By Alexander Monaghan
President

Photo Credit: Dan4th

Earlier this morning, Katie Carrera of The Washington Post, via Twitter, reported the Washington Capitals re-signed forward Brooks Laich to a six-year deal worth $27 million, giving him a $4.5 million cap hit by our calculations.

Did the Caps overpay to retain his services? Maybe. However, at this time in the season who doesn’t overpay? Isn’t that exactly what the free-agency period is about?

In keeping Laich, the team holds on to the devil they know. Only 13 players on the presumed market held a $4.5 million cap hit or higher and the team likely preferred to keep their reliable, 20+ goal scorer opposed to veterans like Jason Arnott and Scott Hannan – who are both among those 13 referenced players. When your options to replace Laich sit somewhere between Alexei Kovalev and Marco Sturm we feel the Caps made the right decision while further weakening a poor free-agent crop.

Furthermore, this signing really cannot be construed as awful when considering the comparable contracts. Prior to last season’s drop in production to 16 goals, Laich produced three straight seasons at 20 or more. Over that span he also missed only four games. Four years, four games. By comparison, a player like Martin Erat, who fails to play a full season every year, makes $5.25 million per season while never hitting 25 goals or 60 points.

Considering Laich also is capable of playing defense, we like the signing even more. No forward averaged more SH TOI and considering the Caps held an excellent PK last year — ranked 2nd behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins at 85.6 percent — they do not risk stopping a working cog in their machine.

His ability to produce, work hard and jump between the top three lines makes a guy like Laich indispensable. The team clearly knows this by locking him up through his 34th birthday.

“He’s really important to this team,” says Caps general manager George McPhee via the team’s official website. “This guy is committed. I think lots of other teams were going after him. This is an important guy for us.”

Yes, teams certainly thought of him as a top UFA option. Only 13 forwards scored more goals, six registered more assists and six more points. Of those select players, only Jussi Jokinen and Ville Leino come within a year of Laich’s age. Simply put: Laich was one of the youngest, most versatile options on the market and the Capitals capitalized on their opportunity to re-sign him.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Creative Editor

The makeover of the Philadelphia Flyers’ forward ranks continued today when GM Paul Holmgren shipped Darroll Powe to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a third-round draft pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

The move comes just four days after the GM traded captain Mike Richards and the team’s leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter in separate deals on Thursday.

Bruce Bennett / Getty Images North America

The versatile, 5′ 11″, 212-pounder was a restricted free agent, and is the latest forward to be subtracted from last season’s roster.  Powe, a natural center playing on the flank, was another in a long line of defense-oriented Flyers’ wingers.  The gritty, 26-year-old native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan played in 204 games with the Orange-and-Black, scoring 22 goals and recording 41 points, while racking up 130 PIMs.

Powe played in a career-high 81 games this past season, scoring seven goals and 17 points.  He was also one of the top four penalty-killers on the club, and scored his first two career shorthanded markers last year.  In 40 career playoff contests, Powe has scored one goal and five points.

Either Holmgren felt that Powe would be seeking a big raise on the $725,000 cap hit from last season, or the Flyers’ GM is attempting to clear cap space for something bigger when Friday’s free agency period opens.

Despite assurances in the press that no more major moves are in the team’s future, rumors have persisted that Philadelphia is interested in several free agent forwards.  Among those mentioned are UFAs Brooks Laich and Brad Richards.  There have even been murmurs that Holmgren will attempt to sign Tampa Bay Lightning RFA Steven Stamkos to an offer sheet.

While it would seem inconceivable to think a team could pry the goal-scoring wunderkind away from the Lightning, most would have said the same about the possibility of Richards and Carter being dealt away within an hour of each other this time last week.  Those moves show that just about anything is possible in the new NHL – even with a restrictive salary cap in place.

With 19 players under contract for the 2011-12 season, Holmgren is in excess of $6.7 million beneath the cap ceiling.  Talk continues to be that winger Kris Versteeg and his nearly-$3.1 million cap hit may be on the move at some point, and Holmgren could really increase the amount of salary he has to work with by getting Scott Hartnell to waive his NTC and move the left winger out of Philly.  With the departure of Richards and Carter, Hartnell incredibly is now the Flyers’ second-highest salaried forward (to Danny Briere’s $6.5 million).

Philadelphia still has the matter of re-signing Ville Leino, who is set to become an UFA Friday.  Leino is reportedly seeking something in the neighborhood of $4 million per year in a new deal.  Holmgren also has to sign newly-acquired RFA forwards Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds, and it is looking increasingly likely that RFA Dan Carcillo will not be brought back.

Two Re-Signed

In other moves on Monday, Philadelphia re-signed a pair of RFA forwards in Andreas Nodl and Tom Sestito.  Nodl’s deal was for two years at $845,000 annually, while the terms Sestito’s deal were not released.

Nodl, 24, got off to a blistering start last year, scoring six goals and 10 points in his first 14 games.  But he tailed off greatly, and the 6′ 1″, 196-pound Austrian-native finished with just 11 goals and 22 points in 67 contests.

The 23-year-old, 6′ 5″, 228-pound Sestito may end up making the opening night Flyers’ roster.  As Holmgren looks to cut costs in certain areas, he may try to move or even buyout Jody Shelley – who is scheduled to make $1.1 million in each of the next two seasons – and have Sestito remain as the club’s enforcer.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

At a point last season the team decided to use Tomas Fleischmann at the pivot position but quickly moved him off the line in favor of Brendan Morrison and then later Eric Belanger. Sure enough this season they are trying Fleischmann there again, who has very limited experience playing the position.

The winger-turned-pivot may be the right choice for the job as they continue to experiment.  However, head coach Bruce Boudreau found out recently he probably should keep Nicklas Backstrom with Alexander Ovechkin.  Boudreau tried Backstrom on the second line in between Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich to mixed results.  The defensive awareness of both Backstrom and Laich actually counteracted each other and made the trio less dangerous.  Meanwhile, Fleischmann also did not work with Ovechkin and Mike Knuble.

In fact, the experiment lasted all of one period before the Capitals switched back and eventually defeated the lowly New York Islanders in overtime.

Faceoff percentage is becoming a somewhat concerning stat for the club as they rely more and more on Backstrom to take important draws in the defensive zone.  According to Neil Greenberg at Capitals Insider, Backstrom has taken the majority of his draws on the other end of the ice.  Eventually all of this pressure could throw off his production somewhat as he is below a point-per-game pace through five (although that is clearly nothing to worry about this early in the season).

Nevertheless, with all of these problems the team still manages to win.  Their goals forced are fourth in the League despite playing one less game than the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.  As expected they sit at the top of their division and could hold that position for the rest of the season.

The offense with its supposed hole up the middle continues to run effectively, so the team probably will maintain the course as they did last season.  One thing they still need to improve on is grit on the blue line, especially since they are currently missing both Mike Green and Tom Poti.  However, if the team continues their winning ways with all their flaws they will probably hold onto their $3,344,818 million cap space and splurge at the deadline.

It seems like the Caps will stay the course and will only fix a hole if they actually stop winning.  The jury will remain out if this super-skilled dynamic team can translate this regular season success into the playoffs but it looks like they will take another go at it without added grit.

When the Washinton Capitals re-signed center Eric Belanger, it was believed he would come at the expense of versatile forward Tomas Fleischmann. With only one year left before becoming an unrestricted free agent and other forwards like Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich needing to be re-signed, the man known in DC as Flash may be utilizing his super-speed for another team when the season starts.

Fleischmann broke the 20 goal plateau last season for the first time in his career and finished with 23 goals and 28 assists.  Although he managed to put up nice totals he battled injuries like he has almost every year.  His production in 69 games looks impressive, however six other forwards scored over 20 goals, with Flash only scoring more than third-line presence Eric Fehr.

His non-contact game and inability to work the corners make the Capitals even weaker come playoff time.  For the third straight season the team failed to make a deep playoff run and it could be because of relying too much on finesse.

Nevertheless, the team simply cannot trade Semin or Mike Green, despite the charmin-soft game they play.  Bruce Boudreau’s run-and-gun system feeds their consistent output so as long as they can put the puck in the net they will be excused.  In summary, the Caps are forced to live and die by the sword with many of their more talented players.

But why should they accept the same of an injury prone, defensively challenged but skilled winger?

With all the skill keeping him would be a luxury.  Filling the roster with tougher or more defensively responsible players like DJ King, Matt Bradley, Belanger and Jason Chimera could balance the team while allowing Fehr to play on a top-two line role.

Moving Fleischmann for a defenseman would be an excellent management of assets but the team looks to have another motivation to trade him.

According to Cult of Hockey, he is being shopped for either Sheldon Souray or Kevin Bieksa which honestly could be a bit more of the same.  Replacing a soft but skilled forward for a defenseman could be even a lateral move which could block either John Carlson or Karl Alzner but would show that GM George McPhee feels his team’s best opportunity to win would be now with Semin and Laich still on board.

In short, Fleischmann is part of the problem but it is a problem the team still fails to see.  Until the team has more balance, they look like another President’s Trophy winner and playoff exit– which bodes well for fantasy owners and not fans.

If you liked this article feel free to follow be on Twitter (@NHLHotStove) or check out my other work at rockmelikeahurricanes.com, dailyfaceoff.com and occasionally at Hockey Independent.

It was the first home game of the fairy tale Canadiens, returning to Montreal with a very unexpected win in game one of the series against the wrecking ball that is the Washington Capitals. Expectations were very high for this team, and it could be heard from the 21,273 fans, or shall we call them referees, filling the seats of the Bell Centre Monday evening. The fans knew that their team could score goals, just as they had in their previous 6-5 OT loss in Washington, and the fact that they had blown a two, and then one goal lead in the third period was nothing to fret, Jaroslav Halak was in nets!

Right?

The Canadiens did what was expected of them in first frame. With the vibrant crowd the Habs have always had behind them in a very loud fashion, they came out flying from the start, pushing and shoving to the best of their abilities (and size) and firing as many shots as possible towards a rusty Varlamov. Yet the Canadiens’ scoring chances were severely undermined by two useless penalties taken by Andrei Kostitsyn at 7:52 and Tomas Plekanec at 16:40 for high-sticking and tripping, respectively. Regardless, the Habs seemed to be energized by the crowd and were able to fire 10 shots on Varlamov, including a great shorthanded chance by Brian Gionta during Kostitsyn’s penalty. The Habs seemed set to win another upset game on home ice, and if you listened to the noise from the fans, you’d think they were about to win the cup.

If I had told any Montrealer at the end of the regular season that #41 Jaroslav Halak would let in eight goals in 51:25 before getting chased in favour of Carey Price, chances are various objects would have been thrown at me, including, but not limited to, rocks, OPUS cards, school bags, and a copy of the latest 24hrs newspaper. Let’s face it, they would have been right; the goalie’s stellar play had kept the Habs in the playoff race. But ever since letting in three goals in the final period of regulation in game two, and the ensuing Capitals GWG in OT, Halak’s play has been anything but stellar. His situation was no different in the second frame of game three.

The Capital’s first goal came only 1:06 into the second period, on a shorthanded attempt by Boyd Gordon. Gordon was fed a long pass from Tom Poti which reached him behind the Montreal defensemen. All that was left for him then was to skate up the wing, shoot the puck and take advantage of the fact that Halak couldn’t cover it up to push in the loose puck.

Three and a half minutes later, Brooks Laich’s silenced the enthusiastic Montreal crowd with a shot from the left of a very well screened Halak. Handling the puck nicely behind the opposing net, Laich is able to pass the puck to an open Mike Green before getting himself open enough to take the pass back and fire a quick wrister past two Habs, two Caps, a walled-in Halak and into the twine. The shot was not a powerful one, and should have been a routine save for Halak, had he been ready for the shot and not trying to see past the four players completely blocking his sight.

The nail in number 41’s coffin came at 8:33 of the second. Following a laser of a slap shot by Montreal defenseman Marc-André Bergeron, which hit Capitals netminder Semyon Varlamov straight in the mask, Laich picked up the juicy rebound and carried the puck out of his zone before passing it to Brendan Morrison, who shot from the circle. Unable to control the rebound, a crashing-the-net Eric Fehr easily picked up the puck and slammed it home, making it 3-0 for the Caps. Habs coach Jacques Martin then decided to do the one thing no Canadiens fan hoped he would see during the playoffs: he sent Carey Price into nets. With a 13-20-5 record during the regular season, hosting a .912 S% and a 2.77 GAA, Price was vastly outshone by his Slovak teammate this season, but needed to find his playoff magic of the 2007-2008 playoffs again.

What followed was what I call a gorgeous shot by a player who is by no means a stranger to gorgeous goals. The Great #8, Alexander Ovechkin scored his second of the series with a one-timer that is best defined by Pierre McGuire “I don’t care who the goalie is, there’s no stopping this.” At that point, the Habs were just getting outplayed, outmanned, outhit and outawesomed by a Washington team that was cycling the puck beautifully, communicating their intentions properly all the while controlling the game in the neutral zone with effective passes and a lot of speed, two things the small Montreal team are supposed to be built on. The Canadiens weren’t in the game, and the fans acknowledged it by flipping them off with the boo-birds.

Early in the third period, Plekanec scored his third goal of the series, a powerplay goal off a hooking penalty by Laich. The Montreal crowd seemed to regain a little life, but after the goal, the Montreal squad returned to its lifeless hockey it had played all night long. Any hopes of a possible comeback were crushed and blown away by Matt Bradley, who scored his first goal of the playoffs 44 seconds before the end.

So what now?

First of all, if the Habs want to win just one more game, they have to do practically everything better than they did on Monday.

The only thing that was commendable was their PK, going seven for seven, limiting the Capitals to only five shots in the process. Beyond that, the list of things that the Habs need to do is roughly: crash the net, avoid stupid penalties (I’m looking at you, Scott Gomez), make better passes, crash the net, screen the opposing goaltender, pick up Varlamov’s juicy rebounds by crashing the net, better goaltending, more speed in the neutral zone, much, much better passes, and creating traffic in front of the net. You can see that the reoccurring theme here is that the Habs NEED to get in front of Varlamov.

Although size is not on Montreal’s side, speed should be, and what I saw was a Canadiens team trying to get too many shots off from the point, without any screen, and without even making an effort to try to pick up the rebound. A perfect example of this would in the first period, when Gionta rushed in on Varlamov during a shorthanded rush. The most shocking was not that Gionta got through the line of d-men uncrushed, but that after feeding him the puck, Gomez did not follow the play but returned to the bench, leaving Gionta alone. Had Gomez decided to follow the play, he would have been right on the receiving end of a fat rebound from Varlamov, and facing a wide open net.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Montreal had scored the first goal? Shorthanded? I don’t know if they would have won the game, but the roof would have been blown off by the fans, giving Montreal not one, but TWO stadiums with defective roofs! So if the Canadiens want to win the next game, look for them to go to the net more, or at least post some screens in front of Varlamov to at least give their point shots a chance of going in.

Oh and on a controversial side-note, put Price in nets, and ride the hot goaltender. Price did not look shabby at all, for all the 23 shots he faced. Until my next recap, enjoy this AMAZING playoff hockey!

Christopher Nardi
NHLHS Canadiens Correspondent
dragonlancehuma@gmail.com
Twitter: @dragonlancehuma

Atlantic Division

• A phone call at 11 a.m., followed by a drive of two-plus hours through wind and rain, provided a rough start to Chris Conner‘s Monday. Two goals to help the Penguins beat the New York Rangers, 4-2, at Madison Square Garden proved to be a perfect nightcap. Conner, promoted from AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton yesterday morning because of injuries to wingers Bill Guerin and Max Talbot, scored the winning goal last night for the Penguins, who won a second straight game for only the second time since a five-game win streak was snapped by the New Jersey Devils at home on Dec. 21.
• Dainius Zubrus will be in the lineup when the Devils visit the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night, coach Jacques Lemaire said after Zubrus made it through the full, 1-hour practice Monday at their practice rink at the Prudential Center. As if the Devils truly need anymore help, but it is good for Zubrus to finally be healthy again.
• Peter Laviolette is the first Flyers coach in memory to talk to reporters after they’ve finished interviewing players in the locker room. This may seem insignificant to the average fan, but it means the coach has a chance to review some key plays on videotape – and to cool off a bit – before taking questions on a game.
• The roster is pockmarked with deficiencies, the players are not buying whatever it is the head coach is attempting to sell, and the season is unfolding with all the joy associated with a toothache. Yet, among the most serious issues GM Glen Sather and coach John Tortorella must confront is one that has pretty much snuck up on the club the last few weeks, and that’s the dramatic deterioration of 21-year-old rookie center Artem Anisimov‘s game.
• After a day off yesterday the Islanders are back at it practicing at the Coliseum this morning. Steve Marcus will be filling in for me today, so she’ll have a practice update later, but here are just a few things until then:When the Capitals come through the Coliseum tomorrow they’ll be riding a six-game winning streak.

Northeast Division

• Lindy Ruff wasn’t pleased with the officiating Monday. The result of the game was no plus for the Buffalo Sabres’ coach, either. The Sabres concluded their longest road trip of the season with a 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The setback in GM Place dropped the Sabres to 2-3-2 on their two-week, seven-game journey.
• The Maple Leafs are on the verge of a fifth consecutive non-playoff season, and they have yet to draft a player over that span with the instant, high-level success that Drew Doughty will bring on Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Kings make a rare visit to Toronto.
• Marc Savard, looking to make his return to the Bruins lineup on Friday after being out since Jan. 7 with a knee injury, participated fully in practice yesterday.He was encouraged. With the way the Bruins are free-falling, the return of Savard is crucial.
• Pascal Leclaire, out with a concussion for almost two weeks, has started skating on his own, giving the Ottawa Senators some hope he could be back in the next few weeks. Leclaire was injured during the team’s morning skate in New York City on Jan. 14 when he was hit in the head by a shot from Mike Fisher.
• Canadiens coach Jacques Martin values intensity and hard work, and the latest shakeup in the roster was designed to send that message. Matt D’Agostini and Max Pacioretty were sent down to Hamilton on the weekend, while Sergei Kostitsyn learned he’s going to have to work for his ice time.

Southeast Division

• The Thrashers went back to the drawing board in practice Monday in an effort to fix a struggling power play unit. The Thrashers have scored just six goals the past 73 opportunities with a man advantage (eight percent), including an 0-for-12 streak in the past two games.
• One constant throughout Coach Bruce Boudreau’s tenure with the Washington Capitals has been his penchant for changing up his forward lines. But he hasn’t tinkered with them recently. In fact, Boudreau has kept the combinations consistent for 10 games, dating from Jan. 5 — a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens that catapulted the Capitals on their current run.
• Panthers winger David Booth went through his first full-scale practice Monday since a concussion three months ago and could return before the Olympic break. He skated with Gregory Campbell and Kamil Kreps on the third line. “It was pretty cool being able to practice again and do some drills. It’s been a while since I did it, so it was pretty special,” Booth said.
• It was difficult to tell if Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steve Downie could have slowed down and or stopped before he ran over goalie Mike Smith during Monday’s practice. Either way, Smith, who perhaps is a little sensitive to getting plowed given his concussion history and that he has not played in six games because of a neck strain caused by being run over by Capitals defenseman Brooks Laich, took a couple swipes at Downie’s head as they lay on the ice. Will Downie’s name ever not come up in controversy?
• Of everything Rod Brind’Amour has ever done for the Carolina Hurricanes, his willingness to turn the captaincy over to Eric Staal may be the most honorable. That changing of the guard may have been inevitable, but no one would have held it against Brind’Amour if he wanted to finish out the season and make the transition, quietly, over the summer. Instead, Brind’Amour acknowledged that his generation – the old guard of 2006 – is on its way out in Carolina, and better now than later.

Hat tip to the now defunct Illegal Curve for their permission in taking over this daily series.

Anthony Curatolo
NHLHS Senior Writer
acuratolo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @HockeyGuy_AC

Atlantic Division:

• Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello won’t use the word concussion when discussing the injury Patrik Elias suffered during Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
• More likely, it was another discouraging start and an unhappy coach – either way, something lit a fire under the Rangers Sunday night, and they responded by hammering the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2, to break a three-game skid.
• Rick DiPietro stopped Patrick Kaleta to secure a 3-2 win in the second game of his comeback from the knee surgeries that kept him sidelined for much of the past two years. “I can’t tell you how good this feels,” DiPietro said.
• Despite a 6-2 loss at GM Place on Saturday night to cap a 3-2-0 road trip, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma witnessed encouraging signs from his club over the past 11 days. “We were more determined to play our game … and that means managing the puck and executing the way we need to,” he said.
• For the Flyers, the return of goalie Ray Emery did not mean a return to their winning ways today. Left winger Brooks Laich scored two goals – including a shorthanded breakaway after he took the puck away from Flyers captain Mike Richards early in the final period – to carry the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 win at the reverberating Verizon Center.

Northeast Division:

• Buffalo enters tonight’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes in Jobing.com Arena with a 7-0-1 record against the West — the only team in the league without a regulation loss to a club in the other conference.
• Sarah Anderson of The Ottawa Citizen sat down and got some one on one interview time with Senators defenseman Chris Campoli.
• Claude Julien didn’t have a lot of answers yesterday. The Bruins coach is presiding over one extremely banged-up hockey team, and he didn’t know who would be available to him for today’s matinee against the Ottawa Senators at the Garden.
• We’ve all heard that expression: You should quit while you’re ahead. The Canadiens took it literally last night as they forged a 2-0 first period against the New York Rangers and then folded their tents en route to a 6-2 loss.
• Somewhere between the summer signing of Jonas Gustavsson and the impressive training camps of Tyler Bozak, Viktor Stalberg, Nazem Kadri and Carl Gunnarsson, Leafs Nation took a turn off the long and winding road of a team-building process and started looking for the short cut to the Stanley Cup parade.

Southeast Division:

• As the Washington Capitals’ league-leading offense shifted into high gear in recent games, one name had been conspicuously absent from the score sheet: Brooks Laich.
• While Tampa Bay players used a shotgun approach to try and score Saturday, the Panthers brought their high-powered rifles equipped with laser scopes and scored five goals on their first 15 shots to beat the Lightning 5-2.
• The Thrashers held a two-goal lead over Carolina on Saturday when it happened – again.  Atlanta had to kill off a two-man disadvantage after drawing back-to-back penalties in the third period. It was a near disaster.
• Injured Lightning goalie Mike Smith has been sent back to Tampa, but he has not suffered any setbacks and could return to practice Wednesday, team athletic trainer Tommy Mulligan said Sunday.
• Speed is the biggest difference. And smarts. And let’s not forget the goaltending. The Carolina Hurricanes have brought in players in revolving-door fashion this season from the Albany River Rats, their American Hockey League affiliate. And though most already had played some NHL games, two made their NHL debuts.

Anthony Curatolo
NHLHS Senior Writer
acuratolo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @ACHockeyGuys

Well maybe our headline is taking it a bit too far, but you can’t get a better player for your money.  Claimed off waivers last year from the Predators the 27-year-old now has 59 points in 58 games for the Thrashers. The undrafted free agent recently signed a 2 year contract worth a total of 2.6 million a modest raise from his current 487,500 cap hit.

Since he makes 487,500 this year, as a technicality we can put his stats over his salary to determine his cost-per-point production.  Prior to joining Nashville, Pevs was a point-per-game player in the AHL showing glimpses of his potential.  If the graduate from St. Lawrence University continues his pace, he may be one of the greatest bargains of all time.

He averages a goal for every 61K he makes, a small value in comparison to Dany Heatley’s 441K per goal.  The center assists on a goal for every 33K paid, making Joe Thornton’s 300K per assist look like a king’s ransom. Peverley’s 22K per point is 15K less than the next player James Neal, who is coming off an entry level contract himself.  Nobody can compare to his proverbial bang for the buck.

Comparing the Top 50 Scorers as of yesterday, the cost-per-production chart looks a little something like this:

Definitely some good bargains in the lot. If you play in a league that counts salary then this chart should help with your team’s cap.  Keith, Bourque, Parise and Backstrom all seem to be great bargains but no one is quite comparable to Peverley.

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-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
thehotstove@gmail.com