Hockey News puts 3 Hawks on its list of best free agents

DETROIT - Of the best free agents available this summer, unrestricted or restricted, The Hockey News has ranked three Blackhawks among its top 50.

The surprise is rookie winger Kris Versteeg, ranked 16th and called a prime candidate to receive an offer sheet from another team as a restricted free agent, according to the publication.

"The Calder Trophy finalist picked a great season to have a breakout year," wrote The Hockey News editors. "With no arbitration rights, the restricted free agent is one of the handful of players who could receive an offer sheet."

Winger Martin Havlat was ranked the sixth best free agent ready to hit the market. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin checked in at No. 11 on the list.

The publication believes the Hawks will let Khabiubulin walk because "trading Cristobal Huet will be next to impossible," wrote the editors.

The Hockey News ranked Vancouver twin forward Daniel and Henrik Sedin the best free agents available, labeling them a package deal. The Sedins are unrestricted free agents.

Detroit's Marian Hossa was second on the list, Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester third, Minnesota's Marian Gaborik fourth, and the package of Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer and winger brother Rob Niedermayer fifth.

Hossa, Bouwmeester, Gaborik and the Niedermayers all are unrestricted.

The NHL's free agent signing period begins July 1.

Power outage: There was a lot of star power watching Game 5 of the Western Conference finals from the press box.

The Hawks were without Martin Havlat and Nikolai Khabibulin while the Red Wings played minus defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and center Pavel Datsyuk.

Lidstrom missed his second straight game with a lower body injury while Datsyuk sat for the third game in a row after taking a shot off his foot in Game 2.

The Hawks had hoped to have Havlat in the lineup, but the winger is believed to be suffering from concussion-like symptoms from the hit by Niklas Kronwall in Game 3.

Khabibulin sat for the second straight game with a groin problem suffered in the second period of Game 3.

Snatch and grab: The Red Wings still were chuckling about what happened in Game 4 at the United Center when Johan Franzen grabbed Patrick Kane's dangling mouth guard out of his mouth during a scrum.

"It just happened," Franzen told reporters. "It was fun, but I won't do it again."

Can't shake it: The flu bug that has been nagging at the Hawks since the second-round Vancouver series won't go away.

Both Andrew Ladd and Niklas Hjalmarsson were feeling under the weather on Wednesday just as Duncan Keith was getting over his bout with the flu.

According to a Hawks source, Keith needed four IV bags before and during Game 1 of the series just to play.