A group of people in the forum are doing a Mock Draft, if you would like to participate, details are here.

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As usual, the Kings won at home.

Mike Richards is still out, and it’s a suspected unconfirmed alleged possible concussion. Kings’ fans – would  you rather have him play, or Tyler Toffoli?

Toffoli added another assist and three shots, seeing 13:26 of ice time. That’s the highest of the playoffs for him, and the third highest ice time of his NHL career.

In my one keeper league in which all of my buddies were unanimous in saying that I had the playoff trophy ‘in the bag’ – I have Malkin, Letang, Neal, Dupuis, Bennett, Brown, Kopitar and Toffoli. Oops. I think Toffoli is the only guy to get me points this round, and my big lead has shrunk to two points. And I could be out of players for the Final.

Do you think Dustin Brown is hurt? He has just four points in 16 playoff games. This is the guy who had 20 in 20 last year. I looked this up myself – the last time Brown went 16 games with just four points was in March of 2010 – and on the 17th game he got four points…and on the game prior to that run he got two points.

Slava Voynov with another two points last night gives him back-to-back two-point efforts and his third in four games.

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Cha-ching!

That’s the sound that Bryan Bickell‘s agent keeps hearing.

Bickell is a UFA in another month. With seven goals in 15 playoff games, coming off the equivalent of a 40-point season, a team will (over)pay big money for him. And with such a big contract, his coach will be obligated to give him first-line ice time, linemates and PP time. His production will improve for sure next year… but fellow poolies may overshoot his evaluation and actually overrate him. This one will be tough to gauge (player’s trade value) and will probably be different from league to league, personality to personality. I’ll be looking to both buy and sell – and act according to how I see the market.

Here’s Bickell with another chance late – Jonathan Quick robs him and saves the game:

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Syracuse is still waiting for their opponent for the Calder Cup. OKC forced a Game 7 with a 4-3 win over Grand Rapids. The big star? Anton Lander with three points. But, and here is that name again – Mark Arcobello scored a pair of goals. It puts him a point back of Ondrej Palat for the playoff scoring crown.

Detroit’s future stars were really burned last night – Nyquist, Tatar and Andersson were a combined minus-7 (Tatar was minus-3). Nyquist and Tatar had five shots apiece though. Grand Rapids carried a 3-1 lead into the third and gave up the tying goal at 17:33 and the winner 82 seconds later. Who do they think they are, the Leafs?

Jonathan Cheechoo, who now toils for OKC Barons, has 11 points in 16 AHL playoff games and he’s also a plus-14.

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The NHL competition committee, as you’ve heard I’m sure, did the obvious and have decided to grandfather in the visors. Any player who is rookie eligible next year will be required to wear a visor. Who didn’t see this coming 10 years ago? Funny how so much gets debated for so long. It’s inevitable, just do it. Same with the iron shoulder pads. You know they’ll be required to be soft – that rule will be passed within five years – so quit wasting time. And power plays going the full two minutes the way it used to be back in the 50s. Get ‘er done! I’m certain we’ll see that one added within five years too.

Hybrid icing is another one that was recommended. Quit delaying the inevitable – that one we knew was coming five or six years ago.

I’m not a big “red tape” guy, as you’ve probably deciphered.

Other recommendations that will go to the NHL Board for a vote:

I like the idea of making the nets shallow. Keep them the same size in terms of scoring area, but not as deep. So behind the net there will be another four inches of room. That can only help the flow of the game, in my opinion.

Video Review on all four-minute high-sticking penalties. Not sure the point of that. Waste time and extend a stoppage?

Equipment – All equipment will be reviewed (so maybe that shoulder pad thing I noted above will be taken care of sooner).

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Well lookee here – the Colorado Avalanche have decided that a goalie coach would be wise to have. One of the worst teams in the league when it comes to developing prospect goaltenders, and then helping out young goaltenders when they are in the NHL…this could finally change. Hiring Francois Allaire, Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic has sure put a new face on this franchise.

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TSN reports that Mark Streit has turned down a contract offer from the Islanders and is set to become an unrestricted free agent. This is your captain, ladies and gentlemen. No, I don’t think a player should take a bad contract just because he’s a captain. But with the salary cap dropping next season, as a free agent he’s not going to get better offers. So yeah, in this case, as a leader of this team it would be nice if re-signed with them.

Looks like John Tavares will be the next captain.

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Eric Staal‘s serious knee injury will keep him off the ice until August, but he says he’ll be ready for training camp. Here’s hoping that this first big injury doesn't lead to many others, the way it did for Jordan. The Staal brothers have had horrible luck over the past two years…

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Andrei Loktionov has reportedly signed a one-year deal with the Devils. I would imagine that it’s a one-way agreement, finally locking him in as an NHLer.

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I missed this minor note earlier, but former top prospect TJ Hensick is likely heading to Sweden.

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Kings are wanting a suspension on Keith for this…

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Did you see this last night? Puck over the Glass song?