Coyotes Trim Roster:
PTO's Keith Aulie and Patrick Dwyer are cut.
Going back to junior are Christian Dvorak and Brendan Perlini. (Too bad, would gave liked one of them to surprise and steal a spot, but it was always super unlikely).
To the AHL: Craig Cunningham, Tyler Gaudet, Lucas Lessio, Mark Langhammer, Dakota Mermis, Brebdan Shinnimin and goalie Niklas Treutle.
31 players remain in camp.
Per Coyotes Official Press Release
Since +/- is the NHL's worst stat, I thought it would make sense to appropriate it and make it useful as we review the best and worst of the past week in the NHL.
PLUS: The Buffalo Sabres. I am really excited to watch this team this year and something that I said in one of the comment sections the other day bears repeating: No team in NHL history has ever added so much single talent between games.
Between the time when the Sabres played their last game of 2014-15 and when they play their first game of this season, they'll have added Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, Sam Reinhart and Cody Franson. Crazy.
I think the Sabres are a Playoff team.
Now, maybe another team has done that before, but I looked and couldn't find the equivalent. That roster is insane.
PLUS: 12 Days until the Coyotes kick off the season, 10 until the season is officially underway and just six until my annual hockey draft.
MINUS: Speaking of fantasy sports, it looks like this guy Mike Van Gene is going to three-peat our baseball pool. What a jerk.
The worst part is that he's so classy and hardly ever uses his three-peat as a reason to act like a WWF heel. And this joker also won the first two weeks of our poker league. Expletive deleted him. There is nothing worse than a classy winner. At least if the winner is an out of control egomaniac you can hate him.
PLUS: Last night I went to a local restaurant and ate a burger with a jalapeno popper on it, it was the best thing I've ever had. I also had deep-fried cheese kurds, which were the second best thing I've ever had.
PLUS: Father John Misty. This guy is a musical genius and his new(ish) album I Love You, Honeybear is probably the best album of 2015.
A creative trade here would be really smart for the Leafs. If they could get the Devils to take Lupul and Bozak back, it would be genius.
MINUS: Is the mainstream hockey media so removed from analytics that they honestly think Kadri for Zajac isn't the stupidest idea since trickle down economics?
Saying Kadri - a 24 year old #1 centre - is going to be traded to the Devils for a 30 year old number 3 centre with a Clarkson-esque contract is the most over-the-top thing I've ever heard. If you suggested that the Penguins would ship Crosby to Toronto for Kadri, it would be a less stupid thing to say. Unbelievable.
MINUS: The new contract for Seabrook. An almost $7 million cap hit for a guy who'll be 31 when the contract kicks in? Terrible. This is classic paying for what a player did for you and giving him a emotionally based reward contract. He's a good player, don't get me wrong, but this is a bad deal.
PLUS: By all accounts Domi, Strome and Duclair are all having pretty decent training camps. I can't wait to see these guys play.
PLUS: I don't really care about the NBA, but I do like the Raptors and I think it's pretty cool they got the former #1 pick from 2013, Anthony Bennett. What I don't get: how bad to you have to be/act and how little do you have to care about your game in order to go from the first-overall pick to clearing waivers in two years?
PLUS: Mission Impossible 5. I love those things. I hope they make ten of 'em.
PLUS: Should be a flurry of trades in the next week or so as teams set their rosters for opening night. That's always fun.
PLUS: Carolina Hurricanes. Watch out for this team, no one is giving them any credit, but their roster is chalk full of quality young defensemen, they possess the puck very well and Jordan Staal remains the most effective, least recognized player in the NHL.
They could be a surprise team this year.
PLUS: Jake Gardiner's training camp performance has been unreal. Sited as the best player already in at least two games, I fully expect Gardiner to be the Leafs best defensemen this season. The guy gets a bad rap, but he's a really solid player.
Thanks for reading.