The Oilers and Sam Gagner have avoided arbitration. He signed a three-year deal worth $14.4 million – and it has a no-move clause.

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After careful thought and a lot of back and forth, I’ve settled on the following draft order in fantasy leagues (keeper) for the 2013 draftees:

1. MacKinnon

2. Drouin

3. Barkov

4. Nichushkin

5. Jones

I had Barkov second for the longest time, and Nichushkin fifth. But really letting things sink in and calm down and putting myself “in the moment”, I was able to be more “real”. If I’m drafting fourth and those three players are gone, who am I taking? So there you have it.

That being said, I’m not losing any sleep over it. If I pick third, I could care less if Barkov or Drouin fell to me. The two are practically interchangeable. Ditto for Nichushkin and Jones. And of course, this depends greatly on your team needs. If your defensemen suck, then you may want to grab Jones second overall. In fact, you should. But all things being equal, there’s my list.

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As expected, goaltender Matt Hackett signed a two-way contract with the Sabres. They have six goalies signed to pro contracts, but we’re all pretty sure that Ryan Miller will be dealt midseason. When that happens, if it happens – will the Sabres bring in an experienced goalie? Jhonas Enroth has had his moments, but I have to be honest with you, I like Hackett better. And if another goalie isn’t brought in, then Hackett may have one of those James Reimerdealies – where he comes on in February and wins too many games and screws the Sabres out of a better draft pick (but his fantasy owner is loving every minute of it).

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More two-way contracts – Calgary signed Paul Byron, Lance Bouma and Mark Cundari. I think Cundari plays more games for Calgary than he does Abbotsford. A good PIM option, with offensive upside.

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The Kings signed Jordan Nolan to a two-year contract. Not sure of the terms, but Nolan had trouble getting into the lineup in the postseason. And though the Kings lost Dustin Penner, they added Matt Frattin, Daniel Carcillo – and there’s little doubt that Tyler Toffoli makes the team. So enjoy the press box, Nolan.

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Two pieces of new likely to hit today – Jaromir Jagr closing in on signing with the Devils. And Team Canada announcing the coaching staff. Oooh the drama.

The Devils, well Lou… very predictable. Take the veteran name guy. But I’d rather give the same money to Damien Brunner and get more years out of him. I know he could flop, but take the upside and more importantly take the healthy player. Do you really want to give Jagr $4 million or what it is, so he can play 60 games? Wonk E. Groin.

If Jagr gets $4 million (I have no idea the number), then doing some quick calculations… let’s see… yes, he’ll get infinity dollars per 2013 playoff goal.

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If you didn’t see this, here is a great breakdown of the NHL schedule by team – miles travelled. Courtesy of On the Forecheck. The highlights:

San Jose and Phoenix are the only teams to top 50,000 travel miles . SJ leads with 57,612

The Rangers and the Islanders are the only teams below 30,000 travel miles.

22 back-to-back games for New Jersey, leads all teams. Carolina next with 20. The high B2B games would indicate a split of games between Schneider and Brodeur. For the season I’m thinking 55/45 percent split in favor of Schneider. Man, Schneider owners have had to wait awhile…

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The Leafs signed goaltender Chris Gibson. A three-year, entry-level deal. The Kings wouldn’t give him a contract. A Top 50 draft pick in 2011 obviously has some upside. If I’m not mistaken, I think he was the second highest goalie drafted that year. He’s still only 20.

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The Fantasy Football Guide is out tomorrow. And tomorrow is also the deadline for 20% off. On Wednesday, the price reverts to the regular $9.99 price. Dave Cushard is a multiple ESPN and national fantasy football Top 5 finalist and one-time National Fantasy Football Champ. The guy goes to Vegas with the big guns – and wins. Yes, he’s the one to get advice from.

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DobberFootball re-launched mid-week, but we’re still fixing a few things (the columnists section/bios need to reflect the 12 new ones added, for one).

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Speaking of the other sports – I’m looking at the DobberBaseball home page and I see this:

Monday – Cage Match: Teheran vs. Straily

Tuesday – Five Relievers to Consider

Wednesday – ‘The Kids are Alright’ column

Thursday – Injury Report

Friday – Senior Circuit Review

Saturday – “Buy Low on Doug Fister”

Yeah. Every day a new column, each one helpful to fantasy baseball leagues. I’m still shaking my head at the commenter last week who said that ‘more often than not there wasn’t new content’. Huh?

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And since I’m rambling about the other sites, I may as well mention that we have several openings for writing on all four Dobber sites. Details here.

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Yep…dumb but…damn if I didn’t crack a grin: