An interesting tidbit out of the Flames’ development camp: they’ve hired a mental development coach (Dave Paskevich). I’m not sure if this was Darryl Sutter’s call, or if it was made for Sutter, but it indicates that someone in the organization thinks that the Calgary flaws aren’t necessarily talent-related. Earlier this month, I suggested Sutter [...]

Blake Wheeler’s arbitration hearing with the Bruins is set for this morning. Wheeler, heading into just his third NHL season, has been remarkably mature and solid. He seems to have found a groove as a 20ish goals per season player, who helps out on special teams and can handle plenty of minutes. For whatever reason, [...]

You’ve got to appreciate the Kings’ willingness to get back on that Ilya Kovalchuk horse. The Kings are saying that if Kovalchuk’s Devils’ contract doesn’t work out, they might be interested in taking another shot at him. Minutes after Kovalchuk signed his Devils deal, the rhetoric coming out of his camp was that he always [...]

It’s pretty perfect that Ilya Kovalchuk was signed to a massive contract by the Devils on the same day the Lightning traded for Simon Gagne. It shows the two styles of managing in the NHL. On the one hand, you have the Devils going for the expensive, long-term contract. In Kovalchuk’s case, it’s 17 years, [...]

I hope Mikko Koivu gets his brother Saku something nice for the holidays this year. I suspect the nice $47.25 million, seven-year contract extension Mikko got from the Wild, including a no-trade clause, is partially influenced by the work of Saku. The Wild are notoriously responsible-to-conservative with contracts, so for them to go long-term, with [...]

As a public service to both Ilya Kovalchuk and hockey fans, I’m going to list some things Kovalchuk could have done to prevent his extended stay in NHL Free Agent Purgatory. Free Samples At the end of the 2007-08 season, Marian Hossa left Pittsburgh to sign a one-year deal with Detroit. Hossa could have gotten [...]

One thing that’s a bit frustrating about the NHL is that a lot of weight is attached to well-known names. It seems that a lot of GMs look at names rather than stats before they make a move. How else to explain all of the interest in Mike Modano, he of the 14 goals and [...]

I love how the LeBron James sweepstakes bled into the NHL. First of all, I can’t help but think Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract demands are at least partially, and perhaps subconsciously, driven by the James’ free-agency. You can’t help but think Kovalchuk’s camp sees parallels, what with their announcing dates when a decision will be made [...]

Obviously, the deal isn’t done, and we don’t know the terms, but unless they’re going to get him for a tiny amount of money, I can’t believe the Flyers are considering signing Nik Zherdev. Or more to the point, I can’t believe the Flyers would sign Zherdev, even though it makes it more likely they’ll [...]

The Devils’ pursuit of Ilya Kovalchuk continues to reek of desperation. The signing wouldn’t make sense in so many ways, yet the Devils seem determined to sign him. First of all, there’s the cap space issue. The Devils will have to shed serious salary if they sign Kovalchuk. It’s hard enough to dump salary in [...]