The Philadelphia Flyers raised quite a few eyebrows at the NHL draft when they acquired defenseman Chris Pronger from the Anaheim Ducks. It was a bold move, and one that solidified the Flyers as a contender for the Stanley Cup this season. The concern was that Philadelphia traded away what amounted to three consecutive first-round picks and Joffrey Lupul, for what appeared to be one year of a soon-to-be 35-year-old Pronger.
On Tuesday, the Flyers raised a few more eyebrows when they locked up Pronger to a seven-year contract extension that will reportedly pay him close to $35 million. The key phrases to repeat are "35-year-old" and "seven years."
The first round of the NHL Draft saw the league's general managers clean out the Swedish cupboard, as seven players from Sweden were selected on Friday night. Massive defenseman Victor Hedman led the way, going to the Tampa Bay Lightning with the No. 2 pick, while Leksand's Oliver Ekman-Larsson went to Phoenix at No. 6.
Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, projected by many as a top-six pick going in, slipped down to Edmonton with the tenth overall pick, while David Rundbald, Jacob Josefson, Tim Erixon and Marcus Johannson rounded out the Swedish invasion.
After the jump, more thoughts and observations on what happened (and what didn't happen) during the opening round.
Heading into Friday's NHL draft, all eyes were on Ottawa's Dany Heatley and Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier when it came to potential blockbuster trades. When all was said and done, the first domino to fall was Anaheim sending defenseman Chris Pronger to Philadelphia for Joffrey Lupol, Luca Sbisa, and two first-round picks.
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
San Jose saw its Presidents' Trophy campaign come to a surprising end in the first round of the NHL playoffs, Los Angeles is still the perfect spot for Dany Heatley, and is there any hope for success on the ice in Phoenix?
Like its NFL, MLB and NBA counterparts, the NHL draft is an inexact science, and is often times a relative shot in the dark. Its past is littered with No. 1 picks that were supposed to be "the next one," that turned out to be complete and utter failures. Take, for example, 1993 No. 1 overall pick Alexandre Daigle, who, upon being selected by the Ottawa Senators with the top pick was quoted as saying: "I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two."
The player selected with the No. 2 pick that year? Defenseman Chris Pronger. Like I said, it's an inexact science.
One of the debates that usually gets brought up this time of year is whether players out of the NCAA or the Canadian Major Junior programs turn out to be the best pros. After the jump, some data on the subject as well as some comments and opinions from a couple of NHL scouting directors.
Two years ago, a much more heralded Anaheim Ducks team took out Detroit on their way to a Stanley Cup. This time, the Ducks enter a series against the Red Wings as perhaps the most-feared eighth seed in NHL playoff history. That said, they're still an eighth seed, and a decided underdog. Is this the end of "Cinderella"?
The Detroit Red Wings are one of the deepest offensive teams in the NHL. Unfortunately for them, they don't boast similar defensive depth. Instead, they tend to lean on their puck possession and scoring to mask some flaws along the blue line and in goal.
As a result, news that veteran puck-moving defenseman Brian Rafalski will miss Game 1 of the Wings' Western Conference semifinal series against Anaheim is not good. It's not a death blow -- as an injury to Nicklas Lidstrom would be -- but it's not a good way for Detroit to start this series.
Patrick Marleau has borne the brunt of the criticism during San Jose's recent postseason disappointments, and that carried right into the first two games of the Sharks' first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.
That is until the Sharks' captain came up with the game-deciding goal in Tuesday night's 4-3 victory over Anaheim at the Honda Center. Marleau's tip-in from the slot came with 10:33 left in the third period and the Sharks on a power play after Corey Perry was called for hooking San Jose's Dan Boyle.
That gave the Sharks their fourth one-goal lead of the night, and they held on as Bobby Ryan got off the only shot for Anaheim after the Ducks pulled goalie Jonas Hiller with 1:30 left. The eighth-seeded Ducks lead the series two games to one over the President's Cup winners.
Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.
The Western Conference is home to the league's best team (San Jose), the defending champion (Detroit), and the two most intriguing Cinderella stories in the league (St. Louis and Columbus). Can Cinderella put off the stroke of midnight, or will an established power advance their way to the Finals?
After failing to show up on the score sheet in his Boston debut on Thursday, Recchi picked up his first two Bruins goals in Saturday's 5-3 win over Chicago.
The Philadelphia Flyers raised quite a few eyebrows at the NHL draft when they acquired defenseman Chris Pronger from the Anaheim Ducks. It was a bold move, and one that solidified the Flyers as a contender for the Stanley Cup this season. The concern was that Philadelphia traded away what amounted to three consecutive first-round picks and Joffrey Lupul, for what appeared to be one year of a soon-to-be 35-year-old Pronger.
The first round of the NHL Draft saw the league's general managers clean out the Swedish cupboard, as seven players from Sweden were selected on Friday night. Massive defenseman 
Heading into Friday's NHL draft, all eyes were on Ottawa's Dany Heatley and Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier when it came to potential blockbuster trades. When all was said and done, the first domino to fall was Anaheim sending defenseman 
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
Like its NFL, MLB and NBA counterparts, the NHL draft is an inexact science, and is often times a relative shot in the dark. Its past is littered with No. 1 picks that were supposed to be "the next one," that turned out to be complete and utter failures. Take, for example, 1993 No. 1 overall pick 
The Detroit Red Wings are one of the deepest offensive teams in the NHL. Unfortunately for them, they don't boast similar defensive depth. Instead, they tend to lean on their puck possession and scoring to mask some flaws along the blue line and in goal.
Patrick Marleau
In the days and weeks leading up to Wednesday's trade deadline, the Boston Bruins were 
