There are a lot of them!
It is Wednesday, my dudes.
It’s also that weird part of the hockey season where the year is over for all but two teams, yet the Stanley Cup Final hasn’t started yet.
The Panthers and Oilers will hang around for a few more days before the Panthers host Game 1 on Saturday night. That’ll be broadcast on ABC here in the United States.
The other big thing happening in the NHL world at the moment is the annual scouting combine, where teenagers from across the globe get put through their paces.
Combines, regardless of the sport, have always felt very weird to me, but I digress.
With the combine comes GMs, scouts, and hockey ops folks gathering, and with that gathering comes increased reports, scuttlebutt, innuendo, rumor, etc.
One of those items that some of you have already discussed isn’t a rumor but a fact, as Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald stated he’d be open to moving the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft for “something significant.”
The Devils need a goalie too, so many are already shipping Linus Ullmark off to Newark.
I am probably in the minority, but I’d rather see the Bruins acquire some kind of “now” help in exchange for Ullmark. You could, of course, package that #10 for someone else, but I’m not sure acquiring a first this year does a ton for the immediate future.
(You do have to plan for the not-so-immediate future too, I guess, but I’d rather see them address today’s needs.)
Who knows? Ullmark has been floated to just about every team, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.
Watch, the Bruins will fool us all and trade Swayman instead because they don’t want to pay a goalie $9 million a year.
I say that mostly jokingly, but who knows?
Elsewhere:
- Danton Heinen may be on his way back.
- Joe Pavelski doesn’t plan on playing next season.
- Former Bruin Blake Wheeler hasn’t decided if he’ll retire or not.
- Former Bruin Daniel Paille, most recently of Canisius University, is now an assistant coach at OHL Niagara.
- NHL Utah had more than 34,000 fans place season ticket deposits (though the deposit amount was only $100).
Lastly, ESPN debuted 30 for 30: I’m Just Here for the Riot last night, a documentary look at the Vancouver riot after the Bruins won the Cup there in 2011.
Anyone have a chance to check it out? I didn’t see it, but it’s apparently available to stream on ESPN+ as of this morning.
What else is on tap for today?