As many of the DobberHockey faithful know, I fight forest fires during the summer months. Fire, the cruel mistress that she is, had me called away for two weeks just after Game One of the Stanley Cup Final.

It wasn't the first Cup Final I've missed because of fire and it surely won't be the last. The good news, I'm not sure I missed much. Sure, there were overtime games like crazy but was anyone surprised by the end result? I wasn't. Not even a little bit. The Kings have what looks like a core that will contend for a long time. Between the Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks I'm not sure there will be many Cups for anyone else.

Of course, it's easy to say that since these two have won multiple Cups in recent years but remember, the Kings were on the brink of defeat in multiple series this spring so it's not like they can't be toppled.

Sean McIndoe has a nice breakdown of how the Kings were not supposed to win the Cup but did anyway.

McIndoe also looks at some of the popular theories going into the playoffs that were way wrong.

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And so now talk turns to free agency and the draft. You'll obviously want to pick up the 2014 Prospects Guide because that thing is just pure gold.

As far as I can tell this draft class is looking weaker, at least in terms of top end talent. Probably not the year you wanted to tank in. But the lack of sure-fire top talent almost makes this more exciting because anything could happen and a team might come away with the best player in the draft later in the first.

You may be interested in checking out the mock draft some of us writers are engaging in on the forums. You can also join the discussion here.

I took the armchair of the Oilers GM and selected Leon Draisatl. It seemed a pretty straight forward pick to me. After Aaron Ekblad was mock drafted first overall there was no player I wanted more. You've got to have size up the middle to compete in the West.

I wouldn't be shocked to see the Oilers move this pick if they can secure a player who will help them immediately though. You could actually say the same for a lot of teams. Again, this is where the lack of a no-brainer top selection could make things interesting.

And just to be clear – while I am saying there is no "sure-fire" top pick I actually do believe that Ekblad is hands down the best prospect. I would take him first 100 times out of 100. I just don't think he gets teams hot and bothered the way many previous top picks have. For instance, if Ekblad is in last year's draft he may not go in the top five. That's just the way these things go.

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It looks like the Red Wings will be moving on from Todd Bertuzzi, Mikael Samuelsson and Jordin Tootoo. These guys are well past their days of fantasy relevance and you have to figure there may some retirements coming but you never know. I will say that Tootoo might recover some value in DEEP leagues that count hits. He should pop up somewhere next season. Either way, the youth movement is in full swing in Detroit.

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It's buyout season and James Mirtle says you should expect to see plenty.

One such buyout candidate appears to be Brad Richards. Even after his strong playoff showing, which culminated in an appearance in the Cup Final there's no getting around how horrible Richards' deal is.

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Apparently the Sharks have a bad TV deal and it may force them to move.

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Adam Gretz asks why teams give goalies long, stupid contracts.

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So here's what a 32-team World Cup of hockey would look like. There are 32 nations that compete well enough in hockey to include them in a World Cup? Wouldn't 16 teams make more sense?

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It would seem that Thomas Vanek is no longer a lock to sign with Minnesota after his playoff performance. I think that's a wee bit myopic. I commend the team for their caution. Spending in free agency is a risky proposition. But if you are basing your opinion of a player on what he does during the small sample size of the playoffs you aren't covering all your bases.

So if not Minnesota, where does Vanek go?

I'd like to see him back with Montreal because I thought the chemistry with Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais was something special. But considering the contract demands of Andrei Markov and PK Subban, Vanek is a luxury they surely cannot afford.

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An interesting look at the Quality Start stat, which could have some value for assessing goaltender value. Surely you want to draft goalies who provide Quality Starts more consistently.

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CBC says farewell:

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.