FanHouse Dennis Seidenberg

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our daily look at the previous night's action. During the offseason, we'll look at some of the storylines and moves taking place around the league three times per week. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

No Zubov For Columbus

On Sunday, Aaron Portzline of the Columbus-Dispatch reported on how Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson is prepared to enter the season with the team's current defensive lineup, and that despite a connection between free agent rearguard Sergei Zubov and current head coach Ken Hitchcock, the team has no interest in the veteran. Actually, he doesn't seem to have interest in anybody at this point. Even with Howson's desire to enter the season as is, the Blue Jackets could certainly use some punch from their defense.

While most of the big names went off the board in the opening days of free agency, there's still some quality players to be had on the open market. Here's a quick look at three of the better players still searching for a new team: Martin Biron, Alex Tanguay, and Dennis Seidenberg.

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 Southeast Division.

The Southeast is probably going to be the most boring division in hockey this offseason. Three of the teams don't have the financial capability to make the sort of splash they need, and the other two were good enough to mostly maintain the status quo.

Still, we've got two top-5 draft picks to look forward to, as well as the ongoing sagas surrounding the stars for both Florida franchises.

After Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Ward put on a goaltending clinic on Monday, prompting the discussion of whether or not they're legitimate franchise goaltenders, the two players, along with their collective defenses, seemingly took the night off on Thursday as Pittsburgh picked up a 7-4 win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Just 12 minutes into the first period, the two teams had already scored as many goals as they did in Game 1, while Carolina held a 3-2 lead after the opening 20 minutes.

Evgeni Malkin recorded his first career playoff hat trick in the win for Pittsburgh, registering his fifth consecutive multiple point game.

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Sometimes, businesses think of the oddest ways to promote themselves. The Bavarian Brathaus in Cary, N.C., decided it would be a good idea to take advantage of the Carolina Hurricanes' playoff run. The Hurricanes, of course, are playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals, and are eight wins away from their second Stanley Cup in four seasons.

The bratwurst is quite a tradition in Germany. Hurricanes defenseman Dennis Seidenberg is German. The Bavarian Brathaus saw the obvious connection, and they decided to have a little fun.