The Canucks re-signed RFA Chris Tanev to a one-year deal today.

*

After a nightmare season last year for Alex Burrows, his time playing with the Sedins looks to be over. With the signing of Radim Vrbata, I expect him to be slotted next to Daniel and Henrik in 2014-15 and he's got a real shot at 30-35 goals.

Burrows, on the other hand, looks to need a miracle to regain some serious fantasy value. It's been two seasons since he's done anything of consequence and now four seasons since he scored 35 goals. Vrbata's skill set is greater than Burrows', so if he plays his cards right he's got a chance to be the recipient of a lot of Sedin passes.

*

The New Jersey Devils appear to be on the verge of signing goaltender Cory Schneider to a contract extension. That's not surprising as he's clearly the future of the Devils between the pipes, but they also inked Scott Clemmensen, Keith Kincaid, and Maxime Clermont to deals, which pretty much means Martin Brodeur's time with the team is done. It is expected that Kincaid and Clemmensen will fight it out for the backup role next season behind Schneider. It's still going to be hard to fathom seeing Brodeur in a different uniform.

*

Interesting piece of information here from St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong on the line combinations for next season. Some felt after Paul Stastny was signed he would end up centering Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko, but that doesn't seem to be the case at this point.

[I’m thinking of] a scenario where Paul plays with Steen and (David) Backes," he explained. "That gives us quite a bit of strength on the wing, on the size with Backes. And then you have Berglund with Sobotka and maybe (T.J.) Oshie as another line.

That's intriguing that they would contemplate breaking up the Backes-Steen-Oshie unit that looked to be a mainstay, but as per the story, they are high on Finnish center Jori Lehtera and like him between Schwartz and Tarasenko.

Of course it's only July and everything can change come the start of the season, but if Oshie is indeed slotted with Berglund and Sobotka that's a big hit to his fantasy value. I still say Stastny and Oshie end up getting paired together at some point as I could see them clicking really well. Oshie could be a 30-goal guy playing with Stastny.

*

I seem to be in the minority when it comes to Benoit Pouliot. Granted, the money was a bit high, but Pouliot has a chance to have success with Edmonton. Some feel he's destined for a bottom-six role, but unless the Oilers are insane, nobody invests $20 million into a guy they plan to use exclusively on the third line. Dallas Eakins is going to play the guys that are producing, as evident by his healthy scratching of Nail Yakupov last season, so Pouliot is going to get a chance to play with some of the talented youngsters the Oilers boast up front. He also has proven to be effective on the power play and he should have a chance to expand on his totals in that area in Edmonton.

*

So much for that culture change with the Toronto Maple Leafs after bringing in Brendan Shanahan. They retain Randy Carlyle and Dave Nonis, and then bring back two former third liners and a 37-year-old defenseman who is coming off a twice broken right leg.

As a Leafs fan this can't be anything other than disappointing. I was actually a fan of Matt Frattin and Leo Komarov while they were here and they should be solid depth players, and Pettri Kontiola and Mike Santorelli could work out, but these aren't the pieces Toronto needs to become a serious contender. They are still worlds away.

Probably the most frustrating part of free agency is that Toronto has more money than anyone in the league but can never spend it because of abysmal past decisions that have destroyed their cap situation and the fact that no one wants to come to the Leafs. And then when they do spend it, they end up doing something dumb like the Clarkson deal.

The Leafs are probably two or three quality guys away from making some real noise that can last more than a few months of strong play. Take the Kings for example. Now granted, Toronto isn't as deep and skilled as Los Angeles, but when they brought in Marian Gaborik at the deadline it just allowed guys like Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli to settle in their roles and not have to do as much. The Leafs aren't a Gaborik away from a Cup, but it's an example of the quality player they need to acquire so guys don't have to be playing a line above where they should be.

At least they didn't re-sign David Bolland to a massive deal, so it wasn't all a lost cause.

*

The Ottawa Senators signed David Legwand for two years as he tries to fill Jason Spezza's spot. He won't be as productive as Spezza but he's going to make it tough on Mika Zibanejad to earn that second line center role.

*

Under the radar signing by Columbus as they grab Brian Gibbons from the Penguins. He spent some brief moments with Sidney Crosby but maybe he'll get a few more minutes in a less crowded Blue Jacket forward group.

*

These seasons in 60 seconds videos from the NHL are pretty cool. They don't include the playoffs, though, for some reason. Here is the Colorado Avalanche:

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike