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Our old buddy Jeff Angus has his annual Top 50 NHL players list out. Take a look at it here.

The Red Wings have signed Tomas Tatar to a three-year deal.

The Maple Leafs have signed Daniel Winnik to a one-year deal. Solid depth signing, a great fourth liner add.

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The third annual Fantasy Football Guide is now out. Pick it up and enjoy – or buy it here if you haven’t yet. Just $5.99 for another week or so.

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So I’m writing the Fantasy Guide, I just get done Pittsburgh. It requires calculation after calculation trying to figure out projected games played, which is the key to projections – anyone can come up with a points-per-game number and be reasonably close. But games played is what impacts the end result (some readers check my accuracy after the season). But back to Pittsburgh. What a bunch of Band-Aid Boys. And then I move onto the Sharks right after that, and I’m filling in “82 games”, “82 games”, “82 games” and I’m like – what the hell? The Sharks have a pretty weak system for prospects, but why bother when your top guys stay healthy and if you need an extra depth guy you just grab a Tye McGinn for bucket of pucks? Sure, they lose Couture from time to time, and Hertl was hurt all year. But Thornton, Pavelski and Marleau didn’t miss a single game. And haven’t in years. How easy is it to be a GM of such a team? What if the Penguins never had Crosby, Malkin or Neal out of the lineup over the course of three years?

Anyway, it dawned on me that we give way too much credit to how well that team is managed and coached. When really – there aren’t as many moving parts as with most teams.