With the trade deadline now less than a month away, things are really starting to pick up throughout the league. Here are the top stories from the week that was.
1) Blues Fire Ken Hitchcock – Although he was set to retire at the end of the season, the Blues made their coaching change earlier than expected, as they fired Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday. Associate coach Mike Yeo, who was supposed to take over as head coach after the season, was named as his replacement. Also let go was goalie coach Jim Corsi with long-time NHL netminder Martin Brodeur taking over that role for the rest of the season.
2) Jarome Iginla Hopes To Be Traded – While he was unwilling to accept a trade last year, Avalanche right winger Jarome Iginla is much more open to the possibility this season, admitting that he is hoping to be dealt to get a shot at playing for the Stanley Cup. Both Iginla and the Avalanche have struggled considerably this season and Colorado is set to miss the playoffs for the third straight season. The 39 year old Iginla is a pending unrestricted free agent but carries a rather pricey cap hit of $5.33MM.
3) Arizona Arena Deal Falls Through – Just when things were finally starting to look up for the Coyotes and their lengthy search for an arena outside of Glendale, a proposed agreement to build an arena in Tempe, Arizona fell through. The team has a lease in Glendale through the 2017-18 season but it’s expected that team ownership will continue to look for other options in the area over pursuing an extension to that lease.
4) Rangers Extend Alain Vigneault – The Rangers handed head coach Alain Vigneault a two year contract extension while giving him a significant raise on the final year of his original deal. After being set to earn $2MM next season, the 55 year old bench boss will receive twice that while earning $4MM and $4.25MM in 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively. He’s fourth in franchise history in wins and will likely move up to third in the next couple of weeks.
5) Hartford Interested In Hosting The Islanders – With the reports that the Barclays Center will look to remove the Islanders as their tenant following the 2018-19 campaign, the City of Hartford has publicly expressed an interest in becoming a landing spot for the team, either on a short-term or more permanent basis. Majority owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin have been looking into alternative arena options going back to the beginning of the season. It appears they’ll have another option to look into now.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Islanders to Quebec City! Then us Hurricanes fans could relax while the rest of Raleigh catches on that this is an exciting young team with a very bright future.