On Tuesday, the Blue Jackets decided to sign one of their key defensemen to a new deal. Jan Hejda signed a 3-year contract extension, that is reportedly worth $6 million for the duration of the deal. Hejda will be a $2 million hit against the cap for the next three seasons.Hejda played in 81 games for the Blue Jackets this season, registering 13 assists and had a franchise-record +13 record. Hejda was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer after signing on with Columbus as an unrestricted free agent last summer.
This now gives the Blue Jackets a fourth full-time defender on the books for next season. Their projected cap hit is still only $25.2 million with 15 full-time players.
| Forwards | Defense | Goaltenders |
| Rick Nash | Rostislav Klesla | Fredrik Norrena |
| Nikolai Zherdev | Kris Russell | |
| Jason Chimera | Duvie Westcott | |
| Manny Malhotra | Jan Hejda | |
| Jiri Novotny | ||
| Fredrik Modin | ||
| Jared Boll | ||
| Gilbert Brule | ||
| Ole-Kristian Tollefsen | ||
| Derrek Brassard | ||
Obviously, the Maple Leafs have a lot of work to do with their team. No question. So much has been made about the Leafs during this past season, you can only imagine how it's going to magnify when it draws closer and closer to the Entry Draft. Especially, since they still don't have a full-time General Manager in their possession to make all the directional decisions going forward. Oh, the decisions. So many decisions. Where could we possibly begin to dissect the team in a going forward thought? Well, let's start with what they have at the moment. Seems about right.
The Rangers will go into Game 4 without their super-pest, Sean Avery (Box 18), because he has been diagnosed with a lacerated spleen. It wasn't disclosed on when or how the injury came to be, but it will sideline him for the rest of the playoffs. 13 teams in the pool subscribed in Avery's services in the playoffs.
The rest of the playoffs may only be one more game for the Rangers, as they find themselves officially behind the 8-ball, although that could have been said when they lost the first two games in Pittsburgh, but all judgement was held out until they lost Game 3 last night. The Rangers are in severe danger of being swept by the Penguins, since the Pens have been so overpowering, that the Rangers can't seem to come up with a decent enough plan to quell all of the weapons at Pittsburgh's disposal.
It was a second period goal that ended up being the winner. Henrik Zetterberg (Box 1) notched his first winner of the playoffs and gave his 20 owners a bonus point. Him and Pavel Datsyuk (Box 2) each finished the game with 3 pool points, Datsyuk had 2 goals and an assist in the game. Mikael Samuelsson (Box 6) also added a pair of assists for his 4 owners in the pool. The Red Wings now sit on the verge of eliminating the Avalanche in a contest which was very one-sided to say the least. Game 4 will be the late game on Thursday night.
In the end, the game only needed four and a half minutes of overtime before Mattias Norstrom (non-pool) knocked it past Evgeni Nabokov (Box 24). The Stars defenseman stole a bonus point away from the pool, but gave his club a massive 3-0 series lead over the second ranked Sharks (playing like a second-rate Sharks team) and Game 4 goes Thursday night in Dallas. Both Mike Ribeiro (Box 1) and Marty Turco (Box 12) finished as the big gainers from the game last night. Ribeiro picked up a pair of helpers in the game, while Turco took the win. Brad Richards (Box 4) also picked up his 5th point in the series with an assist.
In the losing cause, the Sharks tried to shake the line-up a little in order to get some guys going. Matt Carle (Box 11) was the odd man out of the line-up for the Sharks, as he was a healthy scratch. His spot was taken by Alexei Semenov (non-pool), who was a +1 in the game.
Scoring the bonus point for the Penguins was Evgeni Malkin (Box 14), his second of the playoffs. Rangers goalie, Henrik Lundqvist (Box 24), was left to Malkin's mercy on a number occasions, only to be burned twice by two booming shots, each on the power play. Malkin finished the night with four points, the clear leader coming out of the evening. It was a big night for Penguin owners... five other players finished the night with two points a piece. If they only finish this series in four games again, then all but Fleury holders could feel a little shortchanged.
The first candidate is a 50-goal scorer and helped guide the Flames to the playoffs, but in the confines of the Northwest Division, Jarome Iginla doesn't quite have the value that the other two candidates have, thanks to the support players he has in Dion Phaneuf and Miikka Kiprusoff, who were available to him all season. Iginla is a true leader and is undoubtedly the best player for the Flames, but he falls short of being the most valuable player to his team.
What a stretch Evgeni Malkin had when Sidney Crosby fell to his high ankle sprain. Malkin not only kept the Penguins afloat in the East, he managed to keep them in the race for the regular season title as best team in the East. Malkin finished second in regular season scoring with 106 points, including 47 goals. His dominance was such a big lift to a Penguins team that really needed one, but he did have last season's Hart Trophy winner healthy for 53 games. Malkin's numbers are impressive... but not quite good enough.
65 goals. 112 points. First playoff birth for the Capitals since 2004. Southeast Division title. The resume could possibly go on and on for Alexander Ovechkin this season, but it won't here. You've probably heard or read it all already, so why go through it all again. Ovechkin help revitalize the hockey market in the US capital and helped 
In the not so distant past, the Tampa Bay Lightning were considered to be so 'top heavy' that they were going to be in trouble for years to come. Well, that prognosis came to fruition, but now there looks to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
I was going to start the Blues' column off saying that there was a lot of expectations going into this past season to do much better than the few season previous, but then I looked back at a 
The winning goal came late in the second, when R.J. Umberger (Box 17) shoved the puck past the Canadiens netminder. That was Umberger's second game-winner of the playoffs and fifth point in this series against the Canadiens. Only 
There's way too much reason not to be excited about the prospects that the Coyotes are shuffling in their deck. Bringing Kyle Turris up to the big club for three games before the end of the season was a nice little hello for the third overall draft pick in 2007 and now he gets to suit up for Team Canada (with teammates Shane Doan & Ed Jovanovski) at the World Championships that start this Friday. Very exciting! Even Peter Mueller and Keith Ballard will be playing in the tourney for the United States, while Martin Hanzal will dress for the Czech Republic. If you didn't get to see much of the Coyotes during the season, you'll be able to keep up with a good number of them at this tournament.
The Islanders are still (and will continue to) suffering through some bad financial decisions, namely the giant-ass contract that Alexei Yashin had and then bought out last summer. It's another $2 million hit to the salary cap for next season, which would translate into improving one or two players on the roster. Looking at the current list of forwards signed on for next season, they could definitely use some help.
It's an interesting situation in Los Angeles going into the off-season. What could possibly be done to this team that can get it into the playoffs next season? It's a fairly long and arduous answer and it looks like it will take a fair bit of work to get it done, but the possibility is there for it to be done in the next couple seasons. So saying that, will the Kings be able to field many players who will be good pool players?
It doesn't look like the long layover from sweeping the Senators did the Penguins any harm. They were ready and willing to do whatever it took to beat the Rangers at home for their opening two games. In Game 2, Marc-Andre Fleury (Box 24) gave his 11 pool teams something to be proud of, his second shutout of the playoffs. Fleury made 26 saves in the 2-0 for the Penguins, despite Sean Avery's (Box 18) best efforts to throw him off his game.
Midway through the second period, it was Jordan Staal (Box 19) who broke the deadlock and gave the Penguins the lead they would never look back from. But with only a pair of goals scored in the game, Staal came away with the bonus point as the second highest point-getter (behind Fleury, who had 4). Evgeni Malkin (Box 14), Sergei Gonchar (Box 20) and Ryan Whitney (Box 21) all came away with assists in the contest as well.
Last night, it was difficult to say in the third period where the giant killing started for when the 'pissing the game away' ended. The San Jose Sharks had control of the game going into the third at 2-1, but failed miserably to hang on to the result, as Brad Richards (Box 4) started his 'third period of terror' on the Sharks with a goal under a minute in. Richards led the Stars with a four point night adding three assists after his third period opening goal.
For a second time in these 2008 playoffs, Mike Modano (Box 5) rewarded his 10 team selectors with a bonus point for the winning goal. That bonus point gave Modano two points on the evening. Other multi-point getters on the night were Niklas Hagman (Box 7), who had a pair of goals for the Stars and Craig Rivet (Box 9), who had a pair of assists for the Sharks. Marty Turco (Box 12) notched his sixth win for the Stars in the playoffs and now has 15 points in the playoffs.
In Game 2, Sergei Zubov (Box 8) finally returned to the line-up for the Stars and managed to notch an assist in the game as well. Zubov had missed the Stars' last 40 games and didn't look like he missed a step. This is a huge boost to the Stars who are already rolling and could prove to be a contender in the Western Conference. The Sharks could find themselves behind the 8-ball on Wednesday morning.
Evgeni Malkin (Box 14) was the big favourite from his box and you could tell why. Malkin eventually scored the winner (pictured right) to win it for the flightless birds. That bonus point gave him 3 points on the evening, which was tied by Rangers defenseman, Michal Rozsival (Box 20), who had 3 assists in the loss. Marc-Andre Fleury (Box 24) earned his fifth win of the playoffs. Four other players managed to scoop two points out of the game and it was certainly a pro-pool kind of game.
It was his second goal of the night that proved to be the winner in overtime, as Brendan Morrow (Box 2) brought his A-game against the team's division rivals. Morrow finished the game with 3 points, including the bonus, which made him the high scorer of that match-up. Both Mike Ribeiro (Box 1) and Marty Turco (Box 12) each potted a pair of points in the contest as well. One team actually picked up Morrow in the pool, while Ribeiro and Turco didn't garner a selection.
Boy, is Johan Franzen (non-pool) making the Sherpa look like a fool. He would have netted a playoff pool team 4 points on Saturday after scoring a hat-trick and getting the bonus point for the winning goal. If Franzen was in the pool, he would be tied for third in pool scoring with 13 points. Oops. As for pool-worthy players, Henrik Zetterberg (Box 1) and Niklas Kronwall (Box 10) each had a pair of points to be the best in that category. The Red Wings were able to chase Jose Theodore (Box 12) from the net again, which may question his starting role come Game 3.
Quite possibly, an early entrant in the race for the Conn Smythe Trophy would be Daniel Briere (Box 15). He scored his second game-winner of the playoffs and now remains tied for the lead in pool scoring, with his opponent (also pictured), Carey Price (Box 24). Briere's bonus point gave him two points on the night, which tied him with Martin Biron (Box 24), R.J. Umberger (Box 17) and Saku Koivu (Box 15).