*

Some random notes from researching for my top 50 NHL trade value rankings…

John Tavares makes $5.5 million for FIVE more years. Wow….

Kane and Toews each have two years left on their respective deals. The Hawks will have to pony up big time this summer with extensions (much like Anaheim had to with Getzlaf and Perry). How much money gets it done? I could see $8 million per for each, or slightly more.

Malkin is a UFA next summer. Does he go out on his own to be the franchise guy? He’d easily get $10+ million on the open market. But Crosby taking a ridiculous discount hurt his ability to negotiate with Pittsburgh.

Henrik Zetterberg has a phenomenal contract. $6 million per for the rest of his career, essentially.

*

A new one for the NHL. Raffi Torres has been suspended for the rest of Round 2, whether that is three more games or six. The hit was bad, but the fact that it was him throwing it that made it worse.

Not sure what I think of variable punishment, though. But I've complained enough about the disciplinary system. On to other things.

*

Johnny Boychuk had a gritty game last night – he logged huge minutes, was rammed into the boards from behind twice, and hit the post twice as well. With Seidenberg out he is the anchor on Boston’s second pairing.

Torey Krug was also really good. He scored a goal in only his fourth NHL game (and first in the playoffs). For a 5-9 defenseman he plays hard and fearless. 16 minutes for him. Good timing with mentioning him in my post yesterday, too.

Bergeron and Marchand are continuing from where they left off in Game 7 against Toronto (and Vancouver, for that matter). Bergeron played 27 minutes, and lost only four of 14 faceoffs. Oh, and he set up the OT winner with a slick saucer pass.

At 38 minutes, Chara played over 10 minutes more than any of his teammates. The guy is a freak of nature.

Stepan had a goal and played a lot, but he was killed by the Bruins on the draw. Boston has the edge in the faceoff circle over New York.

It was a typical Rangers game for the first period and a bit (boring, shot blocks, chip and chase), but the final 40+OT were really good. Two big and aggressive teams.

*

Alex Ovechkin fractured his foot in Game 6 against the Rangers and played through it for the rest of the series (as well as his time at the World Championships for Russia).

*

Canada lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Swedes. Jhonas Enroth was very good. I was also impressed by Jay Harrison on the back end – for a big guy, his mobility was a pleasant surprise on the big ice.

Giroux and Stamkos were really good, as was Matt Duchene. Duchene is such a fun player to watch.

*

T-minus 13 days until the 2013 Prospects Report….

*

I am close to publishing my second annual top 50 NHL Trade Value rankings. Here is a link to last year's. (Long read warning.)

I am making a few changes this year:

I won't be trying to group similar players together. If a run of three goalies happens, it is purely coincidental. I think this helped make more accurate rankings.

Goalies aren't valued as highly as last year… as they obviously aren't valued as highly (trade value, not playing value) in real life.

Contracts matter more than last year with the salary cap decreasing.

Patrice Bergeron will be on there. My one major oversight from last year.

Any guesses to the biggest risers? Sliders? New names on the list?

*

📢 advertisement:

Boston prospect Carter Camper is having a hell of an AHL postseason. He's an undersized forward (5-8 on his tip-toes), but he has a ton of talent. Carter is older than most prospects – he turns 25 this summer.

Does he have NHL upside? I think so. Is it in Boston? That, I don't know.

Camper was a four-year NCAA star at Miami (Ohio). He had 10 goals and 47 points in 57 AHL games this season, and as of Thursday morning, he had seven goals and 12 points in only eight postseason games.

Is he just another guy who is too small for the NHL, but too good for the AHL? Maybe not too good, but good enough to dominate offensively. He could be. But he is also a guy who you should at least keep an eye on. The Bruins don't have a lot of open roster spots, but with the declining salary cap, and Rask needing a new contract, they will need to free up some cap space from somewhere.

*

The LA Kings are the best team in hockey. I don't see Pittsburgh, Boston, or Chicago beating them in a seven game series. Their only weakness is on the back end, as their depth isn't amazing.

But Drew Doughty has quietly developed into one of the best two-way defensemen in hockey (he's in the conversation with Weber and Chara). And up front, the Kings are big and talented on all four lines. They look as good as they did at this time last year.

Dean Lombardi has done a masterful job there over the past two years. He went through a rebuild, stocking the cupboard with young assets. And because of great drafting and development, the Kings are set to thrive for a while.

They were able to trade Simmonds, Schenn, and Johnson (Voynov's emergence allowed for this) because they drafted well.

And they have found the likes of Muzzin, Toffoli, Linden Vey, Voynov, and so on in recent years. And if they move Bernier this summer (seems to be the logical move), they could get even better by bringing a young winger or defenseman back in a trade.

Here's a good read on the winning culture in Los Angeles.

*

DobberHockey member Pengwin7 has put together a fantastic resource that I'd highly recommend checking out. What it is – a measure of lucky and unlucky players, using primary and secondary assists as the measure.

Really interesting stuff here.

*

Enjoy reading Dave Lozo's weekly mailbag over at Backhand Shelf – in his latest piece, he puts together a hockey team with Game of Thrones characters. It is as good as it sounds.

Love the top line, especially the right wing. Todd Bertuzzi 2.0?

*

I'm a few teams behind in my daily sleeper look – I'll double or triple up for tomorrow's ramblings, I promise.

*

I had some attitude as a young kid, damn ref called off my goal! #throwbackthursday m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=rbYT…

— Brendan Gallagher (@BGALLY17) May 16, 2013