Musings: Dwindling list of available D-men and pre-draft player movement

Kevin Shattenkirk is on the market, but he’s one year away from free agency (Photo credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)

– The list of available puck-moving defensemen has quickly dwindled with the Ducks re-signing Sami Vatanen and Avalanche GM Joe Sakic insisting he will keep Tyson Barrie. The one possibility floating around that still makes a lot of sense is a match with Minnesota, which might be willing to part with Matt Dumba, Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, or Jonas Brodin in exchange for an impact forward. There were rumors a few weeks back that the Wild coveted Derek Stepan, so there’s some smoke here.

– The one other big name that looks like he may be on the move is Kevin Shattenkirk. It’s common knowledge that Shattenkirk would love to be a Blueshirt, but with one year remaining on his current contract and a hefty raise inevitable, moving major assets to acquire him is not without risk. A Shattenkirk for Rick Nash swap still seems possible, but St. Louis has cap woes of its own that makes things tricky.

– If I were a Coyotes fan, this explanation by baby GM John Chayka after acquiring the negotiating rights to Alex Goligoski would really inspire confidence in the team’s direction. Probably the third-best UFA D-man after Yandle and Goligoski is fellow former Stars blueliner Jason Demers, who is reportedly seeking $5.5 million annually. Demers seems like a potential consolation prize for the Rangers and while I like the player, this has me nervous. Too much money and not a great enough impact.

– With the draft coming up on Friday, ESPN’s prospect guru Corey Pronman took a look back at his last five years of pre-draft prospect evaluations and compiled a list ranking the top 30 players during their draft year that’s well worth your time.

– Brilliant job by the Hurricanes swiping Teuvo Teravainen from Chicago as the prize for taking on Bryan Bickell’s contract. Carolina was surprisingly competitive last season based on many metrics and has really begun to assemble a stable of talented young players.

Following that move up by re-signing Cam Ward for two years, $6.6 million was a bit puzzling though.

– The list of cap casualties the Blackhawks have had to stomach to keep their core together is absurd.

– Pretty hilarious piece here analyzing the Mighty Ducks’ Corsi and PDO and coming to the conclusion Gordon Bombay was an awful coach. I’m glad we’re getting to the point we can move past the #Fancystats wars and have some fun with it.

– On that note, one thing we need to happen this summer is for Phil Kessel to bring the Stanley Cup to Toronto and eat hot dogs out of it on the street in front of Air Canada Centre or Steve Simmons’ office.

– Major kudos to the NHL and its clubs for being such strong supporters of green initiatives. This is one area where hockey is significantly more progressive than the other major sports leagues.

– This cracked me up:

—
Question time:
1) Great concept from @katyapolo. Would love to hear some thoughts from you guys on who should win from both the BSB community and on Rangers Twitter.

https://twitter.com/katyapolo/status/743443863566749696

2) What do you think the Rangers will do on defense?

3) Predict one bombshell that might happen during the draft.