the Devils’ future is anything but clear. New Jersey’s other pending 2013 UFAs include Travis Zajac, David Clarkson and Dainius Zubrus.

Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota) – In case you didn’t hear, the Wild just increased its payroll rather significantly. It also recently re-signed Backstrom’s backup, Josh Harding, to a three-year deal. Add it up and the 34-year-old goalie may not fit in the team’s future plans. Backstrom’s save percentage was a respectable .919 in 2011-12. A repeat performance in 2012-13 and teams in need of a starter will have to look his way. (Assuming Jimmy Howard re-signs in Detroit, other pending UFA goalies include Mike Smith, Kari Lehtonen, Evgeni Nabokov, Jose Theodore and technically Tim Thomas.)

Michael Ryder (Dallas) – Only 10 players scored more than his 35 goals last season. Ryder was also one of the Bruins’ top offensive contributors during their 2011 Cup run, with 17 points in 25 playoff games despite seeing limited minutes. Of course, the Stars will likely do their best to re-sign the 32-year-old for a few more years given their aging group of forwards that includes two 40-year-olds in Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jagr.

Joffrey Lupul (Toronto) – The seventh overall pick in the 2002 draft got his career back on track last season, scoring 25 times and adding 42 assists playing on a line with Phil Kessel. The Leafs will want him back, but with Randy Carlyle behind the bench, will Lupul feel the same way? The two didn’t exactly see eye to eye during their time together in Anaheim.

Honorable mentions: Andy McDonald, Stephen Weiss, Ryane Clowe, Derek Roy, Nathan Horton, Ian White, Tobias Enstrom and Clarke MacArthur.

Golden Knights take 2-0 lead in Stanley Cup Final with 7-2 win over Panthers

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 11:49 PM EDT

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS – Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and started an early blitz that chased the NHL’s hottest postseason goalie, and the Vegas Golden Knights seized control of the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 on Monday night.

Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“We finished some plays,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s a good performance for us. Our guys were ready to play.”

Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. His 12 postseason goals set a Golden Knights record, with all coming after the first round.

Brett Howden scored twice for the Knights, who also got goals from Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio. Six players had at least two points for Vegas, all 18 Knights skaters were on the ice for even-strength goals and their nine goal scorers through the first two games are a Stanley Cup Final record. The Knights’ seven goals tied a franchise mark for a playoff game.

It was too much for Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who was removed 7:10 into the second period down 4-0. It was the fifth time in 12 games the Knights have chased the opposing goalie.

“We can be a little better in front of our goaltender,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I got him out to keep him rested.”

Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell scored for Florida.

Teams that take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final are 31-3 in the expansion era. The Panthers will try to buck history beginning with Game 3 on Thursday in Sunrise, Florida.

Hill once again brought his feistiness as well as his A-game. He stopped Carter Verhaeghe on a breakaway in the first, and later that period hit Tkachuk, who was in his net, with his blocker and then slashed him with his stick.

“He’s been unreal for us,” Vegas forward William Carrier said. “He’s been unbelievable.”

The Knights were dominant early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Marchessault and Martinez. It was Vegas’ third game in a row with a power-play goal, its first such stretch since Christmas week.

The Panthers lost their biggest, toughest defenseman early in the game when Radko Gudas was injured on a hit by Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev. Gudas left 6:39 in and did not return.

That was one of several big hits by Barbashev, the Golden Knights’ biggest trade-deadline acquisition, a Stanley Cup champion with St. Louis in 2019. Barbashev broke the sternum of Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard during the playoffs last year, also on a clean hit.

Vegas had its own scare late in the second period when Jack Eichel was nailed in the right shoulder by Tkachuk. Eichel returned in the third and set up Marchessault’s second goal for his second assist of the game.

“We did a good job managing momentum tonight,” Eichel said. “And we got some timely goals.”

Ducks hire former Leafs, Islanders assistant Greg Cronin as head coach

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 2:18 PM EDT

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Ducks have hired veteran NHL assistant and AHL head coach Greg Cronin to be their new head coach.

Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek announced the decision to hire the 60-year-old Cronin, who will be a first-time NHL head coach.

Cronin has 12 years of experience as an NHL assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs and in two stints with the New York Islanders. The Massachusetts native has been the head coach of the AHL’s Colorado Eagles since 2018, and he spent six years as a collegiate head coach at Northeastern.

Verbeek called Cronin “the ideal fit” to take over a young, rebuilding team.

“I felt we needed a teacher of the finer points of the game, and someone who has worked extensively over time with talented young players, helping them develop into successful NHL players,” Verbeek said. “Greg has done all that and more.”

Cronin replaces Dallas Eakins, whose contract wasn’t renewed in April after the Ducks finished their fourth consecutive losing season of his tenure. Anaheim finished in last place in the overall NHL standings at 23-47-12.

The Ducks never finished higher than sixth in the Pacific Division during Eakins’ four years in charge. They’ve missed the playoffs in a franchise-record five straight seasons, and Anaheim was the NHL’s worst defensive team of the 21st century by several measures during the just-completed season.

Cronin takes over a struggling team that is still loaded with young talent, including the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming draft and a wealth of farm prospects seemingly ready to break into the NHL. Anaheim has a solid long-term base with playmaking center Trevor Zegras, two-time All-Star Troy Terry and promising forward Mason McTavish.

Cronin has never led an NHL bench, but he interviewed for the Boston Bruins’ vacancy a year ago.

He becomes only the Ducks’ fourth permanent head coach since Henry and Susan Samueli bought the franchise from Disney in 2005, joining Randy Carlyle, Bruce Boudreau and Eakins.

Canadiens sign Cole Caufield to 8-year, $62.8 million extension

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 2:05 PM EDT

David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens signed Cole Caufield to an eight-year, $62.8 million contract extension.

The deal, which will pay the 22-year-old winger an average annual salary of $7.85 million, runs through the 2030-31 season.

Caufield scored 26 goals and added 10 assists in 46 games in 2022-23 before he underwent season-ending surgery on his right shoulder in February.

Despite missing nearly half the season, Caufield led the Canadiens in goals for the second consecutive season, tied with Nick Suzuki.

Montreal selected Caufield in the first round (15th overall) of the 2019 draft.

Since making his NHL debut in 2020-21, the forward has 84 points (53 goals, 31 assists) in 123 NHL games.

Vegas Golden Knights come back to beat Florida Panthers in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final

Associated PressJun 4, 2023, 12:40 AM EDT

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS – Back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in five years and trailing the Florida Panthers less than 10 minutes into Game 1, the Vegas Golden Knights sent a very clear message.

“We were ready,” Jonathan Marchessault said.

Ready and dominant. Vegas rallied from an early deficit, got the go-ahead goal from Zach Whitecloud with just over 13 minutes left and arguably the best save of the playoffs from Adin Hill and beat Florida 5-2 Saturday night to take the lead in the best-of-seven series.

“We kept out composure, and it was good,” said Marchessault, one of six original Knights players left from the start of the franchise in 2017 who scored the tying goal in the first period. “We just wanted to play the right way and be disciplined, and tonight we were able to be the better team.”

Whitecloud put Vegas ahead, a crucial penalty kill followed and captain Mark Stone scored an insurance goal that was reviewed for a high stick and confirmed. Reilly Smith sealed it with an empty-netter to make the score look more lopsided than the game.

The combination of that offense and Hill’s 33 saves put Vegas up after a feisty opener between Sun Belt teams who wasted little time getting acquainted with big hits during play and plenty of post-whistle pushing and shoving.

“It’s exactly what we expected,” said Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, who scored his first goal of the playoffs and ended a 27-game drought dating to March 7. “That’s how they wanted to play. We were just trying not to play into it.”

That stuff is just beginning. Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas.

Before the Panthers even get a chance to respond, they ratcheted up the physical play late after falling behind by two. A handful of penalties resulting from a fracas with 4:24 remaining left the Florida bench well short.

The outcome was determined long before that.

After falling behind on a short-handed goal by Eric Staal that sucked the life out of the crowd of 18,432, the Golden Knights rallied for their ninth comeback win this playoffs. Marchessault – known since arriving in Las Vegas for scoring big goals – answered before the end of the first period.

Early in the second, Hill made a desperation stick save to rob Nick Cousins of what would have been a sure goal. The save was reminiscent of the one Washington’s Braden Holtby made against Vegas – in the same crease – five years ago.

“That’s an unreal save – it’s a game-changer,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You need those saves at key moments.”

Giving up a tying goal to Anthony Duclair with 10.2 seconds left in the second did not slow the Golden Knights’ momentum much. Whitecloud’s goal, with two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky screened and unable to see, fired up fans once again.

Bobrovsky, in the final for the first time, downplayed any reason for concern after stopping 29 of 34 shots and losing for just the second time in 12 games this postseason.

“I played a good game,” Bobrovsky said. “I played a solid game. They created some good chances other than goals. They had lots of good scoring chances, and that was fun.”

Part of the fun came when play was stopped.

Less than 10 minutes in, Hill was none too happy about Nick Cousins crashing into his crease and gave the agitating Panthers winger a jab that incited a handful of scrums. During the second period, Matthew Tkachuk let Vegas’ Nic Hague know he wasn’t thrilled about a hit in the corner on Cousins and a collision with Brandon Montour after the whistle.

“If guys are going to come in my crease and try to push me around, I’m going to stand my own ground,” Hill said. “I’m not going to do anything too crazy or get too wild, but, yeah, I’ve got to stand up for myself.”

Florida coach Paul Maurice, back in the final for the first time since 2001, displayed a similarly calm demeanor as he did all the way back in the first round, when his team fell behind 1-0 then 3-1 to NHL-best Boston before winning in seven.

“It’s going to be tight,” Maurice said. “Everybody breathe.”

The Golden Knights are in the final for the second time in six years of existence, five years after making it in their inaugural season. Vegas won the opener in 2018 and lost the series to Washington in five games.

The Panthers are back playing for the Cup for the first time since 1996. Florida got swept by Colorado in that final 27 years ago, 18 months before Tkachuk, the team’s leading scorer this playoffs, was born.

It’s the 66th different matchup of teams in the Cup final in NHL history and the 46th since the expansion era began in 1967-68. This is the first time since Washington-Vegas and just the third time since the turn of the century in which the final features two teams who have never won the league’s championship.