Just some quick notes:
I finally updated the blogroll. If you notice anything amiss, drop me a line.
Also, PJ has Carnival of the NHL #5 going all weekend.
Stop by and check it out. It's a good one.

So Eric Lindros is finally a Leaf.
Big shock there.
Damien Cox has an interesting column on how the Leafs are building themselves on moderate-risk, low-cost talent. Cox actually calls Lindros (and Jason Allison and Jeff O'Neill) low-risk, but I don't think that's entirely true. But statistically, one of them should have a strong season. One out of three seems right, right?
Cox also talks about how this is a great situation for Lindros, because the expectations are pretty low.
I suspect Lindros was frustrated most of his time with the Rangers. He'd be playing on a hot line, and then the line would get broken up, or the members traded away. His last season in New York, he hardly even spent any time on the top line.
And it's not like his playing wasn't there. He still had power and vision. For the most part, he just wasn't playing with enough talent to convert and getting enough minutes to compensate.
Lindros still has a lot in his tank, though. I really hope he shocks everyone.

OK. This time I double-checked.
The Penguins have actually landed a goalie.
They traded for Chicago's Jocelyn Thibault. It's a nice pickup. Thibault was out most of the 2003-04 season with a pretty nasty concussion. But assuming he's healthy now, Pittsburgh has a solid goalie to backup the ever mysterious Marc-Andre Fleury. The only fly in the ointment is that Thibault is a real workhorse. I wonder how he'll respond to not playing 60 games a season.
Meanwhile, as I write this, the Bruins are frantically trying to lockup Joe Thornton in a long-term deal. The reason? A significant number of NHL teams staying out of this season's crazy overbidding expressly to keep some cap room to sign Thornton. If Thornton takes anything less than a max deal, it's because he only wants to play in Boston.
And sadly for our friends in Beantown, I don't think that's the case.
Eric Lindros may or may not be a Maple Leaf soon. The Toronto Star had an interesting note, reporting that the CBA has an interesting loophole for injured, veteran players, allowing teams to go over the cap in incentives to sign them. It's how the Leafs got Jason Allison. But Lindros was actually too healthy last season to qualify. So they have to sign him like any other free agent. Everyone seems to think it's going to happen soon, though. If it hasn't happened already. Because it really is inevitable that Lindros will play in Toronto. It's like Ross and Rachel from FRIENDS or Dylan and Brenda from 90210 or Dylan and Kelly from 90210 or Jessica Simpson and Johnny Knoxville from DUKES OF HAZZARD. Sometimes you just know two parties are going to get together.
And finally, Gizmodo has a nice picture of some very strange, possibly disgusting, hockey-themed toys.
I'd wash my hands after touching them, just to be on the safe side.

Ooops. I bit on an ESPN pump fake. Or I'm not a careful reader. Either way, I posted something about goalie Sean Burke signing with Pittsburgh. Burke went to Tampa, telling the Penguins 'no thank you.'. But if he had gone to Pittsburgh, my post would have looked a little something like this:

The Penguins continue to operate under their infinite cap.
They signed goalie Sean Burke to a two-year, $3 million deal. Burke is supposed to mentor Marc-Andre Fleury, who according to some sources, has lost a lot of his confidence and finesse. In fact, Fleury could be the mental heir apparent to Pittsburgh goalie Johan "Head Case" Hedberg. Obviously the Penguins are hoping that isn't the case. I think there would be an interesting symmetry to the whole thing if he was, though.

Chris Osgood is a Red Wing once again and boy is him mom happy.
I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on earth who likes Osgood. He's not an amazing goalie, but he's solid. He won't save you many games and he won't cost you many games. He's the middle of the road.
The Wings are banking on Osgood and Manny Legace being goalie enough to launch them into the playoffs.
And you know what? If coach Mike Babcocks runs a tight enough defense, which history says he will, and if he platoons the two of them all season, their goaltending should hold up. I don't think either has enough gas to carry a team on their shoulders, but if you split their load, Osgood/Legace seems perfect reasonable.
It's a good, cost-effective move. In fact, it might be the first incident of fiscal restraint and cleverness this season.

Everyone is still talking about Todd Bertuzzi being allowed back into the NHL. And I certainly don't want to add to the chaos. But there is a really interesting aspect to his return that I didn't notice until SI's Truth and Rumors pointed it out to me:

The conditions under which Commissioner Gary Bettman has decided to reinstate Todd Bertuzzi, include not being permitted to play in any NHL game in which Colorado Avalanche Steve Moore is a player on the opposite team.
—The New York Times

Do you know what that does to Steve Moore's value? Say you're a Western Conference team with a solid shot at the playoffs (and you're not necessarily the Avs, either). Now, say the Canucks also seem like they're playoff bound. Why wouldn't a team trade for Steve Moore on the off chance they'll meet the Canucks in the playoffs? What does Moore bring to the table? He takes Bertuzzi out of the game every time. Heck. Depending on how things shake out, an Eastern Conference team might even want Moore on the off chance they meet Vancouver in the playoffs.
The new NHL is a strange, strange place.

Todd Bertuzzi is back in the NHL.
I'm not surprised. He's one of the league's more interesting players, a great mix of selfless fury and actual offensive talent. The NHL needs him almost as much as he needs hockey. It's not like the league has a ton of guys who can score and can dish out pain in the corners.
The NHL needs all the starpower it can muster when they re-open for business. Bertuzzi will be a big part of that.
* * *
Also, check out Bruins Beat, a new Bruins blog. I don't have the stats on this, but it seems like there are an awful lot of Bruins blogs. I think it would be cool if they all pitched in and bought me a Brian Leetch t-shirt.
* * *
Also, don't forget to check in on me on Myspace.

Hey! I'm on MySpace.com. If you do that sort of thing, feel free to stop and visit.
Although, honestly, my page has nothing exciting. I'm just trying to be more social.

Sure the lockout is over, but now with the salary cap in place, we're still force to wade through numbers. Painful numbers.

• Kevin Paul Dupont looks at the Bruins and how the unexpected free agency of Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov has already put them in cap trouble. Dupont also points out what a lot of people are noticing — that NHL contracts are already getting big and disproportionate to the talent.
• Over in Philadelphia, Tim Panaccio has a detailed breakdown of how the Flyers landed each of their marquee free agents (login info.). GM Bobby Clarke's secret? Come out of the gate with your checkbook blazing while the rest of the league is waiting to see who'll set the market. Obviously, Clarke blew the market open.
• Down in Nashville, Predators coach Barry Trotz is trying to figure out how to deploy new employee Paul Kariya. I'd suggest pairing him with someone gritty, just to keep him safe. But if the NHL really does crack down on obstruction, Kariya to Nashville might go down as one of the smarter signings of the season. If the NHL doesn't crack down on obstruction, the Predators might feel a little ripped off.
• Ziggy Palffy to the Penguins? I haven't crunched the numbers, but I feel like the Penguins have got to be over the cap by now. Is it me, or are they signing everyone?
• Even though everyone knew the Hawks were going to sign Nikolai Khabibulin, I still found it very shocking. I can't remember the last time the Hawks signed anyone of note. It seems that since they left Bobby Hull leave, talent only leaves Chicago. It rarely comes to stay.
• Finally, TheMirl.com has a look at this season's crop of NHL rookies.

Big shock.
Wayne Gretzky is going to coach the Coyotes.
Gretzky has done a nice job running Team Canada, but I'm not sure he understands the game on a basic enough level. Getzky is super talented, with a brilliant hockey mind, but he's on such a higher plane, I wonder if he can articulate his thoughts to players. The man had reflexes like a cat on speed. All of his hockey skill was probably almost entirely subconscious. How do you tell a team full of guys with average hockey skills to slow the game down to the point where you see that two-inch crack of daylight between the goalie's shoulder and the crossbar? And then how do you give them the shot to whack that puck into that tiny crevice?
Buy maybe Gretzky can articulate all that. Maybe the whole time he was playing, he was doing play-by-play in his head. It's entirely possible.