Flames Re-Sign Bouma

The Calgary Flames avoided the hassle of arbitration with one of their key free agents on Thursday, signing forward Lance Bouma to a new 3-year, $6.6 million deal.  Bouma was scheduled to have his hearing yesterday, on the 22nd, and it is unclear if they had the hearing or not, but the ruling wasn't needed, as the two sides came together to form a very solid deal for both sides.

The Flames still have a few restricted free agents left to deal with, including Paul Byron and Josh Jooris, who are headed for arbitration cases in the next week.

Bouma crept into the pool-worthy conversation in the 2015 season, as he finished with 16 goals and 34 points in 78 games, which had him ranked 232nd overall in pool scoring.  Of course, he'll be more of a late round pick, but he should be firmly established in that spot for next season.

The 25-year old forward has been bummin' around the Flames system since he first debuted with the team in the 2011 season and his role has increased dramatically since he didn't figure into the shortened 2013 season at all.

There may just be room for some gains in the 2016 season, although his role of a forechecking forward, somewhat of a grinder, may hinder his overall point totals, but I think his confidence and the security of a new deal should help out his cause.

The Flames are rounding out their roster on paper already and it has some real potential to be better than the year before, despite all the analytics suggesting that they could be in for a fall.  As long as the Flames have good heart players in the core, they should still head in the right direction.

Fringe Signings (July 21)

With the injury concerns to both Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen, leading up to the 2016 season, the signing of forward Teemu Pulkkinen becomes a fringe signing, as he is one of the guys, who might get a little extra ice-time, thanks to those injuries.

Pulkkinen signed a 1-year deal, reportedly worth $735,000 as a restricted free agent on Tuesday.

The 23-year old Finn played in 31 games last season, scoring 5 goals and 8 points.

There are some fairly high expectations on the young Finn and with the way that the Red Wings have been grooming some of their talent of late, like Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco, it shouldn't come as a surprise, if Pulkkinen develops into one of those players this year.

Hearing Gets Sides to Sign in Nashville

It sounds like the Nashville Predators and forward Craig Smith used the arbitration hearing as their way to negotiate a new deal, as the two sides came together to agree upon a 5-year deal, which works out to be $4.25 million per season.

In an arbitration ruling, either side would have expected to see a 1-year deal, but with the player looking for $4.75 million for that year and the team offering $3 million, the hearing was destined to happen.

Last season, Smith was good for 23 goals and 44 points in all 82 games with the Predators, which ranked him 149th overall in pool scoring.  His best season was the year before, where he had 24 goals and 52 points in 79 games, setting the bar fairly high, it would seem.

The Central Division is going to be a difficult one to play in this coming season and with some teams around the division getting stronger, it may hurt some of the numbers on a Nashville team, which wasn't exactly flashy last year.

Nashville isn't exactly a team that most poolies get excited about, unless you're looking for a top end defenseman or a starting goalie, so my projections for the forward aren't glowing at this point, but they are not terrible either.  I am thinking he'll still be in the 40-point range and could be a bargain, if you were to get him around there.

Datsyuk Expected to Miss Opening Night

Off-season ankle surgery is slated to keep veteran forward Pavel Datsyuk out of the Detroit Red Wings lineup, when the puck drops on the 2016 season.

Datsyuk reported underwent the surgery at the end of June and even a month on, the two-way centre doesn't believe he'll be 100% ready to go, which means he'll be out for training camp, the preseason and an undecided amount of regular season games to start the year.

Last season, Datsyuk picked up 26 goals and 65 points in 63 games, a very good scoring rate, but a disappointing amount of games played.  It looks like the 2016 season is already heading towards somewhat of a repeat performance in the health department.

One could be very confident that Datsyuk still has the hands and the magic to score a bunch of points in the NHL, even at age 37.  Like most of the other elder Red Wings before him, health has come into question and should be taken into consideration, when doing your projections for the year.

Right now, confidence isn't very high, so I have him staying around the 65-point mark, unless he can get back into his skates during training camp, then he might get a bit of a bump up.

2015 Hockey Pool Draft Date Announced!

Sure, the Stampede may just be finished, we're right in the middle of Summer, but there's nothing wrong with being prepared too soon, is there?

Last year, I wasn't quite able to get the day that I wanted, so starting just a little bit earlier ensures that we get the best day possible and as it has been for the last couple of years, the weekend seemingly works.  I haven't heard too many complaints about it, so we'll keep it going.

This year, the draft will go on Saturday, October 3rd, a 2pm start.

We'll also have a venue change this year, as I wasn't too terribly happy with last year's Wi-Fi issues at Shilaleigh's.  We'll head down to the VooDoo Lounge on 16th Avenue, not too far away from SAIT.  The VooDoo Lounge has a private area down in the basement and they will have public and private Wi-Fi that we'll be able to use, if we so wish.

I know for some friends, they will be connecting remotely, so I will be making every effort to make sure that they are good to go for the event.  +Brian will hopefully be joining us again from down under and +Chris hopefully will be joining us from the coast as well.

For those joining in person, you can check out the location and the menu ahead of time, by heading to their website here.  Their wings are excellent!

Come on out, bring a friend... we'll see if we can finally hit the 30-team mark for the 2016 season!

Need more details?  Well, there are a few changes to the program this year, hopefully to infuse a little bit more fun.  The entry fee will be bumped up to $60 this year, but with a bigger fee, it will mean more prizes and a few more ways to at least make your money back this year.

We will have three mini-games in the hockey pool this year, hopefully to keep a few more teams interested through the season, including the goalie win survivor pool, the rookie scoring pool and one more mystery statistic pool, which will be announced at the time of the draft.

The overall pool will remain the same, assuming we have 30 or less teams...

• 14 players taken
• 8 forwards
• 4 defensemen
• 2 goalies
• most points wins
• goal - 1 point
• assist - 1 point
• win - 2 points
• shutout - 2 points

It's just that easy.  The goalie win survivor pool and rookie scoring pool will be explained at the draft and the mystery statistic pool will also be announced then.

Feel free to e-mail me, if you need any pool lists or reading materials, and keep checking up with the blog site to find out more information as the Summer progresses.  There's lots of great stuff on here.

Don't forget to add it to your Google Calendar!    Don't have a Google Calendar active?  Well, join the Facebook event.  Click here.

2015 Draft Class Signings (July 16)

The 2015 draftees are not staying unsigned for very long, as Wednesday saw another signing. The Boston Bruins took care of the first of three picks in a row, signing defenseman Jakub Zboril to his entry-level deal, adding to their depth on the blueline immediately.

Zboril is being touted as a good all-around defenseman, who skates well, takes the body and has some real offensive upside.  What's not to like out of that description?  His work ethic is the biggest question, according to a scouting report, but at 18 years old, he's got time to mature, which would hopefully help that issue.

On Thursday morning, the Philadelphia Flyers put pen to paper with their top pick from the draft, forward Travis Konecny, who was taken with the 24th pick overall out of the Ottawa 67's organization in the OHL.

Konecny is listed as a smaller forward, likely destined to be a winger in the NHL, although he is a centre in junior.  He is said to have plenty of skill and work ethic, but can be somewhat reckless on the ice, which has led to some injury troubles.  It would take a pretty impressive showing in camp for him to make the team out of junior, but it seems more likely that he'll get another year down below.

2014 Draft Class Signings (July 16)

Sometimes, we tend to forget that there are some other key draft classes out there in recent memory and some of these players may be worth taking a look at this year as well.  Here's a brief look at some of the key signings in the off-season from last year's draft class.

The player that got this train going was the recently signed John Quenneville, the New Jersey Devils 1st round pick in 2014, 30th overall.  The strong power forward had a great year with the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL, going all the way to the league finals, but he certainly made a name for himself with his strong campaign.  Quenneville was signed a few days ago to his 3-year entry-level deal a few days ago.

With a few forward roster spots still open on their board, a kid like Quenneville could benefit from a long look at camp.  The Devils don't boast a great deal of quality youth in their system, but this pick here will hopefully start a new trend, with the help of new management.  Might we see some new blood in the lineup this year?

Back in May, the Detroit Red Wings signed their 1st round pick from last year's draft, forward Dylan Larkin, signing him to a deal, which will take him out of the NCAA ranks and get him to turn pro.  Last season, Larkin played at Michigan, where he excelled, he looked great for the USA team at the World Juniors and even represented his country at the World Championships in May.

Larkin is a fair-sized kid, who is still 18 years old and could still spend some time in the junior ranks, if the Red Wings thought it was necessary.  It would also give him a chance to play at the World Juniors.  The Red Wings roster might be a tough one to crack, as they have a pretty full projected squad as it is, but with a good camp, who knows what can happen?

There was one more 1st rounder signed, shortly after the regular season had ended, that being the Kings' pick, 29th overall, forward Adrian Kempe.  The Swedish born winger played with Modo in the Swedish Elite League this season and he represented his country at the World Juniors as well, having a fairly accomplished season.  Just before his deal was signed with the Kings, he joined their AHL affiliate in Manchester, appearing in a few games for them as well.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Kings went out and found another two-way forward, as Kempe is described as just that, a good power forward and has that certain upside that teams are hunting for.  The key point being, whether or not his game can be translated into the North American rinks.

That leaves only three 1st round picks left to be signed by NHL clubs from this draft class and they are probably not too far away from getting that job done either, unless college says otherwise.  Seven 2nd round picks from this draft year have also been signed in this off-season, some of which will likely get some long looks at camp, including Calgary's Hunter Smith and Winnipeg's Brendan Lemieux.

Fringe Signings (July 15)

The New York Rangers have been cleaning up a lot of their restricted free agents, trying to get them to sign on the dotted line of their qualifying offers in an effort to save space for Derek Stepan's new deal, which has yet to be signed.  A couple players signed on Wednesday fit the bill of fringe players for the hockey pool, as Jesper Fast and J.T. Miller each signed new deals, each 1-year contracts, both less than $1 million.

Both Fast and Miller showed some real flash and skill in the playoffs and given enough ice-time in 2016, I think they're both due to make an appearance in the pool, in varying capacities.  The Rangers are in a bit of cap trouble, so the team will definitely rely upon these kind of guys for quality minutes, which should add up to points.

It wasn't a very good 2015 season for Penguins forward Beau Bennett, as wrist surgery sidelined him to start the year, a lower-body injury sidelined him again at the end of November and then he had a rough go of things through the year as well. In total, he was only good for 49 games and 12 points, which was not very pool worthy.

The top six in Pittsburgh is going to be a tough place to crack for a lineup spot this year, since last year's pick-ups in Patric Hornqvist and David Perron are still around and then they added Phil Kessel to the mix, there isn't a great deal of space alongside both Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.  If he can do it, he'll be in good shape for better than fringe points.

The Colorado Avalanche signed one of the elements of the Ryan O'Reilly deal to a new deal, as Mikhail Grigorenko, a restricted free agent out of Buffalo, signed a new 1-year deal, a cap number was not disclosed.  The 2012 1st round pick has not panned out quite like the Sabres had wanted him to, so he'll officially get a shot with his former junior coach in Colorado, Patrick Roy.

A new opportunity with a young team and a familiar coach bumps Grigorenko into the fringe, even with some very sub-par numbers in 2015.  In 25 games, he only managed 6 points, ranking him 400th among all forwards.  I think there is a real sleeper possibility here.

Del Zotto Re-Signs in Philly

One of the last big restricted free agent defensemen has now come off the list on Thursday, as the Philadelphia Flyers re-signed Michael Del Zotto to a new 2-year deal, reportedly carrying a cap hit of $3.875 million per year.

The deal puts him in perspective of some other defenders around his age and points from last year, including the recently signed Justin Schultz in Edmonton.  It leads one to believe that one deal helped seal the other.

Del Zotto was also set to go to arbitration this Summer, as he was set to have his hearing on the 21st.

It was an okay year for Del Zotto in 2015, having missed seven games to injury and another 11 games to healthy scratches, but he still managed to pick up 10 goals and 32 points in the 64 games he did play with the Flyers.

With a cap hit of nearly $4 million, the Flyers are going to be relying upon him to stay out of the press box over the next couple of years and start scoring more points on a regular basis.

The career numbers for the good skating defender have been really up and down, year over year.  A great rookie campaign turned into some time spent in the minors the next season.  Bounced back from that with a good year, did okay in the lockout, dropped off the face of the Earth in 2014.  His good year in 2015 has me somewhat suspicious of what we'll see out of him in 2016, so my initial projection for him actually takes a bit of a tumble.

Overall in Philadelphia, their team on paper is not striking me with very much confidence, no matter how good Claude Giroux and/or Jakub Voracek are.  Last year, they shot the lights out, but the Flyers still didn't make the playoffs.  I don't think the Flyers solved many problems in this off-season so far, so Del Zotto isn't high on my priority list.

2015 Draft Class Signings (July 15)

A signing from Tuesday to note, as the Los Angeles Kings signed defenseman Erik Cernak to his 3-year entry-level deal right away. Cernak was the Kings' top pick in the 2015 draft, taken in the 2nd round, 43rd overall.

The Slovak defender has size to spare and the scouts say he uses it quite well.  The scouting reports are suggesting that his skating needs some work, but at his age, he still has a year or two before he's getting considered for a full-time spot in the pros.

The 11th overall pick is now off the board, as forward Lawson Crouse signed his 3-year entry-level deal on Wednesday.  Crouse was in the mix for any of the spots after the top two had been slotted in, but he fell down to the Panthers in the 11th spot, much to their delight, I'm sure.

The big power forward should fit right into their skill set on the wing, given they already have some good skill down the middle, which could potentially compliment his style of play.  The Panthers also have some open spots in their forward ranks, so there is a chance he could at least get his 9-game tryout this season.

The Calgary Flames signed their top draft pick, Swedish defenseman Oliver Kylington, on Wednesday, opting to give him a shot at North American hockey this season. Reports had surfaced that he has a signed deal with a team in the Swedish Elite League, but his NHL contract will allow him to play in North America, if the Flames will have him full-time, otherwise, he'll head across the pond and play back at home.

Kylington is thought to be an offensive catalyst, drawing some comparisons to some of the current Swedish NHL blueliners, but with a stacked blueline like the Flames have at the moment, it would be awfully tough for him to crack the team out of camp at age 18.

Fringe Signings (July 15)

He probably should be better than a fringe defenseman, but Eric Gelinas was a healthy scratch for a number of games, missed some time to injury and illness, so his numbers were not quite pool worthy, but he's close.  Gelinas, 24, signed a 2-year deal, which carries a cap hit of $1.575 million per season, and given the depth on the New Jersey blueline heading into this season, he has a pretty good chance of getting that full-time job, but obviously, his play will dictate how far he goes with it.

Last year, he was good for 6 goals and 19 points in 61 games, ranking 97th among all defensemen in pool scoring.

It is a big deal in the NHL, but maybe not quite so much for us poolies, as defenseman Johnny Oduya has settled on Dallas for his new home, as the Stars have signed him to a 2-year deal, worth $7.5 million.

Oduya only scored 2 goals and 10 points in 76 games with the Blackhawks in the 2015 season, but he isn't quite known as an offensive force, as such.  Nevertheless, he should be able to pick up a few more minutes of ice-time with the Stars, so he might be able to increase his offensive output, even slightly.  I would think that the chances he's a pool defenseman in the 2016 are still low, but now you know he's in the Dallas Stars organization and you can project him accordingly.