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Just saw that Seidenberg led the NHL in blocked shots last season with 215. I take back my drunk Chiarelli comment from yesterday. Three million is pretty solid when that’s what is brought to the table to go with secondary blueline offense.

Montreal prospect Louis Leblanc, who played last year for Harvard in the NCAA, will probably play in the QMJHL next season. Montreal (QMJHL) acquired his rights from Chicoutimi, likely with that arranged. Leblanc is one of several hundred prospects profiled in the fourth annual Fantasy Prospects Report.

Cory Murphy has signed to play in the Swiss League next campaign. Injuries ruined his big NHL chance – twice. Frankly, I think he would have been successful were it not for the bad luck.

The mighty Hershey Bears continue to struggle to score against Texas in the Final. They did manage three goals last night, to give them four in two games – but they were averaging more than that in a single game in the season. Matt Climie has stopped 51 of 55 shots – and he wasn’t even the Texas starter to begin the postseason.

So how is this for arrogance – the game tonight is on at 8pm. So is NBA Final. NBC and the NHL could have avoided this by adding to the break and pushing the Friday game to Saturday (and make CBC happy) and then playing today’s game tomorrow. But the network and the league decided they could hammer basketball in a head-to-head challenge. We shall see. The NHL has the advantage of a tight series, whereas the Lakers are up 1-0 and their coach Phil Jackson is 47-0 in playoff series where his team takes a 1-0 lead.
I picked the latter up in the paper while reading hockey stuff. By no means do I know my hoops.

Puck Daddy’s Chesnokov is reporting that Martin St. Pierre has signed to play in the KHL next year.
Andrew Ladd is not at the morning skate today.

Av’s beatwriter Adrian Dater opines that the team should go after Ilya Kovalchuk because they have the cap space and he would put them over the top. I think that would be a mistake. Their rebuilding plan is moving along perfectly – and quickly. They have great chemistry and he would just spoil that. And they would likely have to lock in for 10 years, so how would such a signing look in 2016? I think Dater will be pleasantly surprised to find that three years from now several members of this team will be considered either stars or superstars.

It will be an interesting free agency season this year, with so many teams out of play and with the field on the weak side. Chicago, Boston, Calgary and Detroit are pretty much out of play. The Rangers have some room, but after they sign Staal and Girardi, they’ll be left with $5 million to spend on about eight or nine roster spots. The Flyers could also be considered out of the mix, because after signing Carcillo and Coburn, they’ll have about $4 million for seven or eight spots – including in net. I don’t know where Kovalchuk thinks he will go to make $10 million. I see Atlanta has a lot of cap space (JK)…

Why does the NHL channel on youtube open up their clips with an ad… for watching the next NHL game? Um, if someone takes the time to go online, go to youtube and seek out NHL clips, they’re probably aware of when Game 5 of the Final is and where they can watch it. Just a hunch. Business 101: use your ad space wisely.