Turco filled in for the Bruins last season, but at press time he remains a free agent.
After nine seasons slapping away pucks for the Stars, Turco took his talents to the Windy City in 2010-11, posting an 11-11 record, 3.02 goals-against average and .897 save percentage. But his contract with the Blackhawks was only good for one year, and now the veteran will have to find work elsewhere. Turco is clearly on the downside of his career, though he likely will be considered for work if a team encounters a run-in with the injury bug at the goalie position.
Turco heads to the Windy City, presumably to serve as the team's primary netminder. The move should provide Turco with plenty of wins, but if he struggles early on, the Hawks could turn to the young and talented goalie, Corey Crawford, for some pipe work. It might look weird to see Turco no longer donning the Dallas Star, though it could be a welcome change for Turco and his fantasy owners alike. Expect higher than his career 2.31 goals-against average, yet more wins than the 22 he earned with Dallas last year.
Turco was front and center in taking the blame for much of Dallas' woes last season. His poor play to start the season put Dallas in a deep hole, and injuries mounted as the season wore on to keep them out of the playoffs. Turco saw his goals against balloon to 2.81, and his save percentage dip to .898. His 33 wins were decent, but he needed a whopping 74 starts to accumulate them. Alex Auld was brought in to give Dallas a reliable backup, which should result in Turco dropping down to around 65 starts. He should rebound nicely.
Turco posted his lowest win total since becoming a full-time starter, but should find himself between the pipes for close to 70 games with Mike Smith shipped to Tampa Bay late last year. Playing fewer games within the tough Pacific Division should help too in the NHL's revised schedule format.
Turco finally answered the bell in the playoffs, posting three shutouts in a seven game series loss to Vancouver following another solid regular season. He's not Martin Brodeur, but he's awful close with at least 37 wins in each of his past three seasons. He's a workhorse in net, though he could sit out a few more games this year with Mike Smith's solid play in a backup role.
You know the drill by now: Wonderful in the regular seaon; woeful in the playoffs. He'll return as one of the NHL's best goalies until the second week of April.
Among the NHL elite netminders, though Dallas may cut back on his workload a bit in hopes to keep him fresher for the playoffs. He's been among the best biscuit kickers in the league for the past three seasons, at least until the playoffs roll around.
