Rick Nash Goes to Boston

			2018 Season				July 1st, 2018
To Boston	POS	Age	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Rick Nash	F	33	60	18	28	$3.9 mil	0	UFA
Retained Cap Hit on Beleskey					50%	$1.9 mil	2	$1.9 mil
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To New York	POS	Age	GP	Wins	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Ryan Spooner	F	26	39	9	25	$2.825 mil	0	RFA
Matt Beleskey	F	29	14	0	0	$1.9 mil	2	$1.9 mil
Ryan Lindgren	D	20	0	0	0	USD	0	USD
2018 1st Round Draft Pick
2019 7th Round Draft Pick
Retained Cap Hit on Nash					50%	$3.9 mil	0

One of the big trades has dropped on Sunday morning, as the New York Rangers have sent big ticket (and big contract) player Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins for a massive package, which includes roster forward Ryan Spooner, their 1st round pick this summer and a very well-regarded defensive prospect as well.

As expected, there is plenty of math going on here, as the Bruins, who have been snuggled up nicely against the salary cap ceiling for the better part of the year, couldn't take on the entire load of Nash's contract and so some shifting had to be done either way.  We won't bog ourselves down with that, but all of those retained cap hits are in annual figures, only the retained cap hit for Matt Beleskey will really count to the Bruins after this season.

So, the Bruins get another power forward in Nash and he could be available for an immediate impact on Sunday evening, when the Bruins take on the Sabres, depending on travel time, but another big body to help in the offensive zone is really hard to turn down.

The cost for this potential rental is incredibly steep, as Spooner, likely the best player going the other way (for now), was thought to be a pretty important piece to the Bruins' future moving forward, but the cost of doing business is opening up those roster spots to make room for players coming in.  The Rangers get a pretty good piece coming back, especially when you look at his scoring production this season.

And then there's the futures for the Rangers, picking up another 1st round pick and a 2016 2nd round pick prospect in defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who was ranked in the top 100 prospects by the Hockey News in the summer.  The Rangers are rebuilding and it looks like they've made a good move in that direction.

Nash going to Boston has some potential gains for his season, as the Bruins play the style of game that suits the big body and they have players that can feed that puck in his path to get him there.  This is good news for Scott's team, down in 24th place, especially, if his team wants to try and move up a spot or two before the end of the year.

I would also say that Spooner going to the Rangers is going to be a loss, as the Rangers start their tear down, we don't really know who Spooner is going to have to play with and their offense hasn't exactly been bristling before this deal anyways.  This is potentially bad news for Benson's team, who added Spooner in the Week Eighteen swap and has 4 points from his first nine games of being active.  Stay tuned here!

Goalie Announcements (Feb 25)

Okay, so Braden Holtby didn't go for Grant on Saturday night... go figure!  It didn't seem to matter, as Philipp Grubauer got the win for him against the Sabres, regardless.

Grant continues to lead the Mover & Shaker race, now with 36 points, but the Capitals don't play today/tonight, so he will be hoping that his one projected game today in Minnesota keeps his total above everyone else.

Mike's team is waiting to pounce, 2 points back of Grant's team with 34 points, while Dale B. is at 33 points and Stuart's team is at 30 points for the week.  We'll focus on these three teams, as some early action is right around the corner and I am hurrying through this post.

Mike's team doesn't have a goalie slated to go today, so he is putting all his eggs in the skater basket today.

Jake Allen (Cam) versus Pekka Rinne (Dale B.)
Dale B., however, does have a chance at a start today, as the Predators are playing the early game this afternoon against the St. Louis Blues and as I am writing this post, only Jake Allen has been confirmed.  It is an early afternoon game and those can be absolute wild cards, but for Dale's sake, he's hoping for a start and a big 2 points, since his team is also still trying to chase down 2nd place again.

Stuart, the only other team really in the mix for the Mover & Shaker, also doesn't have a start today, so it looks like a bit of a wash.

Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 25)

The Arizona Coyotes were without Richard Panik on Saturday night, playing against the Anaheim Ducks, due to a lower-body injury, according to the team. Panik, acquired from Chicago earlier this season, hasn't really translated his overall game well in the desert, having only 4 assists in 15 games and has been a healthy scratch in a few games as well. Very disappointing year for him, I'm sure.

Tony's team has done alright this week, finishing Saturday with 27 points in the week, more or less keeping the pace with the other teams in 4th to 10th, if not doing a little bit better.  Tony's team currently resides in 9th place, 5 points out of 6th.

Another trade deadline precaution roster move, as the Buffalo Sabres opted to sit forward Evander Kane for the game against the Washington Capitals, a game they likely were not going to win anyways, just for the purpose of making sure their trade asset is healthy for the deadline.  Kane has 20 goals and 40 points in 61 games this season and is thought to be one of the top rental players this year, as he will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer.

Eric's 21st place team could move into the top 20, if the Sabres can find Kane a very complimentary team to play with for the rest of the year.  Eric's team is only 1 point back of 20th and 11 points back of 18th.  Those are the lofty heights set, after a potential deal is done.

Olympic Pool Update (Day 10, Feb 25)

The 2018 PyeongChang Olympics were destined to give us an unpredictable men's ice hockey tournament and it didn't disappoint.  I suppose, all we could have wished for was some pretty good hockey and for the most part, minus some of those questionable European guidelines, it was pretty decent hockey.  In the end, I think we all got the gold medal game that we were looking for, a well-contested game, with some last minute drama and an overtime to finish it off.  No one expected Germany to be there and no one expected Germany to hang in so well against the tournament favourites, but they arrived and they played well.  In the end, however, Russia's best players were the difference, as Nikita Gusev and Kirill Kaprizov carried their team on their shoulders and won it in extra time.

Both players were in on every goal in the 4-3 win and they truly won the day, as Germany could not seem to contain the pair, even in the softest moments, like with seconds on the clock to end a period.  The Russians are golden and the Germans should be proud of their huge accomplishments in this tournament.

Nikita Gusev was the hockey pool MVP in this tournament, finishing with 4 goals, including 2 playoff round game-winners, and 8 assists, which totaled up to 16 points, far and away the best player in the pool and the biggest reason why Neil is our winner this time around!

Neil's team finished 4 points clear of Don's team, 44-39, to take the overall title and win the $180, thanks to Gusev, who was indeed his 1st round pick, 7th overall in the draft.  Congratulations to Neil, he won a fun 2-week hockey pool, which was a good laugh at the draft and all the way through.

Goalie Announcements (Feb 24)

We're through the workweek in the NHL and we've descended upon the weekend and I thought I would chime in with another addition of the Mover & Shaker look at the goalie starts today. I'm sure you've all been missing it.

First, let's have a look at the Mover & Shaker race this week.  Grant's team is leading the way in Week Twenty-One, tops with 25 points, through Friday night's action.  Dale B. is showing to be 1 point behind, while Tony and Mike each have 22 points, all within striking distance.  I'd usually like to keep the range to about 5 points, so we'll focus on these four this morning.

With a couple of afternoon games, we're probably going to be doing some guessing, but they'll be educated guesses.

Robin Lehner (Kristy & Don) versus Braden Holtby (Grant)
No matter what, Grant gets a start in DC tonight, since both of his Capitals goalies are healthy today.  Everything is pointing towards another start for their number one, giving Braden Holtby the nod, as the Capitals look to get back on top of the Metropolitan Division with a victory.  Kristy & Don, a fringe team for this post, 6 points back of Grant's team for the Mover & Shaker, should be getting a start in this one too, with Robin Lehner as the assumed starter tonight.

The two teams are separated by 9 points in the standings too, with the duo trailing at the moment, so an upset in this game would tighten that race, ever so slightly.

No starts for Dale B. tonight, as he has no active goalies on the schedule, so he'll have to rely on his skaters that will be hopping on the ice instead.

Petr Mrazek (Mike) versus Craig Anderson (Tony)
How about an all-Mover & Shaker match-up in the first game of the day today?  Tony's 9th placed team starts the day 3 points back of the Mover & Shaker nod and it has been announced, ahead of the afternoon tilt against the Flyers, that the Senators will go with Craig Anderson.  The Flyers will counter with Petr Mrazek, making his second start for his new club, as he was acquired earlier in the week, as the Flyers have really struggled with the health of their goalies.  Mike gets the start from the visiting side and I would have to say that the Flyers are the favourites today, since the Senators are in selling mode at the deadline.

This will be Tony's only start of the day, but he has lots of projected games left to play this weekend, so he'll be in the race, if his team can keep up the pace.  This isn't the last game for Mike, however...

Tuukka Rask (Clayton) versus Frederik Andersen (Mike)
It's a classic Original Six match-up in Toronto tonight, as the Bruins are in to face the Maple Leafs and Mike gets his second start in the main national game on Hockey Night in Canada.  Frederik Andersen has been dynamite for Mike's team this season and he'll get the nod in this key Atlantic Division game.  The opposition won't be easy, with the big, bad Bruins in town and they are going with their number one guy tonight, Tuukka Rask, giving Clayton a start tonight.

Mike's team reached the middle of the pack this week, taking 13th place in the standings, but his team doesn't have the projected games that Tony's team does, although he has two starts today.

Olympic Pool Update (Day 9, Feb 24)

Certainly, for these two teams, this wasn't the game they were hoping to be in, but the bronze medal game is still a game for an Olympic medal and all of those stories about regret, not playing well in this game and coming home empty-handed years down the line, may have resonated with some of these guys, as this game had all kinds of offense and they were really going for it.

The hockey pool hero in this one for Canada was forward Chris Kelly, who finished with a pair of goals, including the eventual winner in the 6-4 victory for the bronze medal, which gave him a 4-point effort on the night.  This was great news for Neil's team, as that helped his team pull away at the top of the hockey pool standings, finishing this game with a 4-point lead at 38 points.

Mason Raymond and Mat Robinson each chimed in with an assist in this game, helping to lift Steve's team into 2nd place, behind Neil's team, keeping a reasonable distance, ahead of tonight's gold medal game.

A lot of the points, between the Canadians and the Czechs were too little, too late for the teams at the bottom of the standings and there were quite a few of them.  But we have one more game left to go and then we'll hand out the money.  Neil's team is the favourite, but I wouldn't count Steve's team out right yet.

Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 24)

The Carolina Hurricanes played on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins and they did so without centre Jordan Staal, as he was away from the team for personal reasons. This turned out to be rather disastrous for the Hurricanes, as they were thumped, 6-1, in the end and they could have probably used one of their most reliable pivots to help limit the damage.  Nevertheless, what's done is done and we'll wait to see if Staal will rejoin the lineup for Saturday night's game in Detroit.

Kristy & Don hit the 500-point mark last night and their team currently sits in 6th place, 40 points out of the money.  If their side is to take a real run at it this season, they'll need all hands on deck and to start right away.

Brassard Dealt to the Penguins

			2018 Season				July 1st, 2018
To Pittsburgh	POS	Age	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Derick Brassard	F	30	58	18	38	$3 mil	1	$3 mil
Vincent Dunn	F	22	0	0	0	$611k	0	RFA
Tobias Lindberg	F	22	0	0	0	$693k	0	RFA
2018 3rd Round Draft Pick
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To Ottawa	POS	Age	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Ian Cole	D	29	47	3	13	$2.1 mil	0	UFA
Filip Gustavsson	G	19	0	0	0	$776k	2	$776k
2018 1st Round Draft Pick
2019 3rd Round Draft Pick
----
To Vegas	POS	Age	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Ryan Reaves	F	31	58	4	8	$1.125 mil	0	UFA
2018 4th Round Draft Pick
Retained Cap Hit on Brassard					40%	$2 mil	1	$2 mil

According to most of the reports out there on the Twittersphere, the deal that eventually sends Derick Brassard to the Pittsburgh Penguins from the Ottawa Senators, via the Vegas Golden Knights.

The deal apparently needed lots of inner workings to be sorted out, as the Pittsburgh Penguins have been strapped for cash, leading up to this deal and they were trying to cut as many corners as possible, trying to get salary retained, while getting rid of some active salary in Ian Cole, the defenseman going to Ottawa in part of the deal, not to mention tough guy Ryan Reaves, heading to Vegas.  The Golden Knights too a good chunk of the Brassard salary cap hit in this deal as well, so the Senators shed a good deal of cap space and the Penguins didn't take on nearly as much as they could have, rounding this deal out nicely.

The Senators also walk away with the Penguins 1st round draft pick this year and if the Penguins have their way after this deal, it would be the 31st overall pick in the draft, in theory.

A trio of prospects have been shifted around as well, with the Penguins taking on a couple prospective restricted free agents and it is all very interesting, how it all shook out.

As big as this deal was in the overall scope, one of the biggest trade deadline-ish deals out there, only Brassard and Cole were hockey pool players this year, belonging to Wes and Neil, respectively, neither of which are really in the mix for anything, in terms of money.  Wes is going for glory with the PIM pool, but Brassard isn't known for his pugilism, but does have 30 PIM this season, so he has been contributing in that regard.

Recent Contract Extensions (Feb 23)

The New York Islanders have a busy off-season ahead of them and they are looking to get a handle on it early.  One of the bigger pieces that was in need of attention was forward Josh Bailey, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.  The trick was to get him signed long-term and at a reasonable enough cost that they could possibly throw a little more to John Tavares, who is the biggest fish they need to lure back into their boat.

This mission was definitely accomplished, as the Islanders and Bailey agreed upon a 6-year, $30 million extension, which kicks in next season.  This deal is a huge bargain, considering Bailey is now ranked 21st overall in pool scoring, with 62 points in 58 games this year.

Habs Price Out Indefinitely

This season just wasn't meant to be for the Montreal Canadiens, was it?

Only seven points clear of last place in the Eastern Conference, the Habs suffered another setback, as Carey Price suffered a concussion on Tuesday night, taking a shot off the mask.  Price was able to stay in the game and the symptoms surfaced after the game and they hit him pretty hard.  He is now listed as out indefinitely and has already missed a start (and a win) against the lowly Rangers on Thursday night.

Price has appeared in 43 games for the Canadiens, but has only been able to post 15 wins and a single shutout, giving him 32 points this year, wholly disappointing.  In terms of the rankings, he currently sits 188th overall and 32nd among all goalies, good enough to be the best backup, if you wanted to think of it that way.  Injuries and organizational depth have been the biggest cruxes for the Canadiens this season and they are well-reflected in their number one goalie's numbers.

Dale C.'s 1st round pick is crashing hard into dud territory and that's the leading cause for his team to be in 12th spot in the standings after Thursday night.  Dale's team has struggled since the start of the third segment in Week Nineteen, tied for 23rd in points with only 53, already 40 points back of the leader in the segment.  Ouch!  Things don't appear to be getting much better with this injury.

Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 23)

Calgary Flames forward Micheal Ferland was held out of the 3rd period against the Arizona Coyotes for precautionary measures, as he has been nursing an injury of the undisclosed nature for the last few days, but has been able to play through for the most part.  The Flames were up on the Coyotes heading into the final frame, so he wasn't required for the period, as it wasn't do or die at that point.  If he's held out any longer, he'll be listed as day-to-day, until otherwise noted.

Derek B. was getting comfortable in 13th spot in the last couple weeks, loving life in the middle of the pack, but his team has now lost that position to Mike's team last night, dropping down a spot, thanks to only posting 10 points so far this week.  Ferland has been a solid 14th round pick for Derek's team and if it wants to retake 13th, it'll need Ferland back.

In what is thought to be a little bit of asset protection, the Edmonton Oilers held forward Patrick Maroon out of Thursday night's game in Colorado, due to a minor lower-body injury.  Maroon has been widely-discussed a major trade chip in play at this trade deadline on Monday and it will be interesting to see if Maroon plays on Saturday in Los Angeles, if he hasn't been traded by then.  He's considered day-to-day for right now.

Stacey C.'s team leaped over Ryan's team for 22nd place already this week, more thanks to Ryan's team tanking, but Stacey's team picking up 12 points so far, despite Maroon's absence.

The indicator that the market for Rick Nash is picking up is that he was held out of Thursday night's loss to the Canadiens as a healthy scratch.  His former teammate, Michael Grabner, was in the same boat last night and was dealt during the evening, so the Rangers are expected to move Nash here soon.

The healthy scratch isn't going to help Scott's 24th place team, especially if Steve's team is coming after him, making up 5 points already this week.  The gap is only 10 points, while both teams are trying to knock Ryan's team down to last place, as they have both made gains.  Once Nash gets dealt, I'm sure things will get better for Scott's team, if only marginally.

The Toronto Maple Leafs collective is now holding their breath, waiting on news on an injury to Auston Matthews.  Matthews was hurt in the game against the Islanders on Thursday night, getting crunched between a couple of Islander players.  Today, he is scheduled to have an MRI and the belief is that the injury is to his shoulder, so it's wait and see for right now.  Things didn't look so good last night, but this kid is resilient and everyone is hoping for the best.

Benson is sure hoping for the best, as his team currently sits in 2nd place and isn't having a great week, with only 11 points.  His team trails Stuart's team by 14 points after Thursday night and Dale B. is back on his tail, only 6 points back and coming on strong.  Losing Matthews could be a crushing blow.