Red Wings goaltending prospect Daniel Larsson has signed a two-year deal with SEL team HV71. Apparently he doesn’t want to play in the AHL because the Wings farm team doesn’t have a full-time goaltending coach. He has said he still wants to play in the NHL, but this seems like a step backwards to me…

Ville Leino has 11 points in 10 playoff games. He had 11 in 55 games during the regular season. Any upside there? I’ll have an article covering all things Leino up on the site in a few days.

I’m taking wallpaper requests!

Added new DobberHockey wallpapers – check them out! Kane, Luongo, and more!

Did Philadelphia overpay for Chris Pronger last summer? Probably, but you are now seeing why. He is a winner. Close to 30 minutes of mistake-free hockey last night. The way he plays (smart, reserved) he'll be elite well into his 40's. He conserves his energy just like Scott Niedermayer and Nick Lidstrom.

Montreal has outshot the opposition five times in these playoffs. Want to take a guess at what their record in those games? 0-5.

Michael Leighton has not allowed a goal since the Roman Empire fell.

Absolutely awesome article by Mark Seidel – a must read. I toss around the term 'must read' a lot, but this one is definitely worthy of it! He breaks down reasons why NHL teams fail in the draft.

Peter Regin had another beauty goal for Denmark – check it out! Regin's shot is absolutely lethal.

According to ESPN, the Leafs are the frontrunners for Roman Cervenka.

I made my first big trade of the off-season in my H2H keeper league. I shipped out Marc-Andre Fleury (Mr. Inconsistency) and Michal Neuvirth for Roberto Luongo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and a draft pick. I love the upgrade I am getting in between the pipes – Fleury doesn't fill enough categories aside from wins, and now is a great time to buy low on Luongo. I hate giving up Neuvirth – he has fantastic upside, and I like him over Varlamov long-term in Washington. Ekman-Larsson fills a need (young defenseman) for my team, as my current defence consists of Blake, Boyle, Del Zotto, Rozsival, and Shattenkirk (i.e. not much).

There was a rumour circulating last week that Olli Jokinen had signed with KHL team Dynamo Minsk. However, nothing has been confirmed since that time. I mentioned in yesterday's ramblings how the Minnesota Wild desperately need a second line center, especially with PM Bouchard's career-threatening concussion continuing to give him problems. James Sheppard has been a flop at the NHL level. The next best center after Koivu is Casey Wellman, who the Wild signed out of college only a few months ago.

I think Jokinen would be a great fit there – he won't be expensive after a horrible year with Calgary and New York, and Minnesota has a few Finnish players to help attract Jokinen. I could see him signing a one-year deal for $3 or 4 million. His decline has been rapid (starting in 2006-07, he has gone from 91 points to 71, to 57, to 50 last year). However, he is only 31 and probably has enough time to right the ship.

Can Jokinen's decline be pin-pointed to one particular thing? Perhaps – he hasn't been the same player since the gruesome injury to Richard Zednik (which was caused by Jokinen's skate slashing across Zednik's neck, nearly severing his carotid artery).

Flyers prospect Mario Kempe has decided not to re-sign in Sweden. It sounds like he is ready to make the jump (back) over to North America. If you can read Swedish, check out the article. If I translated it correctly, he says he is willing to develop and learn the game at the AHL level to improve his chances at making the NHL one day. Kempe played two seasons in the QMJHL before returning to Sweden in 2008 to play in the SEL.

Artem Anisimov had a great interview with sports.ru's Alexei Shevchenko last week. Check it out here. It sounds like he earned the trust of Tortorella with his strong defensive play (as a young player, strong defensive play usually leads to a longer leash, which in turn often leads to more offensive minutes. It is a great thing to watch for with sleeper picks).

Anismov also makes a great point comparing the NHL ice surface to the bigger rinks in Europe – "It seems you're going along the boards and you think 'it's time to shoot or pass,' and you lift your head and you're still far away. In the NHL it's easy to score from the boards."

Is it time for Roman Hamrlik to change the lie on his stick? Does Ryan Smyth idolize Captain Hook? Check out a fantastic breakdown of penalty minutes, by type. Steve Downie led the league with 30 roughing penalties (Scott Hartnell was in a distant second with 20). Crosby led the league in slashing penalties – keep that stick down, Sid!

Another interesting stat – Colorado and Ottawa had 13 too-many-men penalties, while Anaheim only had two. I think it would be fun to incorporate some of this stuff into a pool – perhaps reward roughing as a positive and tripping/hooking as a negative – food for thought.

Finnish goalie Petri Vehanen absolutely robbed Evgeni Malkin of a sure goal yesterday at the WHC – video evidence:

Corey Perry has a reputation as a you-know-what disturber, but I don't think he is completely to blame on this "hit" on Tomas Vokoun yesterday (Canada scored because of it):