Following a series of Instagram posts from Evander Kane's wife, the NHL put out a statement that it plans to conduct a full investigation on claims that Kane bet on his own team's games.

Professional sports leagues take team members betting on games very seriously. This reminds me of when Pete Rose was given a lifetime ban from MLB for betting on games, including allegedly ones involving his own team. If these allegations are true, Kane could be looking at some sort of suspension, or is perhaps given a leave of absence while he receives treatment for what seems like a very serious gambling addiction.

Kane had gone bankrupt before the 2021 season, so reading through his wife's messages, the compulsive gambling would appear to explain why a millionaire athlete would need to declare bankruptcy. As someone who had a close friend with financial problems resulting from a gambling addiction, I hope Kane gets the help that he needs, as does his wife and young child.

–

There were plenty of signings to quickly break down from Saturday.

Early in the day, the Leafs signed Nick Ritchie to a two-year contract worth $2.5 million. For more, see our Fantasy Take.

The Hurricanes have signed Derek Stepan to a one-year, $1.35 million contract. Stepan's only season with the Senators ended with just a goal and six points in 20 games before season-ending shoulder surgery. Stepan reached the 50-point mark for five consecutive seasons with the Rangers and Coyotes, but he has trailed off in the last few years. This signing is low risk, although Stepan will likely have to start on the fourth line behind Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trocheck, and Jordan Staal at center.

Riley Nash is on the move again, signing a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Jets. Fresh off a 41-point season with the Bruins in 2017-18, Nash signed with the Blue Jackets before being traded to the Maple Leafs at the deadline. He only played two games for the Leafs, both in the playoffs. Nash will likely fill a bottom-6 forward slot for Winnipeg, as he is more of a defensive forward at this stage of his career.

The Wings have signed Tyler Bertuzzi to a two-year contract, reportedly with a cap hit of $4.75 million. I recently wrote about Bertuzzi in a previous Ramblings, so I won't repeat myself here. If you don't feel like reading, just keep him in mind as a potential injury bounceback candidate. He scored five goals and seven points in nine games before missing the remainder of the season because of a back injury.

Recently traded Warren Foegele has agreed to a three-year contract with the Oilers, with a cap hit of $2.75 million. Foegele was acquired by the Oilers from Carolina earlier this offseason for Ethan Bear. He will likely fit in on the Oilers' third line, although a move to a line with either Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl for some length of time could generate a major in his value.

The Stars have signed Joel Kiviranta to a two-year, $2.1 million contract. Kiviranta recorded 11 points in 26 games with the Stars, but he is better known for an unexpected Game 7 hat trick and overtime winner against Colorado in the 2020 playoffs.

A day after being traded to the Rangers from the Golden Knights, Ryan Reaves signed a one-year contract extension with his new team. The contract simply matches his current salary of $1.75 million and covers next season.

–

Continuing with Top 100 Roto Rankings players affected by changing teams, I'll discuss a couple of goalies whose values have been greatly impacted.

Darcy Kuemper

I've seen a lot of discussion regarding Kuemper. Since the now-former Coyote will be moving into Philipp Grubauer's starting job for Colorado, he's due for a major increase in value. So I'll cut right to the chase here: Kuemper will be in the top 100, although I don't know where yet.

Fantasy Impact: Darcy Kuemper Shipped to the Avalanche

Yes, Kuemper deserves to be bumped way up your rankings. Throw out the pandemic 2020-21 season and Kuemper has ranged between a .920 and .928 save percentage over his previous three seasons. In fact, over the past four seasons, only Ben Bishop has a better save percentage than Kuemper (.921 SV%) among goalies that have played at least 100 games. That's the sign of a strong goalie, and a reason I ranked him fairly high and targeted him even when he was with Arizona. Grubauer checks in with a .919 SV% over that same span.

So should we simply move Kuemper into the ranking that Grubauer previous occupied, since I already mentioned that Grubauer loses value with a move to Seattle? Not so fast. Kuemper's NHL career has spanned nine seasons. Guess how many times has he played at least 35 games in a season? Just once, in 2018-19, when he played 55 games. I will acknowledge that he hasn't been a starting goalie for much of that time, but the now 31-year-old goalie would have to remain injury-free in 2021-22 to completely fill Grubauer's shoes fantasy-wise. His track record hasn't demonstrated that he's been able to do that.

If you draft Kuemper, you should probably keep an eye on the status of Pavel Francouz. He may have completely fallen off your radar in 2020-21 because he missed the entire season following surgery for a lower-body injury. The now-29-year-old played 34 games compared to Grubauer's 36 games in 2019-20, so he could factor into the goaltending equation if he is fully healthy. Over that season, he also posted better numbers (2.41 GAA, .923 SV%) than Grubauer (2.63 GAA, .916 SV%). I remember him looking awful in that season's playoffs, but that may have been injury-related.

In the end, Kuemper's value increase and Grubauer's value decrease emphasize how much of a role the strength of a team plays in a goalie's value. It might seem easy to determine a goalie's value from there, but remember that we've also learned that goalie values are unpredictable, especially over the past few seasons.

Alex Nedeljkovic

Oh yeah, speaking of goalie values being tied to a team… Nedeljkovic's trade was a surprise, and not in a positive way to his fantasy owners. Sure, Steve Yzerman is rebuilding the Red Wings the right way, but a proper rebuild takes time. Dylan Larkin aside, the Wings' future core players are mostly 21 and under. Nedeljkovic could stick around beyond his two-year contract, which by that time should have the Wings at least out of the basement of the Atlantic Division.

It is possible for a goalie in Detroit to post half-decent numbers over certain stretches, even if the wins don't come often enough. Jonathan Bernier (recently signed with the Devils) posted a .914 SV% in his final season in Detroit, including a .920 SV% in the second quarter and a .925 SV% in the third quarter. In addition, Thomas Greiss posted a 1.17 GAA and .962 SV% over his final seven games. The full-season numbers for both goalies don't look quite as good, as you'd expect.

It's even possible that Nedeljkovic improves on those Detroit goalie numbers. His 15.62 GSAA (goals saved above average) was the fifth-highest total in the league, not to mention his 1.90 GAA and .932 SV% being the strongest in the league among goalies that had played at least 15 games. Between placing him on waivers to send him to the minors and eventually trading him, Carolina didn't seem to value him for some reason. In the end, maybe they felt more comfortable with veteran goalies for their Stanley Cup aspirations as opposed to Ned, who had played only six NHL games prior to 2020-21.

On a Red Wings team that probably won't make the playoffs, Nedeljkovic won't likely record a sub-2.00 GAA or twice as many wins as losses (he finished 15-5-3 in 2020-21). However, it may be better to take a longer-term view of Nedeljkovic beyond the coming season if possible. For this season, though, it is difficult to keep him in the top 100.

–

For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding