With Game 3 still a day away, there seemed to be a lot of NHL news that didn't pertain to the Stanley Cup finals that broke Thursday. Here's a run through the happenings …

The No. 3 pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft is available, or at least, the Stars are listening to offers. Dallas is in an interesting situation holding the high pick because of it's compete-now setup.

Ales Hemsky, Jiri Hudler and Patrick Sharp come off the books, and there are huge needs on the blue line. Head coach Ken Hitchcock has a long-standing history with Kevin Shattenkirk, and the Stars enter free agency with approximately $16.6 million in available cap space.

Radek Faksa, Brett Ritchie and a trio of young defensemen (Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak and Esa Lindell) are the only current restricted free agents, so there should be ample cap space to make a pitch to Shattenkirk. More salary relief could also become available if Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi are moved.

The Stars could also make a play on multiple supporting defensemen, such as Michael Stone, Brendan Smith and Trevor Daley. The No. 3 pick comes into play here, too. Dallas could float the pick ahead of the expansion draft to acquire an NHL-ready defenseman, too.

As it stands, Dallas isn't exactly chalked full of assets to protect leading into the expansion draft, both among its forward ranks and defense corps.

While the obvious trade fits would be Minnesota and Anaheim, it would be surprising to see conference rivals — and divisional foes in the case of the Wild — make that type of move. So, where are the fits in the East?

Carolina jumps off the page, and Florida could be a fit. Would Dallas consider a pitch from the Canadiens with Nathan Beaulieu as the focal point?

The bottom-line is that Dallas is built to win over the next two seasons, and the No. 3 pick was an unexpected asset to turn into a roster player. Losing a deal over a 10-year span won't matter if the Stars win a championship in either of the next two seasons.

General manager Jim Nill has proven to be willing to make big deals, too.

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It was cool to see that Nasvhille's NHL TV ratings were rock-solid Wednesday. Knoxville, Tenn., welcome to the fun.

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The Capitals are making restricted free agents Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky and Dmitry Orlov their first priority before trying to re-sign T.J. Oshie, according to general manager Brian MacLellan.

Justin Williams is left out of that mix, so it looks pretty likely that the 35-year-old winger is set for unrestricted free agency. With three Stanley Cups, 140 playoff games and 94 postseason points on his resume, Williams projects as a coveted target for championship hopefuls. He posted nine points through 13 playoff games this year, too.

Our focus is obviously the virtual game, and the veteran struggles to consistently move the fantasy needle at this stage of his career. Entering his age-36 campaign, he could alsosee statistical decline away from the high-scoring Capitals.

However, in each of the past two seasons, Williams has gone on absolute midseason tears. Last year, he sandwiched the All-Star break with 18 points over 18 games, and this year he posted 17 goals and 15 helpers through 37 contests.

That upside probably won't fade away over the summer, so Williams is a worth watching in all settings, and buying low is encouraged when things begin to break right.

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Team leading best-of-7 Cup Final 2-0 has won the series 90% of the time (45 of 50), including 91.9% (34 of 37) when winning Gms1-2 at home.

— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) June 1, 2017

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This is an interesting discussion about Toronto's pursuit of defense help, and it makes sense to potentially look at Florida's blue line. However, the previously discussed Stars could be a better fit for the Predators.

The better match for Toronto would be Anaheim, and the deal to explore should center on James van Riemsdyk. The Maple Leafs have an abundance of young wingers, and van Riemsdyk is entering the final year of his contract. The Ducks will be forced to protect a mediocre talent in the expansion draft up front in order to accommodate their big five (Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry, Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg), so moving Shea Theodore for van Riemsdyk could be a solid fit for both teams. It's unlikely Anaheim is willing to part with Brandon Montour.

Toronto receives the power-play quarterback it lacks, and Anaheim beefs up for another run at the Stanley Cup while Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler are still capable of leading the charge.

On the surface, it looks like an overpayment (potentially), but these are the types of deals that forward-thinking teams will begin to make more frequently going forward.

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Here's a summary of the Iyla Kovalchuk situation. The important piece of information from this article which might not have been fully transparent in the past is that when Kovalchuk turns 35 in April 2018, he's eligible to return to the NHL as an unrestricted free agent.

It's not a Point A-to-Point B situation for general manager Ray Shero, as Kovalchuk would need to sign with the Devils to play in 2017-18, and then he could be traded:

"I can't go out calling teams because that's a waste of my time," Shero said. "He's going to tell [us] where he wants to play, and in the end, if that does work out and it's not the Devils, then I've got to see if that makes sense for us to do that."

It just seems far more likely that Kovalchuk chooses to return on his own terms. The savvy fantasy move is to look to acquire him after he re-ups to stay in the KHL for the upcoming season. Obviously, there is still a chance that Kovalchuk returns to the NHL this fall, but there are a lot of moving pieces — potentially too many.

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Aside from the finals, the expansion draft has the focus of the hockey world. Jonathan Willis highlights four higher-priced players the Golden Knights should target in this article.

I discussed the upcoming expansion draft on the FNTSY Network earlier this week and shared my notes in my last ramblings. Like Willis, I had Las Vegas grabbing Semyon Varlamov, but Drew Livingstone of FNTSY fame informed me that Colorado was planning to keep Varlamov over Calvin Pickard.

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From David Pagnotta:

June 16 – The last day teams can place players on waivers before the expansion draft.

June 17 – The beginning of a trade and waivers freeze.

June 21 – Las Vegas must submit its selection list, which includes any signed restricted and unrestricted free agents from other teams, and those clubs are ineligible to lose another player in the expansion draft.

The Las Vegas roster will be announced during the NHL Awards show June 21, five players at a time after every two award.

The trade and waiver freeze will be lifted June 22.

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The Panthers signed Henrik Haapala to a two-year, $925,000 entry-level contract Thursday. The winger paced the Liiga in scoring last season and could quickly secure a top-six gig if Jaromir Jagr isn't re-signed.

Further encouraging is that Aleksander Barkov is also a Tappara product, and the two forwards share long-standing international experience dating back to the 2010-11 season.

This is a calculated move by Florida, and Haapala should on our fantasy radar. 

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Thanks for checking in, Dobberheads.