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The Chicago Blackhawks took a bite out of teh Tampa Lightning in Game 1.
Literally and figuratively.
Tampa's Alex Killorn struck first with a first period goal.
The Bolts dominated the Hawks for 54 minutes by denying their time and space in all three zones. Then, Antoine Vermette and rookie Teuvo Teravainen scored two goals in a two minute span late in the third period to claim victory for the Hawks. Teravainen also assisted on Vermette's goal.
Game 1 was not without its controversy.
Note how Victor Hedman took liberties with Pat Kane after a Bishop save. Andrew Shaw wasted little time coming to Kane's defense. Shaw too a shot at Hedman.
thought Shaw was beheaded for a second (correct image) pic.twitter.com/yuBtgHXTkK
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) June 4, 2015
After returning to the bench following the heated scrum with Kane and Shaw, Hedman lifted up his jersey and appeared to tell Brenden Morrow that Shaw bit him on the abdomen while the two men tussled.
now here is the other one. Hedman getting checked out by the trainer pic.twitter.com/jDCFHapSzT
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) June 4, 2015_____________________________________________________________________
Edmonton Oilers GM Pete Chiarelli told 63 CHED that if he can get a young, NHL ready player and other assets that he is interested in trading away the 16th overall pick in the NHL Draft. Don't confuse this with Chiarelli losing his mind and wanting to trade away Connor McDavid. Still, the 16th pick in the draft will be very sexy and attractive, especially to teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins that have traded away their first round pick in the McEichel draft.
Oh, the torment. The Penguins traded the 16th overall pick and grinder Rob Klinkhammer to Edmonton for David Perron in January. Which team got the win in that trade?
Chiarelli wants young, developed prospects who can join the Oilers and contribute immediately and he feels strongly that if the right trade presents itself, he will be agreeable to trading away #16, #33 or #57 pick.
Here's Chiarelli's wish list for the 16th overall pick:
"I certainly would look at moving any of those picks for… something that would help us right now, but also that could grow with our organization, so relatively speaking a younger player. It’s good to have a lot of picks and develop players, but we also want to hit the ground running with some more game-ready players. Discussions are picking up, they’ll continue to be ongoing until the draft, they might subside a little bit, and then pick up again around the free agency"
The Oilers are in desperate need of a young, top four D. Chiarelli and Sabres GM may want to have a chat about a trade that would see Buffalo trade Russian Rocker Nikita Zadorov for the 16th overall pick. Such a move would give Murray a total of three first rounders in #s 2, 16, and 21. Murray can then keep numbers 2 and 16 and then trade #21 and other assets to Colorado for Ryan O'Reilly.
Murray has been saying for months that he and several other NHL GMs feel that the McEichel draft is special in that it is deep and skilled players 1-20. Murray feels that the superior players will be gone after number 20. However, beggars can't be choosers. Desperate GMs like Jim Rutherford in Pittsburgh wilk do almost anything to get his hands on a first rounder in the McEichel draft. Also true of Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic who are looking to add another 2015 first rounder to their war chest.
Chiarelli is also looking to build the Oilers through the unrestricted free agent market. Oilers owner Daryl Katz will give Chiarelli the green light to over spend on free agents when the market opens in July. The Oilers have historically had trouble recruiting free agents to Edmonton. If Chiarelli has to throw stupid money at free agents then so be it. Having Connor McDavid there will help Chiarelli to recruit more name players in the future.
I can totally see Chiarelli and Tim Murray picking star players off of the rosters of salary cap troubled teams like the Blackhawks, Kings, and Blues.