Monday's Links, News, and Notes: It's the Summer!
Some hockey reading for you on this fine summer day.
After a very busy couple of weeks for the NHL, and the Ottawa Senators, we are now officially in the dog days of summer. That's not such a bad thing; absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say.
Nevertheless, we still have plenty of juicy news, and good hockey writing, to share on this beautiful Monday:
-Over at Sportsnet, Wayne Scanlan has a little write-up of what David Perron expects to bring to the Ottawa Senators.
-Our very own Ary wrote a comprehensive rundown of the Sens' draft, but if you're curious about how other teams fared, Scott Wheeler provides his "Winners and Losers". Ottawa is pegged as an "Overtime Loser", though he's high on Carter Yakemchuk. It seems he wasn't a fan of the Gabriel Eliasson, pick though:
Gabriel Eliasson early in the second round both didn’t surprise me and was still the first pick of the draft by any team that I didn’t like. Eliasson is a mountain of a defenseman who moves fairly well for his size and was always going to be a second- or third-rounder for that reason, but I didn’t rank him on my board after watching him get in his own way more than any defenseman I’ve scouted in 11 years of doing this. He is the most undisciplined player I’ve ever watched and has shown no ability to play with any restraint, costing his teams in important moments and often resulting in benchings that don’t seem to have the right impact. If he makes it, he’ll be a pretty unique player. I wouldn’t have used a second-round pick on him, given the others who were available there.
With the departure of Erik Brännström, I think we have our new most polarizing player, folks.
-Ian Mendes has a nice write-up of Stephen Halliday, my personal pick as a darkhorse for a break-out season among Sens' prospects next season.
-Speaking of the Athletic, they've got full off-season grades for every team so far. Mendes gives Staios and co. a B+ for their work so far.
-Friend of the blog Travis Yost digs into the "Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" of the off-season. Of all the bad contracts handed out since July 1st, I have to agree with Travis that the deal Seattle just gave Chandler Stephenson has the potential to be one of the worst.
-Over at ESPN, they're already looking ahead to next season with their "way-too-early Power Rankings". The Florida Panthers, obviously, start at #1. The Sens are all the way down at #25.
-And, lastly, the Washington Capitals announced this morning that they had promoted Chris Patrick to General Manager. Brian MacLellan will remain as the President of Hockey Operations.
Get out there and enjoy this weather!
