N.J.’s Gabriel suspended for hit on Flyers’ Patrick

With NHL players, we’ve seen Olympic hockey at its absolute best. Without the league’s top players in PyeongChang, the best of the best has turned into a mess of the rest.

Artemi Panarin is in Columbus, Niklas Hjalmarsson is in Arizona, and Trevor van Riemsdyk and Scott Darling are in Carolina. Johnny Oduya is gone, Brian Campbell is in limbo, and Marcus Kruger could be on the way out, too. Marian Hossa might be done. Stan Bowman promised change in the wake of the Nashville Predators’ stunning first-round sweep of the Blackhawks, and change came in a big way over the past week. Now that the dust has settled, it’s a good time to see just what’s left, and just what the Hawks might look like on opening night, 101 days from now. For the purposes of this exercise, we’re assuming Marcus Kruger will be traded to get the Hawks cap-compliant. Kruger is due a $2-million