The Fantasy Prospects Report is finalized and available in your downloads.

According to Jeremy Rutherford, the Blues have signed big Russian defender Nikita Nikitin. I think his middle name is Nikki-nik-nik-nik. Just browsing the stats, there is some upside there, but on the Blues the best he could hope for is a No.4 spot with possibly some PIM upside.

The Pens have signed defenseman Steven Wagner to a two-way deal. Doubtful we’ll see more than a couple of NHL games from him next year.

Chris Vivlamore is reporting that Maxim Afinogenov is not close to a deal with the Thrashers. I don’t he could be as successful (or more successful) anywhere else, and with a new coach in Atlanta it’s up in the air whether he could even repeat if he stays put. Very streaky and unpredictable.

The Flyers have officially signed Johan Backlund to a two-year deal. I get the impression that he’ll always be struggling with injuries – Band-Aid Boy warning. It will prevent him from being anything more than a backup. The Flyers now have he and Brian Boucher signed, so at worst they’ll be the 1-2 they go with. It’s feasible…but doubtful. Look for more moves over the summer addressing the position.

Apparently, Brooks Orpik played the latter half of the season with a weakened muscle in the lower abdomen. He Pens rearguard underwent sports hernia surgery and he’ll need six weeks to recover.

The 2010 DobberHockey Playoff Pool results are not yet “official” on PickupHockey, but the Top 3 teams all have such wide gaps between other teams – and each other – that it’s pretty safe to call them official. The winner of the SI7 Stealth Easton hockey stick is 87flyer. His top 15 were – other than Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau – all Chicago and Philadelphia players. HolyGoalie is winner of a jersey from Cool Hockey. His 395.5 points were six behind first and six ahead of third (see what I mean by a “wide gap”?). Ogborne22 finished third and he will receive a complimentary DobberHockey Ultimate Fantasy Pack – which includes the Fantasy Prospects Report, the Fantasy Guide, the Midseason Fantasy Guide and the Interactive Playoff Draft List. Congrats you three (expect an email from me soon)! Thank you everyone for participating. And you all suck for being so terrible at this playoff pool and not winning it. Myself, I don’t suck because I meant to choose mostly Blackhawks and Flyers, but my mouse slipped and clicked the wrong guy…31 times. I didn’t notice my 31 mistakes until after the deadline had passed and it was too late.

From now until June 24th, Angus will be running a 2010 NHL Entry Draft contest. Send him an email of your first round mock. The entry that closest mirrors the first round on June 25th will win an autographed Shane Doan 8×10 photograph. The rules are simple – one through 30, send me your picks. If you guess the correct player, earn one point. If you guess the correct player and the correct position, you will be awarded three points. For example, of your top five is Hall-Seguin-Fowler-Tarasenko-Gunbranson, and the NHL's top five picks are Hall-Seguin-Fowler-Gunbranson-Tarasenko, you will be given 11 points (three for Hall, Seguin, and Fowler in the correct position, and one for each of Tarasenko and Gunbranson for having them in the first round).