According to TSN, Jonathan Toews earned a $1.3 million bonus with the Conn Smythe win. That bonus will count against Chicago’s 2010-11 cap…

Alessandro Seren Rosso translated an interview with a former agent of Kabanov’s. A great read.

Thanks again to PickUp Hockey for running the 2010 DobberHockey Playoff Challenge. I (unofficially) placed in the top 350… um… yay? The winner (as well as the two runners-up) will be officially announced on Friday.

The 2009-10 NHL season is now officially over… however we are just getting started at DobberHockey! With the draft coming up soon, the Prospect Report is being updated and scoured over day and night by Dobber and some of our top writers and contributors. Chances are most of the competition in your pools picks up a draft guide in August, but how many of them are reading about prospects and rookies in June?

The 2010-11 Fantasy Guide is only a few months away, and DobberHockey is the only site you need to check (aside from TSN, maybe) on July 1st – we will be breaking down the biggest signings and trades from a fantasy perspective.

The 2010 Prospect Report is now out! The Report is updated throughout the month of June. Matt Bugg's famous mock draft will be added very shortly.

Michael Russo (Wild beat writer): “I hear the Wild will try hard to move Harding in the coming weeks, and the one thing the Wild hopefully learned last summer is if it’s going to trade Harding, it must be before free agency. The second it turns July 1, teams that need goalies will just sign them and it’ll be difficult to move Harding then.”

Russo has some more interesting stuff to say here.

Does Washington go with Mathieu Perreault as their second line center next season? Not likely, but they could. He had two helpers last night and is an incredibly exciting player to watch. He competes hard, skates well, and can make plays with the puck on a consistent basis. If the Caps insulated Perreault with some size (Laich, Knuble), I could see him succeeding offensively in 2010-11. He could be one of the best sleepers in the league if Washington decides to spend their $$$ on defense instead of finding a center to replace Morrison/Belanger.

Laich can play center but his game is better suited to being a winger.

Rob Blake is retiring from the NHL. His retirement creates a huge hole on San Jose’s blueline. I could see the Sharks having heavy interest in Sheldon Souray – like Blake, he is a fantastic leader. He doesn’t play defense as well as Blake, but he is a huge presence on the PP. Souray wants to play close to his family in California, and San Jose has to be one of the most ideal locations for any player to go right now.

It will be interesting to see what injury news starts to trickle out from the Cup Final. Andrew Ladd played the final few games with a fractured shoulder. Toews and Jeff Carter were both obviously injured as well.

It was mentioned a few times on CBC after the game, but I find it very bizarre how similar Kane’s goal in OT was to Crosby’s Olympic-winning goal back in February. The circumstances were similar as well – both Chicago and Canada allowed late third period goals only to quickly rebound.

Kane was the only player who seemed to know the puck was in – his Hawk teammates were hesitant to join in the celebration at first.

Scott Arniel on Nikita Filatov (from ESPN yesterday): “‘I love those kind of talents.”‘ Arniel said Filatov needs to restore his relationship with teammates first, but he added: “His skill set gives you things that other guys can’t give you. We’re not trying to hinder or hold anybody back, but we need everybody on the same page. If we need a goal late in a game, we need to be able to trust him enough to play him in those situation.”

Great, great news for Filatov owners.

Third time’s a charm for Marian Hossa. He also became the first Ottawa Senator draft pick to hoist the Cup (I have since been told Stan Neckar was the first, after playing two playoff games for the Lightning back in 2003-04).

Toews, Keith, and Seabrook – Gold and a Cup in the same year. Keith should have won the Conn Smythe (in my eyes he was the best Hawk from start to finish), and he was my pick for the Norris Trophy as well. They join Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, and Ken Morrow as the only other three players to have won both Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

Exhibit A as to why I am not an NHL scout – I thought Chicago was foolish when they selected an undersized one-dimensional scorer (Kane) ahead of Kyle Turris back in 2007. Turris didn’t even hit a PPG in the AHL this season (although I still have high hopes for him), and that “undersized scorer” just won his first cup at the age of 21.

The Phoenix (Arizona?) Coyotes have re-signed Scottie Upshall to a one-year deal. Upshall's 2009-10 season was cut short due to injury, but he still managed to score 18 goals in only 49 games. With a lot of turnover expected in the desert this summer (mostly on the back end, but there are some key UFA's up front), Upshall may slide in on one of the top two lines. He hasn't played more than 74 games in any given season since making the NHL, but he has the hands and tenacity to be a 25-goal, 80-100 PIM player. He's a great sleeper pick for 2010-11 in deeper leagues.

Upshall is coming off of a serious knee injury, so keep that in mind. Sometimes players take a while to bounce back from knee injuries, and sometimes they never do (Justin Williams?).

The Hershey Bears won last night in Texas, evening the Calder Cup Final at two games apiece. John Carlson scored the game-winning goal with only a few minutes to go in the third period. Carlson was also named as the game's first star.

Alexandre Giroux scored twice last night for the Bears, and he now sits third in all-time AHL playoff scoring with 49 goals.

The Rangers have signed Wisconsin star Derek Stepan to an entry-level deal. Stepan had a phenomenal 2009-10 season, scoring 12 goals and adding 42 assists. I'd say his chances of making the Rangers aren't great, but there will be at least one spot up for grabs at training camp. Stepan is a very 'heady' (smart) player, and has earned comparisons to Toews and Joe Pavelski. He plays hard on both sides of the puck and is strong on his skates. He needs to get bigger, as most young players do.

I am a huge Claude Giroux fan. H-U-G-E. Regular readers of the site will know that, as I have spoken glowingly of Giroux ad nauseam. I hate to sound like a broken record, so I'll keep this short and sweet. For me, the question of Giroux being a 90+ point player isn't "if", but "when." He has all of the attributes needed – a fantastic work ethic, speed, dazzling hands, tenacity, ability to play (and thrive) in traffic, and a deep arsenal of tricks offensively.

Philadelphia has three fantastic centers (Richards, Carter, Briere) who are all at their best when playing the natural position. However, Giroux is the long-term fit behind Richards on the depth chart, in my opinion. Carter can play wing and with his shot is a more natural fit coming down the wing.

Even if he is buried a bit on the depth chart for the short term, Giroux will still see loads of time with the man advantage.

Best playoff beard? Hartnell for sure. Other good ones – Giroux, Ladd, Seabrook.

Hawk fans will be watching this one for a while…

What if Jeff Carter picked his spot?