[dannibalcorpse]

So July 1st has arrived, and with it brings the start of a brand new hockey year. In addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars about to be committed in free agency, the start of a new year brings a tinge of sadness - it’s when players who’ve decided to hang up the skates officially file retirement papers with the league. This year, the following players are calling it a career:

RW Jay Beagle (COL), D Francois Beauchemin (COL), C Dave Bollard (ARZ), LW Blake Comeau (COL), D Mark Fayne (CBJ), RW Eric Fehr (COL), D Matt Greene (SJ), D Ron Hainsey (NYI), D Dan Hamhuis (DAL), D Kevin Klein (ANA), C Mark Letestu (EDM), C Brad Richardson (ARZ), RW Lee Stempniak (CAR), C Antoine Vermette (ANA), RW Joel Ward (SJ), C Dominic Moore (CAL), RW Brian Gionta (BUF), LW Patrick Marleau (SEA), D Nick Schultz (CAR), & RW Radim Vrbata (ARZ). The biggest names on the list were Vrbata, who finishes with 298 goals and 626 points in 1099 NHL games; Gionta, who retired after playing 1001 games with the Devils, Canadians, and Sabres, and scoring 281 career goals; and Marleau, who, after 19 seasons playing for the Sharks, finished his NHL career where is WHL career started: Seattle. Marleau finishes with 506 career goals, 589 assists, and 1095 career points in 1566 career games. He’s considered to have an outside shot at eventually making the Hall of Fame - time will eventually tell.

A few coaches decided to put the clipboard down this summer, as well: John Tortorella retired as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, finishing with a career record of 556-476-100 and 37 ties. He’ll be replaced in ‘Lumbus by former Oilers & Sharks coach Todd McClellan, most recently seen coaching the AHL’s Utica Comets. Legendary CHL coach Don Hay will also be retiring after one year behind the bench of the St. Louis Blues - Hay capped off a legendary juniors career by taking the Blues to the playoffs. Former NHLer Steve Thomas will be taking over the reins in St. Louis, despite the lack of head coaching experience on his resume. GMs Jim Rutherford of the Penguins and David Poile of the Predators also announced their retirements - they have been replaced by assistant GMs John Paddock (PIT) and John Tucker (NSH).

The rumors in Vegas, meanwhile, came to fruition: the ownership team has let Luke Richardson walk away and has given the title to reigning GM of The Year Dan Hampton. Hampton will have full roster control as GM/Head Coach - he will have the help of head scout Valeri Kamensky in the front office, and behind the bench will be aided by assistant coach Wendel Clark. Hampton’s first move as GM/Coach was to formalize the signing of LW Jordan Greenway to a 3 year entry level contract at $925,000 per year - the caveat being that Greenway would burn the first year without playing a game with the team, by signing it before the league’s calendar flipped over.

With free agency set to begin, some surprising names are out there. The Hockey News has sent out ratings of the top 5 free agents at each position:

GOALIE
Brian Elliott, 33 (23-12-1/.903/2.86 in CGY)
Al Montoya, 33 (37-20-4/.922/2.31 in SJ)
Mikko Koskinen, 29 (1-2-0/.914/2.29 in an injury-plagued KHL season)
Chad Johnson, 32 (12-6-4/.906/2.62 in MTL)
Dominik Hrachovina, 23 (20-13-1/.904/2.47 in SML)

DEFENSEMEN
Slava Voynov, 28 (8-43-51 in 60 KHL GP)
Jesse Virtanen, 26 (5-35-40 in 65 GP for MTL)
Viktor Antipin, 25 (5-32-37 in 46 KHL GP)
Luke Schenn, 28 (8-17-25 in ARZ)
Thomas Hickey, 29 (0-3-3 in 20 GP for NYI)

LEFT WING
Artemi Panarin, 26 (35-40-75 for CHI)
Rick Nash, 34 (29-48-77 for NYR)
James van Riemsdyk, 28 (26-36-62 for MTL)
Daniel Sedin, 37 (7-16-23 in 37 GP for VAN)
Nikita Filatov, 28 (19-18-37 in 60 KHL GP)

CENTER
Kyle Turris, 28 (15-37-52 in OTT)
Michael Backlund, 29 (13-27-40 in NSH)
Erik Haula, 27 (8-16-24 for MIN)
Lars Eller, 29 (9-22-31 for VEG)
Austin Czarnik, 25 (29-45-74 for AHL Springfield)

RIGHT WING
Oliver Bjorkstrand, 23 (5-16-21 in 66 games with CBJ/SEA)
Patric Hornqvist, 31 (11-12-23 for PIT)
Riley Nash, 29 (6-11-17 for BOS)
Alexei Makeyev, 26 (21-20-41 for KHL Sochi)
Brandon Kozun, 28 (13-16-29 in 36 GP for KHL Lokomotiv)

Panarin is expected to get the biggest contract, as the young superstar will be hitting the open market at an age when most players are playing out their RFA years; with no offer sheet necessary, teams are lining up to offer Panarin buckets of money. There are also a surprising number of KHL players looking to make a splash in the NHL; after Sergei Shumakov captured the Calder in his first year over from Russia, more players are seeing the NHL as an avenue to excel in.

As for Vegas, GM Dan Hampton has not had much to say on his team’s plans. The Knights continue to be linked to Kyle Turris, who’s said to be looking for a 3-4 year deal with a $4.5M AAV. Vegas’ payroll currently sits about $49M, so even with an addition like Turris they would have to sign more to just hit the cap floor. Analysts around the league concede that Vegas wouldn’t be wrong to play by the old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”; the team has good depth on the blue line and on the wings, but may look to add some bodies at Center and Goalie just for injury insurance.