No surprises in the Hall of Fame announcement yesterday, which is welcome. As you remember the Dino Ciccarelli year in which he was the only one in – that was a most unwelcome surprise. In the meantime, the Hall continues to be a “Hall of Stats” and a “Hall of Longevity”.

If this were a “Hall of Greatness” or a “Hall of Building Hockey” then Eric Lindros and Alex Mogilny would be in, while the likes of Mike Gartner, Ciccarelli, Mark Howe, Glenn Anderson, Dick Duff, Bernie Federko, Clark Gillies, Joe Mullen, etc – would not.

Anyway, if you didn’t hear (which I doubt, given the age we live in) – Brendan Shanahan, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Chelios, Fred Shero and Geraldine Heaney were all inducted. I had Niedermayer ranked No.1 on my own list, with Chelios at No.4 and Shanahan at No.5. Very well deserved and there was little doubt they should get in. In fact, my Top 6 should be shoe-ins… whereas the rest (I did a Top 19) should probably be “no”.

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Carolina needs wingers. I have a feeling that they are looking into Damien Brunner for a second-line LW spot and Matt Halischuk for a third-line RW spot. Also maybe Jaromir Jagr. Because at this point, Zac Dalpe and Zach Boychuk would make the team and I just don’t see that. Maybe Dalpe, who is coming off a good AHL season. But not Boychuk.

The Hurricanes signed Riley Nash to a two-year, two-way contract. But at this point, unless the Canes sign three more free agent forwards, Nash is pretty much a lock for the big club.

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The Kessel for three draft picks (Seguin/Hamilton/Knight) trade – do you want to readdress that one again yet? Or are you still firmly in the Seguin camp? After Kessel finished sixth in scoring and then he finished eighth in scoring, Seguin gets traded to Dallas amid swirling ‘party’ rumors (not to mention his alleged tweets) while Hamilton can’t crack the Boston playoff lineup because an undrafted player took his spot. Where do you sit on this? Are you ready to ease up a little on Brian Burke?

And hey, the Seguin rumors are more than just rumors – you saw the pictures of him partying it up. He has more tattoos than anyone I know. He’s a fun, social guy. I believe that. But I also believe his father – he’s young and his friends in Boston were married. He was alone. All he can do is hang out with young single people. And what do they do? So I don’t think less of Seguin for that.

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Nathan MacKinnon has signed his ELC. And yes he will be in the NHL this year and is the early Calder favorite.

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Cal Clutterbuck has signed a four-year deal with the Islanders for $11 million. That kind of money and term reinforces my thought that he’ll get a shot with Tavares, his old Oshawa buddy.

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Remember Vitali Yachmenev? Man, that name came roaring back last night when I read that he retired. So there he is, nine months younger than I am. I remember he was the CHL player of the year in 1994 and was drafted in the third round that year by Los Angeles. A year later he made the club and was promptly put on Wayne Gretzky’s line. He got 53 points and was a hot item in my keeper league. He never saw even 35 points in a season again. There’s a lesson here somewhere…

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The Flyers re-signed Erik Gustafsson for one year at $1 million. His numbers were nothing to brag about last year but if you look deeper you will notice that he got six of his eight points in the last 13 games. The team adding Mark Streit probably eliminates that promise though. At least for this year.

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The Senators signed Mark Borowiecki to a two-year deal. The first year is two-way, but the second year is a one-way pact per RDS. The recent Corvo signing ensures that Borowiecki spends most of this year in the minors. But he’s close, and his PIM potential is huge.

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Some minor moves:

Jonathan Cheechoo has signed to play in the KHL.

Bill Sweatt has signed to play for Brynas in Sweden.

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Just an FYI, I got exactly zero emails yesterday for this blurb – I need your help. I got nothing for clips and I really like to provide you with clips every day. So if you have any good ones, Tweet it to me, or email [email protected].

Here’s a Borowiecki fight (listen to how his name is pronounced – Borry-ets-key)