The Red Wings locked down a cornerstone on Tuesday, inking Anthony Mantha to a four-year deal worth 5.7M per. 

This is a tremendous deal for Detroit in the now. First, it does not contain an NTC or NMC. It also comes nearly a million per year below the expected four-year cap hit as projected by Evolving-Hockey. 

It isn't the worst for the 26-year-old, Mantha either. He'll be a UFA at 29 and likely coming out of his prime-production campaigns. If the Wings don't want to pay his freight, some team surely will.

Just like the other major pieces in Detroit, I like Mantha to see further gains as the club claws their way out of the gutter. The former 20th overall selection from 2013 has watched his point-per-game average increase from 0.60 to 0.72 to 0.88 over the last three campaigns. That's while maintaining a very sustainable shooting percentage and secondary assist rate. Excellent signals for continued production.

He's a big boy too, so the timing of his impact should be well-placed in this coming season – his fifth full campaign. 

The one issue to concern over is health. Mantha suffered a knee injury early last season followed by a punctured lung and rib injury in the middle. He's averaged just 62 games per season since becoming an NHL regular. But if he can stay healthy and Detroit can take even a small step forward, I like him for 30 goals and 70 points in 2020-21 (or at least play at that pace since we all know it won't be a full season). 

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The scouting arm of DobberProspects is dropping its top-100 ranking for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. 

Get excited. 

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The Karjala Cup is scheduled to take place later this week. This is usually a National Team event that sees Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czechs battle in a four-team tournament. However, this year, the Russians have decided to get some chemistry rolling with their U20s ahead of the WJC and are sending a teenaged-only group.

Vasili Podkolzin will wear the captain's C.

Podkolzin's production and deployment have led to a great deal of hand-wringing of late. He continues to see extremely limited ice time with SKA of the KHL. The result? Just four points in 19 contests. 

However, there remains a lot of reasons to be hopeful for this player. 

For those who don't know, Rhys was an amateur scout for the Panthers for the last four seasons. He knows exactly what he's talking about. And just for icing on the cake, I completely agree with him and this international play coming down the pike is going to go a long way in solidifying that belief.

The 19-year-old Podkolzin will eat up ALL THE MINUTES for the Soviet gang. He'll feature on the top line, the top power-play, the top penalty-killing unit. Things won't be easy at the Karjala where he'll be taking on some of the top European professional talents on the other three teams, but he'll be nice and warmed up to dominate his age group in next month’s WJC.

He’s already having a time! 

He's the kid you should be eyeing first and foremost for a future multicat, power forward asset. Vancouver needs him to hit and will give him every chance to do so. It'll be the opposite of his time with SKA. A top nine job will be waiting for him upon arrival. 

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A couple of other fantasy-relevant prospects to watch at the Karjala Cup event are:

Rodion Amirov (TOR)

Jan Mysak (MON)

Mattias Norlinder (MON)

Jonatan Berggren (DET)

Jonathan Dahlen (SJ)

Yegor Chinakhov (CBJ)

Marat Khusnutdinov (MIN)

Yaroslav Askarov (NAS)

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Have you copped yourself a copy of the 15th Annual Dobber's Fantasy Hockey Guide yet? There is no better resource for the fantasy player. We're talking about sleepers, breakouts, 31 team breakdowns with upsides, 3YP, and all the projections you can handle.

Since I'm feeling a little generous, here's a snippet of what you can expect:

Now, go on and get it! While you're there, you may as well grab the Keeper League Pack and read up on the youngsters on the way up with a copy of the Fantasy Prospect Report. 

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So, 4.65M it is?

Whatever the dollar amount is – either settled early or by the arbitrator, I expect it to be a one-year deal that will walk Strome to unrestricted free agency. It's setting up to be the perfect cocktail for his bank account and the perfect storm for whoever inevitably overpays for a third-line centre who outkicked his coverage while playing next to star talent.

Strome is all set to once again centre the second line in New York. That means he's almost assuredly going to have Artemi Panarin hanging out on the left side again, and a good chance of a greatly improved, sophomore Kaapo Kakko on the right.

Needless to say, I like Strome a great deal as an even-strength producer next season. Whether he can maintain his three minutes a night on the top power-play unit will dictate whether that juice will flow freely. I expect he has it to begin but Kakko or Alexis Lafreniere will quickly supplement him. 

I don't see any reason Strome won't be able to replicate his 69-point pace from a season ago. That's worth a grab in my world. 

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The Stars are going to be hurting to begin 2020-21 whenever that should occur. The team released a statement on Tuesday alerting the world that Tyler Seguin and Ben Bishop both underwent surgery in late October and are expected to be out for at least five months.

That brings us to late-March on the rosy side of the projections. 

Jamie Benn looked rejuvenated in the summer playoffs, but his play has consistently slipped in recent years as he has crossed onto the shitty side of 30. Alex Radulov is 34. Joe Pavelski is 36. The team is old and will need to rely on the younger players if they want to compete next season.

That means more minutes and more opportunities for guys like Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz. Which is good for those owners. But if they surrounded talent can't elevate to previous levels, I expect it'll be a long year in Big D. 

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Of note, that labrum tear on Seguin is very concerning. That injury and subsequent surgery have toasted more than a few careers – Ryan Kesler and Jarkko Ruutu among them. I’d be worried as a Seguin owner.

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Nostradamus time: John Klingberg could find himself on the trade market in 2021. 

If Dallas is way out of things by the deadline next year, I wouldn't be shocked to see the team dangle Klingberg to the market. The right-shot, top pair defender has owned one of the best value deals for years. He's set to make just 4.25M for another two seasons and then will want a massive deal to make up for lost time.

There would be a hoard of teams lining up for a year-plus of Klingberg on that contract. And they'd be willing to pay. It would also open up a spot for Miro Heiskanen to lock down the top power-play job. 

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@Hockey_Robinson