NHL Thursday: Ducks top Flyers, Penguins beat Kings

Blue Jackets 5, Capitals 2

Sabres 3, Coyotes 2

Sitting in the front row of an NHL game behind the benches is a pretty good way to get some face time on TV.

That’s money well spent.

Bishop has been one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season and is an early leader for the Vezina Trophy which is awarded annually to the top goalie in the league. He entered play on Thursday with a .933 save percentage, which was good enough for second best in the league, trailing only Edmonton’s Ben Scrivens.

• Which enforcers are good hockey players?

Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the team, but the deal is reported to be worth $29.5 million ($5.9 million per year) according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Since joining the Avalanche Varlamov has a .914 save percentage over the three seasons. Among goaltenders across the league that have appeared in at least 82 games over that stretch, that puts him 19th out of 31 goalies. His cap hit would place him in the top-10 among all goaltenders in the league and fall in the same neighborhood as Dallas’ Kari Lehtonen and Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick.

• Which enforcers are good hockey players?

• Do in-season coaching changes work?