According to TSN, Jonathan Toews earned a $1.3 million bonus with the Conn Smythe win. That bonus will count against Chicago's 2010-11 cap... Alessandro Seren Rosso translated an interview with a former agent of Kabanov's. A great read. Thanks again to PickUp Hockey for running the 2010 DobberHockey Playoff Challenge. I (unofficially) [...]
(They say a picture is worth a thousand words... but to Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, the above one is worth about 1.3 million)
Congratulations on winning the 2010 Stanley Cup, Chicago. Now, welcome to cap hell! The Blackhawks have almost $58 million committed to 14 players for 2010-11. The current salary cap ($56.8 million) is expected to rise by $2 million this summer, but that still leaves GM Stan Bowman approximately $1 million to sign eight players.
DobberBaseball has released this month's top 150 hitters list. You can check it out here. From now until June 24th, I’ll be running a 2010 NHL Entry Draft contest. Send me (private message, e-mail, carrier pigeon, whatever you prefer) your first round mock. The entry that closest mirrors the first round on June [...]
Bobby Ryan for Tomas Kaberle? The OC Register weighs in. I agree with the last sentence. "On the surface, trading Ryan for Kaberle doesn’t seem to make any sense. Now if the Leafs were to include Luke Schenn or Nazem Kadri in the conversations …" Hershey defeated Texas 2-1 in overtime last night to [...]
A draft is supposed to be a league’s way of leveling out the playing field.
Call it egalitarian, socialist, counter-evolutionary – even naïve – but as long as leagues award the top pick to the worst team, we have to operate on the assumption that by using such a system, leagues are trying to offer a hand-up to the cellar-dwellers. If that’s the case, why do the Canadian major junior leagues allow prospects and the fat-wallet teams to game the system?
Hockey Canada has announced their summer development camp roster for the 2011 World Juniors. Who are the notable names and who stands a good chance of making the club?
I have details on the playoff pool results/prizes, the Fantasy Prospects Report Mock Draft and a new contest - all below. I don't think it was mentioned here, but Ville Leino's 21 points tied Dino Ciccarelli for the most points in the postseason by a rookie. Chickaroni - what I fondly call him [...]
Tampa Bay actually had a pretty decent campaign. Certainly better than anyone had expected. But that wasn’t good enough to save the jobs of GM Brian Lawton and Coach Rick Tocchet. A new owner is in town and Jeff Vinik saw the problem right away. Uncertainty, instability – an overall culture of dysfunction. So while Tocchet did an acceptable job as a new coach in not only getting a team closer to the postseason, but also turning Steve Downie into quite a player – he was part of the slate that needed to be cleaned. No real complaints about Lawton either, but to change a culture the change must be sweeping and it must start at the top. So what does all this mean in fantasy circles?
“We have a trade to announce...” are the only words any hockey fan ever wishes to hear out of Gary Bettman’s mouth. There may be no more exciting off-ice situation in the NHL than the draft day trade announcement.
In 2008, the Coyotes acquired All-Star center Olli Jokinen from Florida for Keith Ballard and spare parts. The Flames added Mike Cammalleri from Los Angeles. Washington dealt Steve Eminger to the Flyers for a pick they would use that same day on John Carlson. In 2009, the Flyers added Chris Pronger minutes before the first round kicked off. It seems like there is anticipation and hype every year as the draft approaches, but from everything we have heard from those with strong connections in the hockey world, this could be the busiest draft ever in terms of wheeling and dealing.
The Fantasy Prospects Report is finalized and available in your downloads. According to Jeremy Rutherford, the Blues have signed big Russian defender Nikita Nikitin. I think his middle name is Nikki-nik-nik-nik. Just browsing the stats, there is some upside there, but on the Blues the best he could hope for is a No.4 [...]
