At 3 o’clock this afternoon, the Lightning will introduce Steve Yzerman as their new GM. What a brilliant move and they were right to pursue him hard. Not because he is the greatest available GM, but because of the intangibles. He put them off again and again and they just kept bringing him back to the table with a sweeter offer. Apparently he will be the second highest paid GM in the NHL. What Yzerman lacks in experience, he makes up for in reputation and player relations. He’ll put the entire Vincent Lecavalier issue to rest – either by trading him, or by not. But what he says will happen, will happen. And the distractions will end there, whichever way they go. He learned from the best management team in hockey over in Detroit, and if even half of that rubbed off on him, the Lightning are in for a nice future.

Tampa Bay is close to hiring Steve Yzerman as their next GM.

I’m 5-9 in the postseason so far, clearly my worst performance in an area where I was never very good to begin with. But I could at least be counted on to go 8-7. Not to be, this year. The DobberHockey panel didn’t fare much better. We are, as a group, foolproof – averaging a good 12 wins per playoff…but this year we are 6-8 with one series left. That shows you what a conference full of surprises can do.

The Coyotes have signed OEL. Yep, Oliver Ekman-Larsson put pen to paper. The Yotes just got a whole lot better with OEL – ranked 12 on my prospects d-man list – and Maxim Goncharov – ranked 16 – both signed. With Michalek, Morris, Schneider and Aucoin all gone via UFA (probably), there will definitely be some new blood. Your d-corps could look like this: Jovanovski-Yandle; Player X- O.E.L.; Goncharov-Lepisto; Sauer-Vandermeer; Where Player X is a UFA they sign this July. It is possible that one or both of these youngsters play in the AHL, but I’d be willing to gamble on either one of them.

I think MA Bergeron may have just minus-twelved his way out of the NHL. Just a hunch.

The biggest disappointment for me on the Habs? Benoit Pouliot. Sure, he was off the top line the last 10 games or so, but he had a huge opportunity early on to put up points and he did not. And even after that, chipping in a goal here or a goal there from the fourth line would have made some kind of statement. But no. So now us poolies are left wondering which Pouliot comes to camp in the fall.

Yep, Sergei Kostitsyn is gone to the KHL. That’s another hunch of mine. No patience.

Put me down for “da” in response to the question – do you think Alexander Frolov will sign in the KHL this summer. I’m on a roll with the hunches today… maybe it’s actually Angus writing today. Hmmm…

With the OT win Monday, Texas will go to Hamilton for Game 7 Wednesday with the winner taking on Hershey in the AHL Calder Cup Final. Now, to be fair, the Stars have Jamie Benn who didn’t play a single AHL game all season (all 82 NHL games though). Up in these here parts we call that a “ringer”. But Hamilton will get their own ringer on Wednesday – a fella by the name of PK Subban.

In the DobberHockey annual playoff pool my teams are in the 500s and 700s respectively. And sinking, obviously, since none of my eastern picks have worked out other than the odd Flyer. Ogborne24 leads the way and is in line for an Easton Stealth S17 hockey stick (shoots left) valued at about $300. 87flyer’s second team is in second place and is up for a custom jersey from CoolHockey. HolyGoalie has a 1.5 point lead over a second team from Ogborne24 and if he/she can hang on he/she will win a DobberHockey Ultimate Fantasy Pack. DobberHockey writer Ryan Ma is in seventh place – not too shabby. And special celebrity guest Scarlett Johannson (Calle’s daughter) sits in 22nd.

Just a formality, but Hudler has signed with the Red Wings. His contract was already predetermined via arbitration for the next two years and he had already stated his intention to return to the NHL. So that was really the only contract he could sign. I’m steadfast in my belief that he tops 70 points next year and his mere presence gives the first line a boost of a good 10 points each.