slava29

Last season, Mark Dekanich was just another excellent goalie in the goaltending factory that is the Nashville Predators. For some reason the Predators seem to consistently produce excellent goaltenders. Tomas Vokoun (acquired through expansion), Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback have all thrived in the "Volunteer" State. Dekanich looked like he was another candidate to get lost in the Nashville shuffle, but Group six free agency allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Group six free agency occurs for goalies when they have reached age 25, have 3 accrued years of professional experience, and whose contracts have expired, but have played fewer than 28 NHL games. Columbus signed Dekanich to a one-year, one-way, $575,000 contract on July 1st 2011, giving him a chance to prove himself in the NHL next season.

My Aunt Betty called me from Long Island and told me to write about Mike Del Zotto because he's so good. If my Aunt Betty knows about Mike Del Zotto then so does everyone in your pool and that is not why I'm here. I'm here to write about prospects that are off the radar and can give you an advantage in your pool. I'm here to tell you about prospects like Jason Demers and to tell you that he's the real deal.

Despite the recent acquisition of the best goalie coach in the business, the Leafs decided to divest themselves of Justin Pogge, a 23-year-old goalie prospect, once deemed the Buds goalie of the future.

The United States has made major inroads into hockey since the 1980 gold medal win at Lake Placid. Despite producing some talented players, they haven't produced at a level high enough to warrant much individual NHL hardware in most areas. Brett Hull won the Hart in 1991, Tom Barrasso won the Vezina in 1984 and John Vanbiesbrouck won the Vezina in 1986.

This lack of hardware doesn't apply to the Norris Trophy. Since Rod Langway won back-to-back Norris Trophies in 1983 and 1984, Americans have won the Norris seven times in 24 seasons. Led by Chris Chelios and Brian Leetch, the US has consistently produced elite level defensemen and has consistently captured the hardware to prove it.

Norris trophies aside, Americans have produced defensemen of quality since the early 80's. Another American, Mark Howe, was Norris runner-up three times. Both Gary Suter and Bryan Berard won Calder trophies.

The Buffalo Sabres have one of the deepest pipelines of skilled defensemen in the NHL. From NHL stalwarts, Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman, Nathan Paetsch and Andrej Sekera to prospects Chris Butler, Tyler Myers, T.J. Brennan, Drew Schiestel, Dennis Persson, Alex Biega and Vyateslav Buravchikov, the Sabres defensive depth is immense. Despite the abundant skill, none of these prospects has the offensive upside of Marc-Andre Gragnani.