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So… how about that Rangers team? Derrick Brassard – four points. John Moore – a goal. Ryane Clowe – two goals (his first two of the season) and a helper. Could the Rangers petition to have more than one trade deadline next season?

 

As good as the Rangers looked last night, the Penguins looked bad. Awful probably describes it better. Turnovers, sloppy passes, losing puck battles.

They are without their best defenseman and forward, but other teams (cough, Ottawa) have had to overcome similar injury problems this year.

John Moore played 14 minutes – he’ll likele see 5/6 minutes whenever he does draw into the Rangers lineup.

Clowe played 15 minutes and Brassard 13 – the new guys will get more ice time if they continue to be productive, but Tortorella wanted to ease them in a bit.

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Flyers fans should thank their lucky stars that the team didn’t move Sean Couturier – he is easily the best young defensive forawrd in hockey, but for whatever reason the team doesn’t seen inclined to give him any sort of offensive minutes.

If and when that ever happens, I’d expect some big numbers from him.

Jakub Voracek had two points (in only 14 minutes of ice time) to continue his productive campaign.

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Dallas rooke Alex Chiasson had two shots on goal – he’s got 20 goal upside, but projects as more of a two-way forward.

Dallas is going to go very young for the rest of the season (obviously).

Loui Eriksson started the game at center – he played over 22 minutes, and won six of 12 faceoffs. No points, though. The winner of the Roy trade in the short term is going to be Cody Eakin, though. He only played 13 minutes last night, but I could see him start to get second line minutes soon.

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An assist and 25 minutes of solid hockey (oh, and three SOG) – Jonas Brodin continues to build his Calder case.

Charlie Coyle scored a goal – he will need to continue with the offense as Jason Pominville may take away a lot of his minutes (as a fellow right winger).

 

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The Oilers absolutely thrashed Calgary last night.

 

Taylor Hall had five points – he has already surpassed the other young guns in Edmonton this season, but this was a statement game. When healthy, he is by far the most impactful of the four. Such a dominant player with his skill, size, and speed.

 

Edmonton got almost all of their production from the young guys – eight goals scored as a team. Yakupov had two, Eberle had two, and the Nuge had four points.

 

This is a Calgary team with literally nothing to play for, but it is nice to see Edmonton show off their impressive young fire power.

 

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Here are some quick hit deadlines thoughts:

 

My Western Conference breakdown can be read over at the CanucksArmy – I really like what Columbus did (among other teams).

 

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As for the East:

 

Washington took a huge gamble on Marty Erat. I guess that sounds weird considering Erat is proven and Filip Forsberg has yet to play an NHL game, but that is a pretty good prospect to give up for a second line winger. Erat gives the Caps some help on the left side, and he will be productive there, but this was a great job by David Poile to maximize a player's value.

 

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Another great job maximizing a player's value – Buffalo with Jason Pominville. They got two good young players and two really good draft picks. Pominville isn't nearly as effective as he once was, especially without Thomas Vanek as his winger.

 

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The Rangers made a good move getting value for Gaborik, but are they as good a team now as they were a few days ago? Ryane Clowe will definitely bounce back in a new environment (can't get worse than zero goals). Dorsett is a scrappy guy who Tortorella will love, and he has fantasy value with his skill and PIM abilities, but he is out until at least the playoffs with a collarbone break.

 

John Moore isn't ready for full-time NHL duty yet, and Derrick Brassard is overpaid for what he brings to the table. Jury is out on Glen Sather's moves.

 

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Steve Mason to Philly… What does this mean for Ilya Bryzgalov, exactly? Mason has actually been half-decent this year (relative to the past few years), but what have the Flyers seen in him? They didn't really give up much in return, but it does complicate an already complicated situation.

 

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Brian Murray has done a masterful job building that team in Ottawa over the last few years. And that continued yesterday with the Cory Conacher-Ben Bishop trade. Bishop is a fine goalie, but Steve Yzerman is going to find what happens when you keep trying to hit a home run without making an investment.

 

Conacher has slowed down offensively (as expected after an unsustainably hot start), but he is a gritty two-way winger who can contribute in other ways. Ottawa is going to be a force in the East in a few years – Robin Lehner has been sensational this year, and the Senators are missing their two best (by faaar) players.

 

That all being said, the Lightning do have a ton of talented young forwards, so they were moving from a relative position of strength (Tyler Johnson may end up replacing Conacher if he hadn't already).

 

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Like the Jussi Jokinen move for Pittsburgh – they are "all in" this year, and he is a skilled and versatile player. Checker, scorer, wing, center, Jokinen can do whatever is asked of him. It gives Carolina some cap flexibility, so a win-win for both sides.

 

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Got some good nuggets on Detroit's trio of young prospects from George Malik, who covers the team for Kukla's Korner.

 

On Calle Jarnkrok:

 

Classic Wings prospect: skates well, great vision/playmaking skills, fearless despite lack of size, defensively sound. Jarnkrok’s no Zetterberg, but he sure plays a similar game.

 

On Tomas Tatar:

 

I tend to think of Tatar as a Hudler-crossed-with-Cleary (younger, less banged-up Cleary). Loves to go to the net…

 

On Tomas Jurco:

 

Well Jurco’s had a rough pro start but he’s at least a Kopecky and at best a poor man’s Hossa (20 goals?)…

 

Give George a follow @GeorgeMalik

 

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Jets prospect Jacob Trouba has elected to turn pro – there aren't many defensemen in hockey with more upside than him. Dominant two-way defenseman who can skate, hit, and score. Love his upside, and I couldn't recommend enough to add him to your keeper team if you are still able to.

 

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Goal of the year? What a move on Suter (and Backstrom too, for that matter):

 

 

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TJ Brennan is making the most of his opportunity in Florida – he had a pair of helpers the other night, showing off his bomb of a point shot. Who scooped him up off of the wire after the trade?

 

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Alex Ovechkin is the best fantasy LW in hockey (even though he plays right wing – kudos to Adam Oates for recognizing that Ovechkin would thrive on his strong side). I was wrong putting Zach Parise ahead of him on my recent top 10 LW keeper list.

 

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According to reports, Patrice Bergeron has a "moderate" concussion. There is no such thing as a "moderate" concussion – you are either concussed, or you aren't. Come on.

 

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There is more than meets the eye with Zack Kassian's conditioning stint.

 

Kassian’s strong start to the season was encouraging, but he hit a wall soon after (much like last season). It isn’t easy for power forwards to balance the skill and the rough stuff – Milan Lucic is having the same issues this season, and he has already proven himself in the NHL.

Kassian worked his butt off last summer to get in shape, and it showed in those first few weeks of the season and even when his offensive production cooled off he continued to drive play as well as any other third liner on Vancouver’s roster. Consistency won’t come over night, but the key for him is to keep the right attitude about things.

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Wrote this on Tuesday – what is the identity of the Dallas Stars? The team has a long road ahead of it, and the first thing they need to do is figure out what kind of hockey they want to play.

 

The Stars haven't really settled in to any sort of consistent game plan in 2013. Is that the fault of the players? Maybe a bit, but they follow instructions. Is it the fault of the coaching staff? Maybe, but again, coaches do the best with what they are given to work with. Dallas has a decent roster, but there are obvious holes up front and on the back end.

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And my look at Mike Gillis from earlier this week (and a general piece on what goes in to being an NHL GM).

 

NHL general managers don't have an official job description.

There isn't a how-to guide available on how to manage an NHL team the right way. A lot goes into running a team on a day-to-day basis (hence the word general). A good GM needs to be both aggressive and patient. He needs to be a financial expert, a slick salesman, a good listener, and a better talker.

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Derek Roy has a pretty rad summer house:

 

 

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A great interview with Mike Babcock, who is one of the best minds in the game today:

 

I think Jacques Lemaire is the best guy I've ever been around, who had the shortest meeting with the best information. To me, that's what teaching is about, that's what coaching is about, to provide something that they can see, taste, and smell and turn it into something that helps them on the ice. That's what you're trying to do. It's a battle each and everyday, that's what makes it fun. I love what I do; I love the people I'm around. I try to surround myself with great people.

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Dallas/Texas have strong WHL ties (starting with team owner Tom Gaglardi, who also owns the Kamloops Blazers) – the Texas Stars recently inked WHL UFA forward Brock Montgomery to a tryout contract – some other WHL UFAs signed recently by Dallas include Brenden Dillon and Matt Fraser. Not too shabby.

 

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Working on my top 10 keeper league goalies list. Here is a place for you to enter your submissions, I really enjoy reading the thoughts of others and sometimes it helps me put my list together (always good to get contrasting opinions).

 

 

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And some fitness reading – why you probably have core training all wrong (with some advice on how to get started).

 

The term "core training" is an overused buzzword in the fitness industry. It is applied to many exercises by many people who don't really have a clear understanding of what the core is, how it actually works, and how it should be trained.

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This picture is amazing (here’s a link for a closer look):

 

 

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