Hockey Rambling

  I can never figure out how to properly start the ramblings in the summer. There isn’t really that much news to discuss. The most significant news is the fact that there isn’t any news. So I try to come up with something both pithy and witty to draw you in. Today, I couldn’t come [...]

The Buffalo Sabres have reportedly come to terms with diminutive scoring forward Tyler Ennis on a five-year, $23 million contract extension. Ennis has some of the best hands in the league and is a super elite stick-handler, but from what I've seen over the years, he still struggles to really use his teammates well and [...]

First of all, excuse the mess. The upgrade for the hockey site went live Sunday, and had about 25 issues that were whittled down to 17 as I post these ramblings. Among them - the mobile version is a little ruined. The only way to access ramblings via mobile right now is by clicking 'features' [...]

Hey gang! Steve here filling in for Thomas this Saturday night. Don’t worry, he’ll be taking one of my nights next week so you’ll have your Drance fix.   *   I’ve started hammering away on my contribution to this year’s Pre-Season Guide. As per usual, I’ll be taking a look at players headed for [...]

  It’s hard to imagine anyone, even the world’s most devoted hockey fan, avoiding the news that Lebron James is “coming home” to Cleveland. It was everywhere on Friday – he almost took over the internet.   I only have a passing interest in Basketball. I’ll follow when the playoffs are on or if there [...]

A wee bit of action on the free agent market today.   Vladimir Sobotka took a look at the whole arbitration process and said, “See ya later!” Sobotka signed with a KHL team, presumably for a fat sack of cash, though we don’t have details on that just yet. It’s hard to really blame him [...]

A few big contract extensions to talk about from yesterday…   The biggest were the matching eight year $84 million deals signed by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. I'm a bit torn on these deals. On one hand I want to scream overpay here simply because they will have the two highest cap hits in [...]

This new "discuss with pending FA's five days before July 1" thing has really impacted player movement in July. Usually you would see a busy July 1, a fairly busy July 2, and some activity every day until mid-July. Now, what we saw was absolute chaos on July 1 from noon until five. Then two [...]

    By popular demand (or should I say, head honcho’s command…..lol), I’m back for another edition of Tuesday Ramblings. Hopefully I don’t disappoint, after apparently setting the bar fairly high with my three week run in June.   *   Nashville highlighted yesterday’s news. Their already thin center ranks were further depleted when Mike [...]

***Tough news from out of Ottawa. GM Bryan Murray was recently diagnosed with cancer and will begin treatment immediately. My thoughts are with him for what will be a difficult battle ahead.  *** Chris Tanev gets $2 million this year. Kyle Quincey gets $4.25 million. Zack Kassian gets $1.75 million this year. Benoit Pouliot gets [...]