Rambling about Elliott, Kempny, Korpisalo, Griffith, Koekkoek and more

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The Lightning had a goal called back in the first period that changed the entire game last night. I’m convinced that had the Drouin goal been allowed, the 1-0 lead would have changed the way both teams played. And the Penguins would be making calls this morning trying to set up a good tee time.

I’m not going to say that I don’t have a horse in this race. I have a ton of horses all over this race. In one hockey pool I have four TB players plus Malkin and Hornqvist. I’m winning that one, but would do better hanging on if TB won. In the other hockey pool I have four Penguins and zero TB players. I have no shot at winning that one, but a reasonable shot at third. So hockey pools make this one a wash for me, but if I go with my heart – which I do – I’m cheering for the Penguins. Another tough call though because I love the Lightning too.

Take a look at the play:
 

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Slater Koekkoek hasn’t exactly been Johnny Icetime for the Lightning, but Jon Cooper really leaned on him in the third period. That’s when they badly needed a goal, and he had already picked up an assist in the game. He ended up with just 12:58 of ice time, but that’s actually the most he’s had in the playoffs. While on one hand I look at this as a positive sign for his future under Cooper, on the other hand I remember Nikita Nesterov. He was also impressive last year and he was also leaned on in key situations. And then 2015-16 happened and that’s the end of Nesterov’s promise…

Some insight and observations on Koekkoek here.

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I thought Sidney Crosby was hurt. This makes me think he’s feeling better?

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Phil Kessel is the only Penguin with more than a point-per-game in the playoffs.

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I thought that the 23-year-old forward had a little more leverage than this, but Seth Griffith signed a two-way contract with the Bruins yesterday for one year. Griffith has absolutely dominated at the AHL level and has a reasonable 11 points in 34 career NHL games. I would have thought that he’d insist on a one-way deal and hold out until at least September to see if he would get it. My guess is, given the rumors that he wants out, he was convinced to sign a contract so it would be easier to trade him.

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Brian Elliott will be back between the pipes for the Blues tonight. Ken Hitchcock attributed his absence to “fatigue”. He wanted to give Elliott a break. Of course…if Jake Allen was coming of a win then I’m sure Elliott would still be fatigued and needing a longer break.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic has been smothering Vladimir Tarasenko like a blanket, holding the talented Russian to zero points so far. He hadn’t gone five games without a point since 2013.

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I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the AHL playoffs, but remember wonder-stud Joonas Korpisalo? That guy who saved your bacon this year when you grabbed him off the waiver wire and he kicked ass for Columbus? Well, he’s lost the Lake Erie starting job. In a stunning turn of events, Korpisalo gave up five goals in back to back games against Grand Rapids a couple of weeks ago and then he gave up three goals on six shots before getting yanked in favor of Anton Forsberg. Forsberg has since won four consecutive games, including a Game 7 shutout against Grand Rapids and another shutout last night against Ontario. Suddenly, the hierarchy for Columbus next year is not so certain…

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Can lightning strike twice? The Blackhawks dipped into the European free agent pool again this year, this time for a defenseman. One year after the snagged Artemi Panarin (and we all know how that went), they signed Michal Kempny. The Czech rearguard will turn 26 during training camp. He played last season for Omsk of the KHL and posted 21 points in 59 games, but had 29 in 43 in the Czech League the year prior. He was the top-scoring defenseman for Omsk, and his teammates last season included Alexander Perezhogin, Vladimir Sobotka and Martin Erat.

Oh, and the answer to the question “can lightning strike twice”? My answer is “no”. Not with Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook chiselled in stone as the top defense pairing. Kempny will provide some nice depth, but points-wise I’d be pretty surprised if he reached 30. He’s a left-shooting defenseman which is something the Blackhawks lack – so that should see to it that he gets secondary PP time.

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Minor news – the Ottawa Senators signed Tom Pyatt to a two-way contract. Pyatt had been in Europe lately and when he was in the NHL it was mostly as a depth guy.

Bud Holloway has apparently signed a contract with CSKA of the KHL. He didn’t get much of a chance with Montreal. At 28, the writing is on the wall in terms of his options and the best money for him is in Europe.

Max Talbot is apparently considering Europe. I doubt he’ll get a lot of NHL interest so I suspect that’s where he’ll end up.

Robbie Schremp has signed to play in the Swiss League. He gave the AHL a shot in hopes that he’d at least get a look by the Panthers – but no. NHL teams have a hard time looking at a hockey player if he’s older than 26. Not when they have their own drafted young prospects that they’ve invested time and money to worry about.

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Those who are in deep leagues that count hits and blocked shots, the Avs signed Anton Lindholm, a smallish defenseman who is not going to help you at all in terms of points. But he led his team in hits last season in the SHL with 85 in 30 games.

The Minnesota Wild signed prospect Chase Lang to an ELC yesterday. Lang is a budding power forward who is years away from an NHL sniff. You can read up on him here.

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I owe you a Top 100 Goalies list, I know. I’ve been saving it for a slim content day, which seems to be Thursdays. So look for this list tomorrow.

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Coming…one week from today…

Dobber’s 10^th annual Fantasy Prospects Report!

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I’ll just leave this here