How the mid-July hockey world feels this Monday morning:
Hmm pic.twitter.com/GwEegF6BRs
— Adam Herman (@AdamHerman_BSB) July 20, 2015
And now the news.
Central Division
Between the additions of Artem Anisimov, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Garbutt, Viktor Tikhonov and Marko Dano (not to mention the continued development of Teuvo Teravainen), the Blackhawks have done a fairly good job of mitigating their forward corps tear down. Panarin in particular could go a long way towards helping alleviate Chicago's post-Sharp/Saad pain. No pressure, kid. (CSN Chicago)
Ryan Haggerty was an interesting acquisition by the Blackhawks in exchange for Antti Raanta. Let's see what he can do in his AHL sophomore season, and what domino effect his addition has on the prospects ahead of him. (Rockford Register Star)
While the addition of Patrick Sharp should help take some of the pressure off Valeri Nichushkin, you better believe a strong bounce back season is expected following his mostly-injured 2014-15. (Dallas Morning News)
Meanwhile, it's not ridiculously off-the-board to select former Steve Mason whisperer Jeff Reese as Dallas' most important offseason addition. This is mainly because the Stars' goaltending was atrocious last season, but still. (Boston Globe)
More Mason: [Reese] was the first person I called after I signed my new extension. I said this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for you.
— Adam Kimelman (@NHLAdamK) March 6, 2015
To this day, video of when Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench remains incredibly chilling to watch. While it sounds like a return is still unlikely, one wishes him the chance to retire on his own terms. (Yahoo! Sports)
It's not an easy task trying to determine what arbitration-bound Erik Haula is worth, though the idea of a 'prove-it' contract seems more than a little fair. (Wild Xtra)
St. Louis Blues narratives heading into 2015-16 are here boiled down to three central questions. In reverse order, my answers are: not for Troy Brouwer, yes, and probably not. I might also want to add "After a summer of significant goaltender movement, will sticking with Allen/Elliott prove to be a huge mistake?" but that's just me. (isportsweb)
If you're suffering from acute hockey content deprivation, do we have a cure for you! Episode 01 of the AIH Superfans Podcast is now up and ready for your earbuds. And in case you haven't already, be sure to give @AIHSuperfans a follow on Twitter. (Podomatic)
And All The Rest
Bruins president Cam Neely thinks that Boston can be a playoff team, and considering both his roster and conference, he’s right. It’s just a shakier bet than it’s been in a long time. (ProHockeyTalk)
One can make relatively-to-completely reasonable arguments that in a 2010 NHL Entry Draft re-do, teams might select Tyler Seguin, Ryan Johansen and Vladimir Tarasenko ahead of Taylor Hall. But if we're doing this re-draft here and now, the same cannot be said for selecting Evgeny Kuznetsov ahead of Hall. (Edmonton Journal)
If you don’t think team effects tarnish player reps, look at Taylor Hall. One of best wingers in world, not close. Yet here we are, LRT.
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) July 19, 2015
Danton Heinen is turning out to be an intriguing 4th round pick by the Boston Bruins. 45 points in 40 games with the University of Denver will do that. (CBS Boston)
The Columbus Blue Jackets have decided not to send their medical staff to the firing squad, and are chalking what was a ridiculously injured 2014-15 down to bad luck. (BlueJacketsXtra)
Nobody tell Don Cherry that fighting played an integral role in bringing hockey and South Korean goalie Kye Hoon Park together. It can be our little secret. (Sportsnet)
Cory Schneider wanted to sweep 3-on-3 stats for goaltenders under the rug. He has now opened the door to an entire season of dissecting Cory Schneider's 3-on-3 numbers. (ProHockeyTalk)
It turns out that the business relationship between the Barclays Center and New York Islanders is both rather unique and absolutely fascinating. Must everything involving Charles Wang be varying degrees of kooky? (The Hockey News)
While recovering from surgery on his torn ACL, Flyers prospect Shayne Gostisbehere tried to use his stay in the press box productively. Now that he's healthy, it's time to see if he can apply those eye-in-the-sky lessons onto the ice. (NHL)
Even if Beau Bennett has another injury-riddled season, there’s enough talent there where I can easily imagine another team taking a flyer on him. Especially since if things reach that point, he might be had as an unqualified UFA. (The Hockey Writers)
Leafs legend Wendel Clark approves of the organization's direction. It feels absolutely bonkers that he's praising something as basic as "structure", but that's how low the bar was set. (The StarPhoenix)
While Madison Bowey finds himself being compared to John Carlson in this article, more than anything he'll probably help fill the Mike Green void in the near-future. (NHL)
<br>Thanks for reading! Be sure to say in the Comments section below how we can best prod Chevy into action.
