News dropped from a tweet on Tuesday morning that a KHL club has poached a couple of potential restricted free agents in Dustin Boyd and Nigel Dawes, signing them to brand new deals. Both Boyd and Dawes finished the 2011 regular season as members of the Montreal Canadiens organization, but neither found regular ice-time in the NHL, likely prompting a move to some more ice-time with a better quality of players.Boyd only managed to play 10 games with the Habs in 2011, scoring 1 goal. Dawes split time between Atlanta and Montreal in 2011, playing 13 games and picking up a single assist. Neither player had much for fantasy value for the 2012 season.
The Florida Panthers took care of one of their outstanding restricted free agents before the July 1st deadline on Monday, as they re-signed forward Jack Skille to a 2-year deal, reportedly worth $1.65 million, an $825,000 cap hit per year.
Skille is only the fifth forward signed onto the team going forward, one of 10 players signed for the 2012 season. Currently, the Panthers continue to have the lowest projected cap hit of all 30 teams, sitting at only $17.3 million.
The match-up is a good one, as both teams were tabbed as early favourites at the beginning of the regular season and again at the beginning of the playoffs, as both tooled up well in the off-season and again at the trade deadline to really make a splash in the playoffs. Possibly, the right word to use now is... cannonball!
In 2011, I have a hard time seeing a major comeback this year, since the Langdon River Dogs have a better scoring team on the Boston side of the ledger than Tryst'n'Grant or even All She Wrote, so from here on in, it looks like it will take a miracle to dethrone the Dogs. 
The record for GWGs in one playoff year by a team is 22, which would mean that the record could be tied if this series went at least five games, broken if it went six or more games. The Langdon River Dogs and The Kings Don't Pay Their Bills both lead the pool with 17 winners, but they are a long way off of the overall record, which was set back in 2009. If the Sedin twins were to make a big leap and win every game for the Canucks, most teams would come very close to the record, but there is only a faint possibility that it would be the case.
The biggest news going into the series is that the Canucks will be two bodies healthier than when they won the Western Conference Finals over a week ago, as the team is likely going to see the return of Box 8 forward Manny Malhotra and Box 9 defenseman Christian Ehrhoff. Malhotra is returning from a major eye injury, which forced him out of the last few weeks of the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs, while Ehrhoff has been nursing an undisclosed injury, missing out on the last couple games of the series against the Sharks. The biggest impact these two players can have on the hockey pool is helping Roberto Luongo get to his four wins in this series.
In 81 games for the Oilers, Jones finished with 18 goals and 7 assists for 25 points, not one of the higher scoring forwards in the league, but his physical play and forechecking was quite noticeable, making his value to the team much higher in the season. As the team begins to mature around him, I would expect to see his offensive numbers rise up a little bit more, possibly to a point where he could be taken in some hockey pool drafts. In 2011, Jones finished 234th among forwards in scoring, where 160 forwards were actually taken in the draft.
Expectations for the defending Stanley Cup champions had to be tempered in 2011, knowing full well that the team would have to do some serious remodelling to their line-up, thanks to some extra large cap concerns. Expectations were still rather high for the core of the team that remained for the 2011 season, realizing most of those expectations by just barely sliding into the Western Conference playoff picture in 8th spot. The match-up against the Canucks in the first round was quite the nailbiter, as the Blackhawks did come back from a 3-0 series deficit, only to lose in Game Seven.
With all the changes that were in place for the Blackhawks, it seems only fitting that the captain be the one to pick up all the slack for the team, leading by example. Jonathan Toews did exactly that in the 2011 season, finishing with 76 points (32 goals and 44 assists) in 80 games, ranking him 26th in pool scoring, 12th among all forwards. Toews has consistently improved his pool ranking in his early years in the NHL, which bodes well for him next season, possibly rising to the elite parts of the scoring table in 2012.
The core group of forwards behind Toews looked pretty good on the scoresheet, which must be why most of them are going to be sticking around for at least another season. Patrick Kane (73 points in 73 games), Patrick Sharp (71 points in 74 games) and Marian Hossa (57 points in 65 games) all looked very good when they were on the ice together, but as you can see by the games played numbers, there were some stretches that saw key players out of the line-up. Rounding out the top forwards were Tomas Kopecky (42 points in 81 games) and Michal Frolik (38 points in 80 games between Florida and Chicago). 
On the blueline, it was a lot more of the usual suspects holding down the fort, but in a little bit of a different order. Brent Seabrook led all Chicago defensemen in scoring in 2011, finishing up with 48 points in 82 games, only 3 points better than teammate and Norris Trophy winner, Duncan Keith (45 points in 82 games). Brian Campbell fell off his usual scoring pace a little, finishing 3rd in blueline scoring on the team with 27 points in 65 games. There was a significant drop off in blueline scoring after the top two, which could be one of the reasons why the team struggled at various points in the season.
The goaltending story may not have panned out like many had believed it would, but nevertheless, the Blackhawks must be proud of one of their own prospects, Corey Crawford, taking the reins of the starting job and running wild with it in 2011. The Blackhawks signed Marty Turco in the off-season to help ease the loss of Antti Niemi, but it was Crawford who came up big for Chicago, driving their playoff hopes into the first round against the Canucks. Crawford won 33 games, had 4 shutouts and added an assist for 75 points in the pool, ranking him 15th among goalies. The Blackhawks then rewarded him with a brand new deal for his efforts.
Unrestricted free agency may be a walk in the park for the Blackhawks, as the top players that qualify for the open market are not likely to return, either due to cost or usefulness. Tomas Kopecky, Marty Turco, Fernando Pisani, Jassen Cullimore and Ryan Johnson may all have the feeling that they've become obsolete in the Chicago system. 
This year might just be the year that Kyle Beach busts out of his shell and joins the Blackhawks roster out of training camp. The big gritty forward has not been able to make that leap in a few years of seasoning and with a fair-sized entry-level cap hit, he may still drop a peg or two in the depth chart. Jeremy Morin looks to be a bit more of a lock for the 2012 season, he played in nine games with the club in 2011 and showed some flashes of razzle-dazzle, which could be put to good use in the team's top six. Finally, the Blackhawks are expecting to see Marcus Kruger in a full-time role next season, likely getting some solid bottom six minutes. It may not translate into many points though.
There is plenty of prospects in the system that play along the blueline for Chicago, so if there was anything that the Blackhawks may be looking for with their first pick in the draft, it may be either a flashy forward or a top flight goaltending prospect to help the team with their depth at that position. I would think that the team would lean towards more scoring, since the goaltending prospects are not as highly touted this year, but with draft picks moving back and forth, they might just move one up.
Obviously, not knowing the full extent of how bad the dismantling of the Blackhawks would be in the Summer of 2010, I was very optimistic that the Blackhawks would bounce back from a hard Summer of retooling and cap structuring and then make another big run for the Cup in 2011. Well, I was admittedly unaware and therefore wrong, as Chicago took a tough one on the chin and picked up enough pieces to make the season relatively bearable and just limping into the playoffs. In all honesty, I don't mind being wrong about this one.
Just how good was Carey Price in the 2011 season? Well, he finished 6th in overall pool scoring with 38 wins, 8 shutouts and 2 assists, giving him 94 points in the year. He was the second best goalie in the entire league, behind Henrik Lundqvist, for pool points and likely an excellent bargain in most pool drafts, as the question mark that hung above his head loomed large, decreasing his pool value potential.
The forwards for the Habs were less than sparkling in the goal scoring department, as no one really stepped up to the forefront to deliver on a regular basis. There was a lot of scoring by committee, as you might be able to tell from some of the numbers I am about to reel off. Tomas Plekanec led all forwards with 57 points in 77 games, good enough for 80th overall in pool scoring. Mike Cammalleri (47 points in 67 games), Brian Gionta (46 points in 82 games), Andrei Kostitsyn (45 points in 81 games) and Scott Gomez (38 points in 80 games), all were somewhat disappointing, especially for poolies that had faith in these players.
The defense had its fair share of woes as well, but I think most of those were in the health department more than any other real concern. They did, however, do something about it, acquiring James Wisniewski from the Islanders, who provided a shot in the arm of the team's power play, finishing up the season with 51 points in 75 games, ranking 5th among all defensemen in scoring. That is very impressive. P.K. Subban finished his first full season with the club, 38 points in 77 games for the rookie was also quite good, while Roman Hamrlik had 34 points in 79 games this season. No Andrei Markov or Jaroslav Spacek on this list may have made you look twice.
Only one goalie was needed to play behind Price in 2011 and it was Alex Auld that got the call... rarely. Auld only had 748 minutes on the ice, which works out to be about 12 games, winning 6 and adding an assist for 13 points on the year, finishing 59th among all goalies in the league in pool points. When your minutes are limited, so is your pool value.
The unrestricted free agent crop is fairly deep, especially on the point, which may or may not cause a complete refresh of the team's blueline this year. James Wisniewski, Roman Hamrlik, Hal Gill, Brent Sopel, Paul Mara and Andrei Markov are all set to be on the open market, barring a signing before July 1st. Mathieu Darche, Jeff Halpern and Alex Auld are also set to become free agents in July as well.
It was quite the season for the Buffalo Sabres, as the team really turned some heads and made a good run into the playoffs, finishing 7th in the Eastern Conference and taking the Philadelphia Flyers to the limit in the first round of the playoffs. The Sabres were a good scoring team, finishing 4th in the Conference in goals for, but some defensive struggles were likely to blame for the 7th place finish. Nevertheless, the Sabres showed some good fight and they have lots to build from going forward into the 2012 season.
It was a bit of an up-and-down year for Ryan Miller and his Sabres, but the world class keeper did get his game together and the Sabres did a great job of stringing some wins together and made a good season out of it. In the end, Miller finished with 34 wins, 5 shutouts and 2 assists for 80 points in the pools, finishing 20th overall in scoring, 11th among goaltenders, just slightly down from his 2010 numbers. The Sabres go as far as Miller goes, with a little bit of help, of course.
It was a great return to form for Thomas Vanek in 2011, as he finally jumped back into the ranks of the top scoring elite, finishing the season with 73 points in 80 games, ranking 32nd in pool scoring, 17th among forwards, up drastically from 2010, where he finished 103rd overall. The Sabres went out and acquired some talent at the deadline, snapping up Brad Boyes from St. Louis, he finished the season with 55 points in 83 games between the two teams. Drew Stafford (52 points in 62 games), Jason Pominville (52 points in 73 games) and rookie Tyler Ennis (49 points in 82 games) rounded out the scoring for the Sabres, who desperately missed Derek Roy (35 points in 35 games) all year as well.
There was a definite slump to Tyler Myers' game at the beginning of the season, as he had a hard time adjusting to the big game again in his sophomore season, but did eventually come back around to lead the team in blueline scoring with 37 points in 80 games. Myers ranked 32nd among defense in pool scoring in 2011. Jordan Leopold had a good year with the Sabres in 2011, picking up 35 points in 71 games for Buffalo in the season, as did Andrej Sekera (29 points in 76 games) and Steve Montador (26 points in 73 games). The Sabres defense proved to be a quiet gold mine for blueline points.
A new back-up emerged for the Sabres in 2011, as Jhonas Enroth was the back-up of choice down the stretch, coming up from the minors on a regular basis to give Miller a night off, likely with a lack of trust in Patrick Lalime, who played as Enroth's back-up when he was up. Enroth finished with 9 wins and 1 shutout in 2011, giving him 20 points in 769 minutes worth of action.
It's an interesting group of restricted free agents for the Sabres this Summer, led by Drew Stafford and Nathan Gerbe, Buffalo will have some interesting decisions to make, especially now that they have some more money to play with. Also in the RFA group, Andrej Sekera, Jhonas Enroth, Mike Weber, Chris Butler and Marc-Andre Gragnani. 
The New York Rangers, the first of the teams that made the playoffs, but couldn't make it out of the first round after a loss to the Washington Capitals. The Rangers slid into the playoffs using a Hurricanes loss in the final days of the regular season to do it. It wasn't a very good season in the Big Apple, the Rangers were only as dominant as their number one goalie was most nights, but there wasn't a lot of depth to put the fear in other teams, either at home or the road. On the flip side, the Rangers did show some positive direction with where the club was going, so if they can keep building on their own momentum, they may be all right down the road.
I don't think there is any surprise that Henrik Lundqvist was the best player for the Rangers in the 2011 season, he was the best goalie in pool points, finishing with 36 wins, 11 shutouts and 4 assists for 98 points, good enough for 4th in pool scoring overall. Lundqvist didn't get a lot of scoring help this past season, so he had to win a lot of games by not giving a lot of goals, but there were just some nights where he had no help and surrendered a good number of goals against. Lundqvist, in my opinion, is an under appreciated talent, since he didn't earn a Vezina finalist nod this year.
It wasn't a solid scoring year for the Rangers forwards, as only one forward finished in the top 100 of pool scoring this year, Brandon Dubinsky finished with 54 points in 77 games to lead all blue shirt forwards. Ryan Callahan (48 points in 60 games) and Marian Gaborik (48 points in 62 games) were the only other two forwards to finish among the top 100 forwards in the league in 2011, showing you first hand, just how underwhelming this team was offensively. Sure, injuries played a large part of it, but I think there was a definite case for poor chemistry as well. Rounding out the top five forwards on the team, Derek Stepan had 45 points in 82 games as a rookie and Artem Anisimov finished with 44 points in 82 games as a grinding winger.
I don't think there was much that Dan Girardi didn't do for the Rangers in the 2011 season. The blueliner led all defensemen on the team in scoring, finishing with 31 points in 80 games, blocked more shots than any sane person would want to and led by example. Girardi did receive some help from the team's best young defenseman, Marc Staal, who finished with 29 points in 77 games, earning lots of praise for his defensive ability and the growth of his offensive game. Finally, a trade deadline acquisition, Bryan McCabe finished the year with 28 points in 67 games between Florida and New York, but really didn't prove to be a great pick-up by the Rangers in the end, not improving their power play a great deal.
Much like many teams I've already had a look at in these pool outlooks, the Rangers also rode one goaltender for much of the regular season and when Martin Biron suffered a broken collarbone at the beginning of March, that spelled a lot more time in the crease for Lundqvist. Biron finished the year with 16 points in 17 appearances for the Rangers, ranking 57th among all NHL goalies in pool points, despite missing the last six weeks of the season. 
The restricted free agent crop of Rangers will be a very important hurdle to leap this Summer and it should chip away at the remaining cap space quite quickly. Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan (pictured), Artem Anisimov, Brian Boyle, Michael Sauer and Matt Gilroy are all headed to free agency this year and three of them could turn into medium-to-large ticket players with proper negotiations. Re-signing this lot should be very important to Rangers management, but "how savvy can Glen Sather get?" will be the real question.