But hey, maybe moving on from Sharp is what the Blackhawks need to force them to use Bickell in a larger role befitting his contract. I don't really believe that. Just throwing a random notion out there.

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The NHL is looking into player-tracking cameras as part of the next wave of analytics. This is something that the NBA has done and it's fantastic. It really helps confirm eye-test stuff like in assessing defensive positioning. They've developed programs using this tracking data that can tell you where a player should have been on any individual play based on a team's specific defensive scheme and where he actually was.

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Lots of news about NHL teams hiring stats folk to help with analytics. The Devils have hired a former poker pro to head up their analytics department. I'm sure there's a joke in here about the Devils needing help with their future gambles (Martin Havlat, maybe?) In any case, I can't think of one. I'm sure you guys will come up with something.

I did find this hiring a bit strange however. The Devils have been advanced stat darlings over the past several years, frequently ranking among the best teams in the league in stats like shot differential. I mean, if they were killing it on that front without even considering analytics then one can only imagine what they'll come up with now that they've taken a focus on it.

Where the Devils could really use some help is with their draft and development process because they've been really stagnant on that front for a long time. Their only real draft hits of the past 10 years have been Adam Henrique, Mark Fayne and if you are being generous Mark Fraser. You have to go back to the 2004 draft for their last success story out of the first round (Travis Zajac). And yes, the jury is still out on players like Adam Larsson, Eric Gelinas, Jon Merrill and Scott Wedgewood but the point is, the Devils haven't had much coming up the pipeline for the last decade.

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Not fantasy relevant but this was a really entertaining Q+A with Cliff Ronning from The Hockey Writers.

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Apparently the Stars have been shopping Sergei Gonchar this summer but have found no takers. So you can probably expect to see him in Dallas once again. I think he improves a bit on last year's result simply because the whole team is likely to take a step forward with the additions of Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky but I'm not expecting Gonchar to be fantasy relevant in anything but the deepest of leagues. 30 points maximum, is where I'd put him.

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.