Five for Howling's fantasy corner presents a guide to the general rules of fantasy hockey. A friendly introduction to the game for beginners and a helpful tuneup for veterans of the fantasy hockey world.

Every year, millions of people indulge in playing some form of fantasy sports. It is a fun way to interact with your favorite games in a social setting with friends, family members or even complete strangers. Despite all the people engaging in and enjoying fantasy sports, there are still many who have never been involved in fantasy in any way.

One of the major reasons why people do not partake in fantasy games is that they do not feel like they understand the rules in advance, thus starting at a disadvantage. In an effort to hopefully get more people into the greatness that is fantasy hockey, here is a helpful introduction into the rules and setup for fantasy hockey.

What is fantasy hockey?

Fantasy hockey is a competition where you try to assemble the best collection of players to win either head-to-head matchups or dominate an entire season from start to finish. You assemble your group of players most often through a draft. Most fantasy hockey leagues use teams with nine forwards, six defensemen, one utility player (a forward or defenseman, player's choice), two goalies and five to seven bench spots.

You win or lose by having your players tally points in multiple statistical categories, most commonly these: goals, assists, points, power play points, shots, penalty minutes, plus/minus (+/-), time on ice (for forwards and defensemen), wins, goals against average (GAA), save percentage (SV%), shots against and shutouts (goalies). We will cover basic draft ideas and strategies in next week's article.

How do I play?

There are two common formats used to play fantasy hockey: head-to-head or rotisserie.

How does a head to head league work?

Head-to-head leagues are made up of anywhere from eight to 16 teams and must have an even number of teams. You will play against another team in a predetermined length of time that determines a single "game", most often one or two weeks. In a H2H league, you can play any combination of players available to you at any time.

Each team can play anybody in their lineup that has a game on that day as long as they have an open roster spot. This year, the first NHL game of the season is on Wednesday, October 8, so "Game 1" will begin on a Wednesday.

Most leagues will use a two-week segment to begin the season to eliminate the game imbalance that will exist due to scheduling. Take this table concerning the schedule for the first week of the season for the Pacific Division teams for example:

In a one-week league, a team made up mostly of Anaheim, Calgary and Los Angeles players would have a huge advantage based on the sheer number of games those teams play in the opening week. Now let's look at the same schedule over the opening two weeks for each team:

While there is still a gap from most games played (Calgary with eight) to least games (Arizona and Vancouver with five), there is more balanced distribution with the larger sample size. There will always be segments where a particular team plays a relatively shallow number of games or a large amount. Managing those segments is an important skill in head-to-head leagues, one that can be maximized by your waiver wire. We will talk about waivers shortly.

The key to H2H leagues is managing your lineup on a daily basis. Since there is no limit to games played per position in the majority of these leagues, you can have anyone playing a game that day in your lineup. These leagues require more daily management than rotisserie leagues and play much closer to a traditional fantasy football league. To win the match-up, you will need to win more statistical categories than your opponent (10 categories for most leagues). In H2H leagues, the standings can be done one of two ways, simple win/loss record based on the overall result of the segment or total category record.

For example, your team scores 25 goals and your opponent scores 22, you win the goals category. If your team has 48 assists, but your opponent has 51, they win in assists. In most leagues, there are 10 categories that will be used, so at the end of the segment you can have a category record ranging from 10-0-0 to 0-10-0 (you can also tie categories). If you are in a league that uses category results, they continually tally over the course of the season, so every match-up is worth 10 categories.

No matter how your league scores its segments, most H2H leagues will end with a playoff, usually taking the four teams that finish the regular season with the best records. These teams will face off with the best record taking on the fourth best and two playing three. The winners of those segments will play each other for the league championship.

What is a rotisserie league?

Rotisserie leagues are slightly easier to explain. In a rotisserie league, there are no segments. It simply tallies everything from the first game of the NHL season to the last. Rotisserie leagues can be made up of almost any number of teams, including odd numbers since there is never a head-to-head matchup needed. To win a rotisserie league, you must earn the most points at the end of the year. You earn points in these leagues by performing well in the statistical categories the league uses. For each category a league tracks, there is a number of points that can be earned based on the number of teams in the league.

For example, if you play in a league that tracks goals, assists, points, power play points, shots, time on ice, goalie wins, GAA, SV% and shutouts and there are 10 teams in the league, you can earn a maximum of 100 points in the league. Each category gives you points based on how you finish in that category relative to your league mates. A first place finish is worth 10 points, a second place finish is worth nine, third place is worth eight and so on. Ties in a category are split into halves, so if you tie for second, you get 8.5 points for the category. So here is a hypothetical point tally for a team at the end of the season for this league:

At the end of the year, this team earned 62 points and would be compared against the totals of the other nine teams in the league. The team with the highest total of points is the winner.

Throughout a rotisserie year, it will keep you abreast of your team's current rankings in the individual categories your league tallies, giving you an idea of what you need to be better in. For example, the team above had excellent overall goaltending, ranking high in wins as well as goals against and save percentage, but struggled on special teams with a low assist and power play points total. Perhaps they could have traded a goaltender for a special teams specialist or a high assist player? These are the things to watch for in a rotisserie league.

One other aspect of these leagues that can be difficult for newcomers and veterans alike is that the majority of rotisserie leagues have a cap level on the number of games allowed per position. This means that you have to pay attention to games played limits. Most rotisserie leagues allow for nine forwards, six defensemen and a utility player, so over the course of the season you are allowed 738 games for your forwards (nine times 82, the number of games in a NHL season), 492 games for defenders and 82 games for your utility position. This means that you have the option to sub players in and out of your lineup at will, but you will reach your game cap very early in the season.

Players go through slumps and suffer injuries over a season, and so you may move a player that you would normally play from your lineup to your bench. This is normal and acceptable, but know that this can change your number of games left available for that position, so monitor your game limits carefully, especially at the end of the year (most online league hosts have easily understandable game limit monitors to help you).

One of my players is injured, what do I do?

Welcome to the waiver wire. Throughout a season, players will underperform or get injured, hampering your ability to field a useful lineup. The way to fix this is to add a player via waivers. You can add any player not currently on any other teams roster to your own by also dropping a player currently owned by you. If more than one team tries to add the same player, the waiver process comes into play.

The process allows the team with the worst record (in H2H leagues) or the team with the higher waiver priority (rotisserie) to get the player added, much like how waivers work in the NHL. Waiver priority changes throughout the season based on other teams use of the waiver wire. If you are in a 10 team league and your waiver priority is three, only teams with the first or second priority can get that player before you if they claim him.

Once you add a player via waivers, your priority resets to the lowest in the league. Some teams will use the waiver wire every day to keep hot players from being picked up by opposing teams or cycling nominally injured players out of their lineup. Other teams will never use the wire at all. There is no right or wrong way to use waivers, but knowing how to use it can be the difference between picking up this season's Tomas Hertl or Ben Bishopor missing out completely.

Other times, players may simply be free agents and can be acquired on a first-come, first-served basis. Check your league rules as some leagues only put players on waivers when they are initially dropped by other teams, while other leagues put all free agents on waivers every week.

***

With all the above information at your disposal, I hope you will have the inspiration to join a fantasy hockey league this season, either for the first time or add a new one to your yearly activity list. Join me again next week when we turn to the draft process and have a beginner's guide to drafting with basic strategies and ideas.

Bonus Section

For those of you who may have missed it, I am starting a Five For Howling fantasy league for the upcoming year. There are already interested parties and we need more to come to the party. This will be a free league with open arms for fantasy newcomers. Obviously, since I do write for this site, being a Coyote fan is preferred, but if you come here just for general hockey goodness, all fans are welcome.

Here's a handy quiz to make sure you're in game shape as a Blues fan

September is here, and it truly is the greatest month. Temperatures start to drop, the leaves are turning, baseball starts to begin to get ready to almost be interesting, football dominates the weekends, and the best thing of all: NHL Training Camps. Here, everyone has a clean slate. Every team is full of promise and potential. Who'll make the team? Who'll start out in the AHL? Excitement is in the air, in every breath you take.

Just as the players have to prove themselves to prepare for the season, so should we as fans. You think you're ready for the season to start? Do ya? Here's a quiz for you to know for sure.

Holding The Stick is

A) a minor penalty

B) a beginner's puckhandling lesson

C) the only way Joe Thornton can communicate happiness

There are only 19 days until hockey, and today is Doan Day. In this piece, we take a look at Shane Doan's legacy.

In today's NHL, it is rare for a player to earn the title: lifer, to stay with the same team for his entire career.

Shane Doan is a lifer.

Professional hockey is always going through changes. Nothing is a sure thing. No team knows this more than the Arizona Coyotes, who over the past 20 years have been through the gauntlet. The team has experienced relocation, a name change and a variety of different jerseys. They have been sold, twice in fact, once to the NHL and once to the current owners, the Renaissance Sports and Entertainment group. During this process, there were persistent rumors of more relocation. Oh, and to top it all off, while Wayne Gretzky (yes, that Wayne Gretzky) was their coach in the mid 2000's, assistant coach Rick Tocchet was involved in a gambling scandal.

It has been quite the ride.

However, through all these variables, the Coyotes have found a constant. A player that, for the past 18 years, has suited up each and every season for the club. More players have come and gone from the organization than the amount of hair on Jim Balsillie's head, yet for the past 10 seasons, the team has only had one captain. Doan is the longest serving captain in the league and it is not even close.

With all of the advanced stats that we have access to in this day and age, no stat can measure a player's heart, or what he brings to a team in the locker room. A number cannot be placed on a player's leadership abilities. It would be nearly impossible for stat heads to figure out ways to calculate a player's value in these areas, but a way will be figured out. It may not be accurate, but that is the way the game is going. Until then, we can assume from what we see, that Doan is the heart and soul of the Coyotes. He is the undisputed team leader. Even after 18 years in the NHL, Doan knows when to put forth, and can be counted on for a solid game when needed most. Like Ken Dryden said in his book ‘The Game,' when a player becomes a presence on the ice, there are things that he doesn't need to do, because it is assumed, and known, that he can do them. Shane Doan is a presence on the ice.

Every Coyotes fan has a favorite Shane Doan moment. Some older fans remember his game winning goal against the LA Kings, way back in his rookie season, in the final game of the year that clinched a playoff berth. He only scored seven goals that year, but notched arguably the biggest one of his career. Younger fans may remember the magical run to the Western Conference Final in 2012, when Doan finally got the monkey off his back and made it beyond the first round of the playoffs. Doan's first career hat trick, also coming in that 2012 season, was special in the sense that he worked so hard, and the drama that came with it. Remember, the goal was scored with just milliseconds remaining, and had to be reviewed by the NHL head office. Eighteen years of the now 37-year-old has provided fans with many moments that will be etched in their memories forever.

Like fine wine, Doan has gotten better with age. Many of his best years have come since turning 30. There is no question that he is a franchise great. Dating back to the Winnipeg Jets days, he is the franchise leader in games played, second in career points and goals and third in assists. There is no reason to believe he will not become the franchise leader in all of those categories gicen a couple more seasons. He is even third all-time in penalty minutes.

But is he Hall of Fame worthy?

Unfortunately, right now, the short answer is no. His counting stat levels just are not at the level where they need to be. If he can manage to break the 1000 point barrier, the discussion will pick up. But for now, his 0.66 career point-per-game average is not going to cut it. He does still have time to carve out a better case for the voters.

Doan is the only remaining player on Arizona who played for the team when they were based in Winnipeg. He played key roles on teams that have been to a conference championship (such as the 2011/12 team), and seen his fair share of last and near last place teams. By season's end, Doan will be 38 years old, and in a league where players generally do not play beyond the age of 40, there is no question that his career is winding down. Nobody would blame him if he politely asked for a trade to a contender in the near future, as he has given the Coyotes all that was asked of him, and plenty more. Until that day, which may never come, he remains the captain, leader and heart of the Coyotes.

If this article was just about faceoffs Stoll would get a grade of A+++++

Corsi

When looking at Stoll's year in terms of Corsi, he clearly under performed his minutes to a certain degree. dCorsi expected better out of him than he ultimately produced, though the difference between his expected Corsi and actual Corsi per 60 minutes clearly was nowhere near as extreme as we saw with fellow bottom-six center Mike Richards. While it would be nice to see Stoll return to the positive dCorsi days of 2010-12, I think you can probably live with the kind of numbers he's posted over the last two seasons from a third line center.

An analysis of his WOWY (with or without you) numbers is a bit more negative for Stoll. Stoll spent more minutes with Dustin Brown at evens than any other player, and despite Dustin not having a great reputation for driving play on his own, Stoll clearly benefited from playing with him quite a bit. In 477 minutes together, the two posted a Corsi of 57.7%, but in 431 minutes away from Brown, Stoll had just a 53.4% Corsi. Brown, meanwhile, had an identical 57.7% Corsi in 530 minutes apart from Stoll, which is kind of amazing.

Another forward Stoll spent a great deal of time with was Dwight King. In 310 minutes together, Stoll and King had a 54.9% Corsi. Without King, Stoll did better (55.9% in 598 minutes), but King did much better without Stoll (60% Corsi in 686 minutes).

Any WOWY analysis of Stoll should come with the caveat, of course, that both Brown & King spent most of their time away from Stoll with possession monsters like Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter. Stoll's WOWYs will likely always look negative as a result, just because of who you're comparing him to. That's why I'd rather focus on how Stoll did away from other forwards, and in this case he was clearly helped immensely by playing with Brown while slightly hurt by playing with King. Other forwards Stoll spent time with last season at evens include:

-Justin Williams (60.3% Corsi in 238 minutes with Justin, 53.9% Corsi in 670 minutes without Justin)
-Trevor Lewis (49.6% Corsi in 201 minutes with Trevor, 57.2% Corsi in 707 minutes without Trevor)
-Jordan Nolan (54.9% Corsi in 124 minutes with Jordan, 55.7% Corsi in 783 minutes without Jordan)
-Kyle Clifford (57.3% Corsi in 99 minutes with Kyle, 55.4% Corsi in 809 minutes without Kyle)

Clifford and Stoll's great numbers together surprised me more than anything else, though the tiny sample should give a bit of pause. Still, this seems like something that might be worth trying again next year, perhaps with Clifford and Stoll together on a fourth line. Clifford also did worse without Stoll than with him (53.2% Corsi in 584 minutes), so there might be some real chemistry there. Ignoring an even tinier sample in 2012-13, back in 2011-12 the two had a 55.9% Corsi in 118 minutes together, better than either posted away from each other once again (though 118 minutes isn't an enormous sample by any stretch, either).

Overall, Stoll's performance in the advanced stats can basically be described as "okay, but plenty of room to improve". If he was a drag on the team's performance, he clearly wasn't an enormous drag.

Point Production

This is where most of the critique of Stoll's game comes in recent years, as his point totals have seen a precipitous drop. Stoll began his Kings career with 0.55 points-per-game in 2008-09, then followed it up with 0.64 PPG in 09-10. His 47 points that year were his highest with the Kings and second-highest of his career, behind the outlier 68 point season he had with the Oilers in 2005-06. He came back down to 0.52 PPG the following year, 2010-11, before the big drop to just 0.27 PPG in 2011-12. He rebounded a little bit to put up 0.38 PPG in the lockout shortened 2012-13 season, and last year was right around there again, scoring 27 points in 78 games (or 0.35 PPG).

So what happened to Stoll's point production after the 2010-11 season? One is inclined at first to blame it on a loss of power play time following the addition of Mike Richards, and to some extent that's true. During the 2009-10 & 2010-11 seasons Stoll had 395 minutes of power play time, scoring 26 points (and his 3.94 points/60 rate on the power play was fourth on the team during that span, behind only Kopitar, Ryan Smyth, and Jack Johnson). In the following two seasons, Stoll only played 235 minutes on the power play (well behind Richards' 311 minutes), scoring just 13 points and having the third-worst points/60 rate on the team (his 3.31 ranked only ahead of Drew Doughty's 2.62 and Dustin Penner's 0.93). It is of course worth nothing that the 2012-13 season had less minutes overall to go around due to the lockout, but he still played far less minutes on the PP compared to Richards.

On the other hand, this explanation ignores the fact that Stoll's point production at even strength has dropped quite a bit as well. At even strength, Stoll had points per 60 of 1.546 and 1.460 in 2009-10 and 10-11, respectively. Just like all of his other production stats, that cratered in 2011-12 to 0.782 points per 60, before rebounding a little to 1.041 and 1.254 in the past two seasons. Clearly, Stoll's point production could be better. The median NHL 3rd liner scored about 1.50 points per 60 last season, and Stoll fell well below that base line. His on-ice shooting percentage, while not great at 7.27%, wasn't particularly worse than most of his teammates last season either, and certainly much better than Mike Richards'. The bottom line may simply be that Stoll will never produce points at even a median 3rd line level in the NHL again, in which case his contractual terms will have to be reevaluated when he hits UFA status at the end of the upcoming season. NHL contract values are still based primarily on point totals, and it will be tough to justify signing Stoll to another $3.25 million per year deal following what will likely be three straight years of sub-standard production. The original contract was signed coming off his crater year of 2011-12, but as we've covered already he had three straight years of much stronger point production before that. This time, he will have no such recent track record.

Other Stats

One of Stoll's Achilles heels has always been his tendency to take too many penalties. Although the 2012-13 season saw Stoll take 0.6 penalties per 60 minutes, his lowest total of his entire career (and coming off of years of 1.7 penalties/60 in 2011-12 and 0.9 penalties/60 in 10-11), that rate jumped back up to 1.1 penalties/60 this past season. That made Stoll the third-worst offender on a team that, as a group, took way too many penalties last season. Stoll also failed to offset it by drawing any calls on the other team, as his 0.3 penalties drawn/60 was nothing to write home about, either. The resulting -0.8 penalty differential/60 tied with Willie Mitchell for third-worst as well, behind only Matt Greene& Kyle Clifford. Simply put, Stoll needs to take less penalties next season.

In scoring chances, Stoll was not particularly good either. In a stat that measured how many chances a player was involved in (either chances by the player himself or set-ups- intentional passes that directly lead to a scoring chance) per 60 minutes, Stoll's 4.2 I/60 was not very good at all. He was 13th on the team, both overall and among forwards (and as should probably go without saying, forwards should be involved in far more scoring chances than defensemen), with the only forwards ranking lower than Stoll last year being Nolan (3.7 I/60), Linden Vey (3.2 I/60 in only 170 even strength minutes), Kyle Clifford (2.9), and Colin Fraser (also 2.9). Not good company there, to be sure. Even Trevor Lewis was involved in more scoring chances than Jarret Stoll last season (4.7 per 60 minutes).

When it comes to zone entries, Stoll was again not a big contributor. His 6.80 carry ins per 60 was a pretty horrid stat, ahead of only Dwight King among forwards. However, Stoll also had an extremely low failed entry percentage of just 16.26% (for comparison's sake, the only forwards with smaller failed entry percentages were Tyler Toffoli at an even 16%, Fraser at 13.95% and Vey at 12.12%). This would seemingly indicate that Stoll may not be trying to carry the puck in enough. This probably has a lot to do with his third line role, but he would contribute more to the team if he tried to carry the puck in with control more often.

The one area of the game Stoll does legitimately excel in is winning faceoffs. His 54.7% faceoff winning percentage was good for 14th in the entire NHL last year, which obviously made him the leader among Kings as well. As Andrew & I discussed at some length on this past Monday night's Jewelcast, the Kings tend to use Stoll in a very specialized way, especially late in games and on the penalty kill to make use of his obvious talent. Basically, they'll often have Stoll out there to take defensive zone faceoffs, and if Stoll wins the draw he will then go for a change as soon as the puck has been cleared. Whether or not this is an optimal way to use Stoll is up for some debate; while the player he's coming off for is likely often better than Stoll, you still have to take into account the amount of time it takes for Stoll's change. However, there is no debating that Stoll's ability to win faceoffs clearly helps the team.

Speaking of Stoll on the PK, he has some talent there, though not nearly as much as some of his other contemporaries. In breaking down Mike Richards, Andrew posted a table of various Kings' forwards who tend to see a lot of time on the PK and how they performed over the past three seasons; Stoll's 16.423 shots against per 20 shorthanded minutes was better than Kopitar (17.285) and King (17.443) but not nearly as good as Richards (14.355), Lewis (15.202), or Carter (15.270). He was about on par with Fraser (16.329) and Brown (16.581), however.

2000 WWF Superstar Comparable: Dean Malenko

Malenko came to the WWF early in the year from WCW following a solid run as an undercard performer, winning the WCW Cruiserweight Title multiple times and even having a brief run as United States Champion in 1997. Malenko put on the occasional excellent match like with Scotty 2 Hotty for the WWF's version of the Cruiserweight strap, the Light Heavyweight Title, at Backlash. However, he struggled to find a regular role on television for much of the year and often found himself lost in the shuffle a bit, overshadowed by some of his "Radicalz" compatriots that made the jump to the WWF with him. But there was still nothing really wrong with Malenko's WWF tenure, at least in 2000; he put on technically proficient matches the vast majority of the time he actually made TV, and though he didn't exactly have jump-off-the-screen charisma, on the sum total of his work he was just fine. Just as it likely seems to be the case with Stoll, though, Malenko's best years were clearly behind him, and he would retire from professional wrestling the very next year, depriving us all of the awesome James Bond rip-off theme music/entrance video the WWF had debuted for Malenko just a few months prior (maybe the most underrated wrestling entrance theme ever; if Malenko had that from the start, by my very scientific calculations he would have been about 200 times more over).

Going Forward

Stoll will almost certainly find himself in a bottom six role with the Kings again this season, which as mentioned earlier is a contract year for him. Given the Kings' dicey situation with a ton of upcoming free agents following the 2014-15 season, this could very easily be Jarret's last year with the team. I would like to see him partnered up with Kyle Clifford and another forward, perhaps Lewis or someone else, in a 4th line role, giving Mike Richards the chance to play at 3rd line center instead. A Clifford-Stoll-Lewis 4th line has a chance to be an extremely solid 4th line, perhaps one of the best in the entire NHL.

Grade

So-called "gritty" players are often massively overrated by certain corners of the hockey world, and I believe it to be the case with Jarret Stoll as well. But unlike with many other players who supposedly bring "grit" and "heart" and etc etc, Stoll does at least have one statistical category where he is legiimately elite, and that's in the faceoff circle. While the actual value of winning a lot of faceoffs is debatable at best, it's definitely still a positive to some degree, and Stoll does it better than any other King and, in fact, better than the vast majority of the league. That's worth something. On the other hand, Stoll is not nearly the detriment to the team in possession that many so-called "gritty" players are; he is clearly not a particularly strong play driver, but neither is he an anchor by any means. But his point production leaves a lot to be desired, and unlike Richards and others he doesn't have an extremely low on-ice shooting percentage to point to as an explanation. Overall, I think the grade for Stoll becomes somewhat obvious: his 2013-14 season just screams C. He was helpful in some ways, not particularly helpful in others, but he clearly didn't hurt the team overall.

The 10th Edition of the Copper and Blue's Top 25 Under 25 is just around the corner but before we start looking at the future we thought we'd look at the past.

The Copper and Blue's Top 25 Under 25 is coming up on its 10th edition. We thought it would be fitting to look back at the players that have graced the list and do a "Where are they now?" for a few of the players no longer in the NHL.

A Brief History

It started back in February of 2010, right around the time Rebuild 2.0 began and as you would suspect the first edition of was essentially a who's who in the NHL. The players from that team would go on to have long and successful NHL careers. That original list of 25 included household names such as Marc Poutiot (8), Patrick O'Sullivan (9), Ryan Stone (13), Alex Plante (16) and Cody Wild (24). If you haven't figured it out yet those last few sentences are dripping with sarcasm. In fact less than half of the original top 25 actually have NHL jobs today and only 3 are still with the Oilers.

That is a pretty sorry looking list, out of those 10 that still hold NHL jobs many are barely considered replacement level. No player outside the top 25 of February 2010 have NHL jobs today and many didn't even make it past that season.

Interesting Facts

Here are some interesting things I came across while researching for this post:

• Since it's inception there have been 98 players/prospects that have qualified for the list
• 58 of those 98 have made the top 25 at least once
• Sam Gagner, Jordan Eberle and Anton Lander have made the top 25 list 9 times
• Taylor Hall, Tyler Pitlick, Teemu Hartikainen, Olivier Roy and Martin Marincin have made the top 25 list 8 times
• Kellen Jones and Cameron Abney have qualified 8 times and never cracked the top 25
• The 5 most improved players from their first appearance to their last appearance are Taylor Fedun (+23), Matin Gernat (+22), Mark Arcobello (+21), Greg Chase (+15) and Toni Rajala (+12)
• The 5 worst are Johan Motin (-23), Ryan Martindale (-22), Gilbert Brule (-18), Alex Plante (-16) and Samu Perhonen (-15)
• Eight players (Troy Hesketh, Patrick O'Sullivan, Drew Czerwonka, Jordan Bendfeld, Bryan Young, Greg Stewart, Matt Nickerson and William Quist) no longer play hockey in a recognized professional league
• Bottom 3 of all time (with 3 or more qualifying rounds) are Jordan Bendfeld (61), Bryan Pitton (60), Drew Czerwonka (59)
• Top 5 of all time are Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Sam Gagner and Nail Yakupov

Where Are They Now

There were a few players that made the cut on multiple occasions but were never able to find a home in the NHL. Names like Linus Omark or Teemu Hartikainen are the obvious ones that come to mind but there are about a dozen players that appeared promising that never made it. Names like Liam Reddox, Colten Teubert, Taylor Chorney and Alex Plante all looked destined for the Oilers big club for one reason or another but just didn't have the staying power. I guess when you can't even make the line up on the worst team in the NHL there is a pretty good chance than an NHL career may not be in your future.

Liam Reddox - Best Rank: 20

The Oilers decided not resign Reddox after the 2010-11 season. In the 2011 off season Reddox signed a one year deal with the Vaxjo Lakers of the SEL. He then signed on for two more years with the Lakers and recently he was extended for two more seasons.

Excited to have the opportunity to play in front of the lakeshow faithful for a couple more seasons!#blessed#vaxjolakers#letsgofortheguld

— Liam Reddox (@LiamReddox) April 15, 2014

Colten Teubert - Best Rank: 13

A former 1st round pick by the Los Angeles Kings, Teubert was acquired by the Oilers as part of the Dustin Penner trade. He played 24 games at the NHL level for the second worst team in the NHL but for some reason just couldn't stick with the team.

He played the remainder of his contract out in OKC but was back to where he started when the Oilers acquired him by the 2013-14 AHL playoffs.

Evidently the shine is coming off of Colton Teubert down in OKC as he is a healthy scratch tonight in the opening game of the Play-Offs

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) April 26, 2013

During the 2013-14 season Teubert played for the Lederhosen Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL (Deutsche Eishockey League) in Germany. It appears that he is headed back to Germany for the 2014-15 season but is willing to play in the NHL if the right offer comes along.

Cha Ching today #stillafreeagent NHL gm's I will play for minimum wage #worthatry#coltenteubertsigns5yeardeal$15ahour

— Colten Teubert (@tubes33) July 1, 2014

Taylor Chorney - Best Rank: 22

Chorney had a strange ride through the NHL/AHL over the last few seasons but why try to detail the events when Wikipedia puts it so eloquently.

On October 10, 2011, Chorney was placed on waivers with the purpose of being assigned with the Oklahoma City Barons. On October 11, 2011, Chorney was claimed off of waivers by the St. Louis Blues. After only two games with the Blues on November 10, 2011, he was again waived and was re-claimed by the Edmonton Oilers.

Chorney would finish off his career as Oiler with the OKC Barons but the Blues weren't done with him. On July 1, 2012 Chorney signed a one year two-way deal with the Blues and then was extended for the 2013-14 season. Chorney hasn't played a game in the NHL since the Blues waived him but has found himself a niche as an AHL veteran. He recently signed a two-way deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins and will probably find himself in Wilkes Barre Scranton come October.

Alex Plante - Best Rank: 14

From 2009 - 2012 Plante played a total of 10 NHL games, all for the Edmonton Oilers. His biggest deficiency was his foot speed (which is kind of an issue if you wanna play in the NHL). His biggest strength was that he was 6'4" and 230lbs (which is a big deal if you are going to be the next Milan Lucic).

Since the Oilers let him walk, Plante has moved to Austria and played last season for Dornbirn EC where he put up similar numbers to his AHL seasons only playing against way, way, way weaker competition. I wasn't able to find much more on Plante so I'll just leave you with this.

Lowered Expectations

The reality of the Top 25 Under 25 is that the skill level is only as deep as the Oilers' organization. So, before getting excited while reading about the attributes of Greg Chase or Jujhar Khaira just remember, Patrick O'Sullivan and Marc Pouliot were once in the top 10 of this list. Making the top 25 or even the top 15 doesn't mean a prospect is going to be the next Alex Pietrangelo, hell it doesn't even mean they'll match the lofty career of Marc Pouliot.

Slightly less irrelevant

The last time we caught up with our friend Mr. Ebert, I spent most of the article talking about how, and why, a highly-touted prospect ended up being the last overall pick of the 2012 draft (the answer was a fairly predictable combination of too-high expectation and lacklustre performance during his sophomore season in the OHL). While that was a lot of fun and games, Ebert was signed to a three-year ELC at the beginning of this summer and it's time to take a look at his recent performance and how he might fit into the King's future plans.

(Regarding the vote total: please remember that there were 14 voters, ranking from 25 to 1. Thus, the maximum possible vote total was 350.)

A quick look at his numbers will show you that he's been a model of consistency in terms of output, generally being one of his team's point-producing leaders on the defensive end. Ebert began his major junior career putting up good numbers on a terrible team, and then he continued to put up good numbers on good ranging to great teams, with a correspondingly smaller portion of the offensive burden being placed on his shoulders (I also suspect that his powerplay time took a dip as he was no longer the only guy who could make a shot from the point, so increasing his point totals looks even more impressive.) Basically, the numbers are fine and are not the problem.

The problem is that the on-ice product doesn't quite seem to be living up to the potential that Ebert has sometimes demonstrated. Most scouting reports on him are enthusiastic about the individual aspects of his overall player package noting that he's got a good build and a great shot, skates decently well, and seems to have the fundamental vision and hockey sense which could take him to the NHL. But while there are a significant number of moments when he's the best player on the ice, he seems to have decision-making lapses which are totally disproportionate to his ability. I've seen some people euphemistically refer to it as his lack of focus or lack of engagement - whatever you want to call it, it's held him back.

Luckily, I think it's something he's at least starting to grow out of. This past season, and particularly after his mid-season trade, it was widely remarked-upon that he was a much more dependable presence at both ends of the ice. While his 16-points-in-20-playoff-games (and then five points in four games during the Memorial Cup) was probably not a sustainable level of production, the reliability of his overall game seems to be catching up to his raw ability. While he might never be the superstar he was projected to be at 16, he's already clearly out-performing expectations for a seventh-round pick, so things are certainly looking up for him again.

While Ebert is still eligible for an overage season in the OHL, he's already been there for four full season and his team, the Guelph Storm, is now being dismantled after a failed Memorial-Cup-or-bust run. Ebert begins this season with the Monarchs, and I think it's quite likely that he'll stay there. The Los Angeles Kings suddenly seem to have a glut of defensive prospects who aren't quite ready but who could be serviceable two-way players in 2015/16 and onwards. Of that group, I think Ebert has one of the highest ceilings, and if he continues to play and develop as he has since being drafted, I think he'll be near the front of that pack.

The loss of Radim Vrbata raises questions off the ice as well.

When Radim Vrbata departed for the cooler, wetter and more financially-palatable pastures of Vancouver in early July, Arizona Coyotes fans were left with a sense of shock, confusion and sadness. The void left in the wake of Vrbata's absence was quite noticeable, even to the most casual fan.

Shortly after news broke of the signing, it was easy to see why the Coyotes passed on bring back the scoring winger. Vrbata signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Canucks, an AAV Arizona surely balked at. In the end, it was just another case of losing a quality player to a team that could afford to shell out more money. Except that was not the case at all.

What made the deal ultimately fail? Vrbata wanted a no-move/no-trade clause in his contract. Aside from Shane Doan, Maloney never goes there

— Craig Morgan (@cmorganfoxaz) July 3, 2014

This stance by general manager Don Maloney coupled with reports of Vrbata's willingness to give the Desert Dogs a hometown discount, of sorts, turned fans' sorrow into anger. Maloney told FOX Sports Arizona's Craig Morgan, "Once you open the door for one person then everyone from there on in is looking for it," in regards to handing out NMCs/NTCs.

Will Maloney regret drawing this line in the sand? Probably not.

While the loss of Vrbata certainly hurts Arizona's chances to qualify for the postseason in 2014-15, ensuring roster flexibility for years to come is more important. Being trapped with a disgruntled or ineffective player with no ability to move them off the roster is an unenviable and tumultuous situation for any GM to handle. Maloney has set a precedent for all future contract negotiations that, in the end, will benefit the team.

There is concern that avoiding full NMCs (which by design includes a full NTC unless otherwise negotiated) will hinder the Coyotes in the free agent market. However, the number of top players with full NMCs for the duration of their contracts is fairly small. Per Cap Geek, of the top 50 players with the highest cap hits, only 14 (28%) have full NMCs for their entire contracts. Including players who have NMCs in sections of their contract, that number jumps to 19. Unless the Coyotes grow or go after a bonafide star (top-20 player in the league), not handing out full NTCs should not be a deal breaker.

Such a strategy has worked well for the Los Angeles Kings, who currently have just one player on their roster with a NMC, Mike Richards, and they did not sign the forward to that contract (there is also dispute as to whether Richards' trade to Los Angeles voided the NMC). Championship teams can be built without full NMCs.

Despite Maloney's reluctance to hand out these types of clauses, there are three Coyotes who have some sort of NMC. The first is Martin Erat, who was given a full NMC when he signed a seven-year, $31.5 million contract with the Nashville Predators in 2008. Since Erat is in the last year of that deal and making just $2.25 million in salary, the clause is unlikely to cause any problems. Mike Smith also has a NMC in his deal, but for only the first three years of the six-year, $34 million contract he signed before last season. The goaltender has just a full NTC for the final three years.

The only player on the Coyotes with a full NMC for the duration of his contract that was handed out by Maloney is Shane Doan. So yes, there is precedent of a right winger with a big money offer from the Canucks getting a full NMC to take less money to stay in the Valley. But, the captain's legacy in Sedona Red is unmatched and gives an out for Maloney to dismiss Doan's NMC as a special circumstance.

Will Maloney one day hand out a full NMC for an entire contract? There is a decent chance. Whether that player is Oliver Ekman-Larsson or a currently unforeseen star the Coyotes grab down the line, Maloney might eventually have to soften his stance. Today is not that day.

A quick look at some promising prospects who have gone on to success in the NHL between 2003 and 2013.

Sunday's Weekly Question asked "which prospect from the last ten years got your hopes up only to dash them?" Given the relative success of that piece, I thought it would be interesting to look at successful prospects. For this exercise to be interesting at all, Erik Karlsson is automatically disqualified because he is without a doubt the greatest. Things to consider: draft position, career with Ottawa, career as a whole, and potential.

Which prospect from the past ten years has been the most successful?

Brian Elliott

Elliott was drafted 291^st overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2003. He spent four seasons at the University of Wisconsin, where he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and led the Badgers to the 2006 NCAA National Championship. He spent parts of four seasons with the Sens, as both the starter and the back-up. His inconsistent play led to Ottawa trading him to the Colorado Avalanche for Craig Anderson in 2011. He finished the season 2-12 with the Avalanche and was not offered a contract. He signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Blues in 2011. He had a record-setting 2011-12 season, winning the William M. Jennings Trophy (with Jaroslav Halak) and the Roger Crozier Award (for highest save percentage) and has re-signed with the Blues.

Erik Condra

Condra was drafted 211^th overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2006. Condra had a very successful college career; he spent four years at the University of Notre Dame. Upon graduation, he split the 2010-11 season between the NHL and the AHL, and was returned to the BSens for their Calder Cup run in 2011. 2011-12 was his first full season in the NHL and Condra established himself as a reliable defensive forward. In four seasons in Ottawa, he has proven to be a solid possession player, not bad for a late pick.

Patrick Wiercioch

Wiercioch was drafted 42^nd overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2008. After two successful seasons with the University of Denver, he turned pro, joining Bingo in 2010-2011. He made his NHL debut in 2010-2011, playing 8 games with the Senators. His career was jeopardized when he suffered a life-threatening injury on December 9, 2011. Remarkably, he returned to the Binghamton line-up six weeks later, on January 27, 2012. Early in the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 campaign, Wiercioch was recalled by the Senators and has remained in the NHL since, re-signing this past summer. Despite being a healthy scratch numerous times last season, Wiercioch has shown promise offensively (44 points in 103 games) and rates favourably with advanced stats.

Zach Smith

He was drafted 79^th overall by the Senators in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft after four seasons with the Swift Current Broncos and an amateur tryout with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Smith spent the majority of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons with the Binghamton Senators before securing a place in Ottawa during the 2010-11 season and has been a full-time player ever since. Not the most offensive-minded player in the group, Smith has been reliable and valuable during his five seasons with the Senators, not bad for a mid-round pick.

Jakob Silfverberg

Silfverberg was drafted 39^th overall by the Senators in 2009. He opted to return to Sweden for the 2011-2012 season, winning the Guldhjälmen Award, as the MVP of the regular season, the Guldpucken award as player of the year, and finished second in league scoring. He was named MVP of the players, broke Daniel Alfredsson's playoff scoring record, and helped Brynäs win the Swedish championship. On the heels of his victory in Sweden, Silfverberg joined the Senators for their playoff push against the New York Rangers, making his NHL debut in the final two games of the series. A regular for the Sens during the 2012-2013 season, he was traded on July 5, 2013 with Stefan Noesen and a firstround pick for Bobby Ryan. His first season in Anaheim was marred by injury, but he chipped in 23 points in 52 games.

Robin Lehner

Lehner was drafted 46^th overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2009. He played for Frölunda until he was drafted by the Senators. Lehner then moved to Canada and spent one season with the Greyhounds before joining the Binghamton Senators in 2010. The day after his AHL debut, Lehner was called up because of an injury to Pascal Leclaire. He made his NHL debut at 19 years, two months, when he played four minutes against Montreal. Lehner was an important contributor for the B-Sens during their Calder Cup-winning run in 2011 and was named playoff MVP. He is currently Ottawa's backup goalie and has signed an extension with the team, hoping to eventually replace Craig Anderson as starter.

Mark Stone

Stone was drafted 178^th overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2010. Stone played his junior hockey with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. Stone's offensive production exploded after being drafted by the Senators. In his final two years with Brandon, Stone had 78 goals, 151 assists, and 229 points in 137 games. Stone played in the 2010 Memorial Cup; he also represented Canada at the World Juniors in 2012. He raised the expectations of Sens fans while wearing the Maple Leaf, scoring seven goals and recording 10 points in six games while earning a bronze medal. He made his NHL debut in the 2012 playoffs. He dressed for game five of Ottawa's first round playoff series against the New York Rangers, notching an assist on Jason Spezza's winning goal. Despite injury setbacks in 2013-2014, the late-round pick managed 19 games in the NHL, adding eight points. Hopefully, Stone finds a permanent spot in Ottawa's forward core.

Mika Zibanejad

Zibanejad was drafted sixth overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2011. He started his NHL career by making the Senators out of training camp, playing a nine game audition before returning to Djurgårdens IF for the remainder of the season. He joined Sweden at the 2012 World Junior Championship, becoming known nationally after scoring the championship-clinching winning goal. He spent the majority if the 2012-2013 season with the Senators but began the following year in the AHL with Binghamton. Recalled after a few weeks, Zibanejad is now a permanent fixture in the Sens line-up. He's put up 54 points in 120 career games in the NHL and is looking to take the next step in his development on the Sens second line.

Cody Ceci

Ceci was drafted 15th overall by the Senators in 2012. An offensive standout through four seasons with the Ottawa 67's in the OHL, he finished his junior career with the Owen Sound Attack. After playing just 30 games with the Binghamton Senators, Ceci was called up to Ottawa in December 2013 and spent the rest of the season in the NHL. As he starts his second season in the NHL, it will be interesting to see if the offensive flair he showed in junior will resurface in the NHL.

Curtis Lazar

The Edmonton Oil Kings forward was drafted 17^th overall by Ottawa in 2013. Lazar was selected to play for Team Canada at last year's World Junior Championship for the first time and made an impression at the tournament. He also exploded offensively for the Oil Kings in 2013-2014. In just 58 games, he scored 41 goals and added 35 assists, helping Edmonton to the WHL title, his and the team's second in three seasons. He was named a WHL First Team All-Star and continued his strong play in the postseason. He was second in team scoring during the WHL playoffs and had two goals and four points in five Memorial Cup games, including an overtime thriller to send the Oil Kings to the final, where he added a Memorial Cup championship to his portfolio. Lazar has yet to play an NHL game, but is the Sens most-hyped prospect in ages.

The next-gen release of EA Sports' hockey videogame is the worst thing Bergeron's name & image has ever been associated with.

The last time a Bruins player was on the cover of an NHL video game, it was Andy Moog, awaiting a scoring chance from the L.A. Kings Tomas Sandstrom as Ray Bourque laid sprawled out, and short-lived Bruin Clark Donatelli braced for impact to impede Sandstrom's opportunity. This was for NHL '94, widely regarded as the greatest hockey game of all time, and one of the best sports videogames to ever be created. So clearly, EA Sports wanted to use Patrice Bergeron as the spokesperson for what would be the next "greatest hockey game ever," right? Right??

Sadly, EA focused too much on making the game look pretty by giving fun wigs & face paint to fans, and making sure that the steps at Joe Louis Arena had cracks in them. And while the game looks astonishing—seriously, check out the recreations of Madison Square Garden and TD Garden if you haven't seen them yet—they forgot that people actually play the game, not just stare at it.

After skipping a next-gen release last year, they took extra time to make sure that NHL 15 was just right. Yet over a dozen key features that were a staple in the NHL series up through last year's NHL 14 were simply left out of the next-generation release for NHL 15. A list that includes...

What's left is a game that allows you to play exhibition games with friends in person, or play one on one against friends online. You can't play in the Winter Classic. You can't play as an NHL player coming up through the CHL and AHL. You can't be a GM and track your prospects progress, play their minor league games, or even manually draft the players you want (This will also be updated via a patch in October). No more 6-on-6 games with friends online. No more preseason games.

There were more features left out of NHL 15 than there were carried over from last year's installment.

What's additionally disturbing is that EA Sports also asked gaming sites, who they gave advanced copies of the full game to, to hold off their full reviews until after the game had been released. Clearly, hoping that people will go out the day of release and purchase the game before knowing the full extent of what has been excluded.

After the game was pre-released to members of EA Access for Xbox One users last week—players got the full game for a six-hour time period—there was much backlash over the amount that was missing, and even speculation that EA had given a mere trial of the final release, instead of the full game like Madden 15 had last month. Finally, after nearly a week of outrage, Sean "Rammer" Ramjagsingh commented via EA Forums. Read the full post, and follow the rest of the forum, here.

Thanks for being part of this journey as we head into the launch of NHL 15 on the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, the start of a new generation of hockey videogames. We’re incredibly proud of the next-generation gameplay and presentation experience we’ve created for all our fans...

However, we’re not done. We’re committed to keeping the experience fresh throughout the hockey season, in addition to the roster and ratings updates you’ve always received, the list below contains the free content updates for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 we’re working on and our expected window on when you will see them in the game...

Rammer confirmed the addition of Online Team Play, the 3 Stars of the Game feature, and a "new" GM Draft, along with vague timetables on when the updates will be made available, and admitted that the development team was "not 100% sure" that Be A Pro shift-simulation and editing of NHL players would make it into the game this year. So, while it's not the worst thing in the world, it still begs the question—why release a game when it's half-finished?

If these are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of updates, why should the public rush out to purchase the game on September 9th? What incentive is there to start a season as a player or GM, only to restart it a month or two later once the full experience is now playable? You're telling me there would've been more of a backlash if they'd announced the game would be released instead on the first day of the NHL season, but fully intact?

And don't think that playing the game on Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 will be much better of an experience. The game is essentially a clone of NHL 14, with a couple small tweaks, a roster update, and the new commentary duo of Doc Emrick and Eddie Olczyk (although without the NBC Sports presenation). Everything else is exactly the same.

It's apparent that the jump to the next-gen consoles was tough on theEA Sports Canada development team, but to be fair the NHL series has been declining since the release of NHL 11 back in fall of 2010. The Metacritic Scores—critic and user ratings—have steadily declined year after year, and last year's installment was it's lowest score since NHL 07, which was the last time the series made a console jump.

But regardless of what the status of the series is, it's clear that this year's game is being released a little undercooked. If you were to judge the game on looks alone, or how it plays once you're on the ice, it is definitely Patrice-approved. But with the game lacking as many features as it does, I'd like to think that Patrice actually passed on the opportunity, and Nino Niederreiterbecame the official spokesman of this close-but-not-quite videogame effort.

Ranked at 16th in this list of the top Kings prospects is, uh, a guy who the Kings don't even technically have the rights to anymore. Um. Well then. This is awkward.

Up next in the LA Kings' Top 25 Under 25: a free agent who is now eligiable to sign with any NHL team! Yes, that does indeed make no sense. We'll definitely have to discuss that.

(Regarding the vote total: please remember that there were 14 voters, ranking from 25 to 1. Thus, the maximum possible vote total was 350.)

Last year Kevin Gravel came in at number twenty in this countdown, and at the time our old pal Nick did a pretty great job of summing up his game. Gravel was your classic defensive defenseman, a big kid (6'4, 200 pounds) who looked to take care of his own end and didn't really have the skill set to do anything else. Following his third season with St. Cloud State (home of roughly seven trillion other Kings prospects), Kevin apparently had a difficult decision to make: sign an entry-level contract with the Kings and report to Manchester, or return to St. Cloud State for his fourth and final season with the team. Ultimately, Kevin decided he was fond of that college life (and who isn't really), and back to Minnesota he went.

Gravel had a very good season with the Huskies in 2013-14 from an offensive standpoint, putting up 23 points in 38 games for 0.61 points-per-game. That number eclipsed his previous years, where he had scored just 26 points in 115 games (roughly 0.23 PPG). In addition, he scored ten goals last season when in all previous three years of college hockey combined he had managed just three (though hey, at least it was one per year, so consistency!). In an interview Gravel gave to Mayor's Manor while down in Manchester, even Kevin himself struggled to explain his sudden, unexpected outburst of goal scoring:

"Honestly, I don't even know. I got put in a few different situations than I had the previous year - I got a little power play time, and a little more minutes. And, um, I don't know. The majority of my goals were just shots from the point kind of found a way through. You need a bit of luck for that to happen, and I had a little bit of that. Obviously, I know that's not my role, but when they go in, it feels good."

(Boy he sure made that sound repeatable huh?)

Yes, he gave that interview while down in Manchester, after he signed an amateur tryout deal that allowed him to appear in five games at the end of the season following St. Cloud State's elimination at the hands of Minnesota in the NCAA West Regional Final. He went pointless and was a -3, and ultimately didn't end up seeing any action in the Monarchs' four playoff games, which definitely says something. Still, that would have been an awfully small sample size to judge him by (and who really gives a crap about plus/minus anyway), especially when we had his impressive senior college year to go with instead. So when the voting went out for this year's Top 25 Under 25 back in July, Gravel saw a nice little bump from his place in last year's list, going from 20th to 16th.

Several months later as I sit here writing this, Gravel is no longer under the Kings' control. Perhaps his words in the aforementioned Mayor interview should have been a red flag- he sounded very unsure of whether or not the tryout deal would lead to an actual entry-level contract with the team- but few really thought Gravel would end up a free agent. Except, that's exactly what happened, as Gravel and the Kings failed to reach an agreement prior to an August 15th deadline, as the Kings didn't tender him an entry-level contract and Gravel was now free to sign with any NHL team. Gravel did sign a 1-year deal with the Monarchs a few weeks earlier, but that's strictly an AHL contract and the Kings, as of now, do not actually own his NHL rights. Though they can of course choose to sign him to an entry-level NHL deal later, so can all 29 other teams.

So what happened? Why was Gravel allowed to become a free agent rather than getting his ELC, especially following a career senior year in college hockey?

Jason Lewis, a Kings blogger for another site (and, it must be said, a great Twitter follow), had a take on it back on August 25th that sounds more than plausible. In his column on Gravel and the Kings' prospect system as a whole, Lewis argued that Gravel had, in essence, missed his chance. Here's an excerpt:

"While it is still possible the Kings and Gravel come to an agreement, the likelihood seems little considering the team was willing to let him go to the free agent market. Maybe the hope from the Kings is that Gravel will see that the free agent market isn't quite so grand as expected. Maybe the team no longer sees the long term utility of Gravel when compared to others in the system.....To be honest, I feel that Gravel had his shot last season when he opted to return to St. Cloud State instead of turning pro. While I won't sit here and say that it was the wrong decision for him, because that is extremely unfair, the opportunity was there for the taking. Now, that window is incredibly small and there are a ton of players in the mix. Perhaps the Kings were supportive (I've heard both they were and weren't) of Gravel's choice to remain in college at the time, hindsight may prove he should have gone to the AHL."

Jason goes on to talk about all the defensemen currently clogging up the Kings' pipeline, from veterans like Jeff Schultz to prospects like Derek Forbort, among many others (it's an excellent read and you should definitely go check it out if you want to understand more about the Monarchs' current situation on the blue line). But ultimately, what this means for Kevin Gravel is that he may have simply been considered expendable at this point by the Kings. Perhaps he wanted more money (remember, there is still some negotiating room in these ELCs, especially if you're a 5th rounder instead of a top 10 pick) than the Kings were willing to give him. As Jason also speculated, the fact that Gravel has yet to sign an ELC with a different NHL team, despite being a free agent for almost a month now, would perhaps indicate the Kings were correct on Kevin's perceived value.

So does that close the book on Kevin Gravel? Maybe, maybe not. He's still signed to play in Manchester next year (although, again, how much ice time he'll get and where he'll be on a crowded depth chart definitely remains to be seen), and it's always possible the Kings do give him his ELC during the season after all. But he and the team definitely appear to have reached an impasse at this point, and it remains to be seen if the two sides will ever actually come together again. As a result, this could very well be Kevin's last year on the Top 25 Under 25 list, in which case, uh, bye Kevin, I guess? Thanks for at least giving us the interesting case of a guy whose rights the Kings don't even have somehow ending up on a list of our top young players (and also for reminding us all of a Pokemon). Best of luck to you sir.

The URL to this post should drive in some interesting traffic hopefully

This summer has been fucking terrible. Yeah, yeah, the Kings won the Cup, but it has been a snoozefest since then. The NHL has had close to no activity going on, aside from the raging dumpster fire in San Jose. Everyone hates football now. The World Cup? I forgot about that already. I haven't been able to watch the Dodgers at all. All anyone wants to talk about now is either stats or how terrible sports actually are. And let me tell you, this does nothing for me. I am an apathetic white guy who lives comfortably in southern California. I want real substance.

But there was a ray of sunshine. LEAKED NUDE PHOTOS. I don't mean the pictures of starlets and Justin Verlander though. I never really was into Kate Upton, and don't understand the fascination with Jennifer Lawrence. Maybe because I never read/watched The Hunger Games. Who knows? Anyways, the LEAKED NUDEZ I mean are the ones that came out of the hockey players here in California. Soooooo...

DISCLAIMER: HOT SPICY CALIENTE MATERIAL AHEAD

I've already got a few hundred pictures of Alec Martinez I have snapped without his knowing on my phone, but I was pretty shocked to find a much bigger name on the Kings who had their nudies spilled. He may be relatively reserved with the media, but Anze Kopitar certainly isn't shy when he's by himself and with his phone.

He wasn't the only one from Los Angeles exposing everything. Drew Doughty showed how big of a love machine he really is. With a lot of emphasis on "big" here. Dustin Penner has to be envious of that FUPA.

The Kings weren't the only team that had their players private pics get leaked. Logan Couture is known for taking some racy pictures, and it wasn't surprising when he was featured. The only difference being that this time his mom (and her thighs) wasn't involved in these photos. Though I suppose it is quite feasible she was the one snapping these pictures.

Can't wait for him to be named captain, San Jose. But Logan wasn't alone either. The hairiest hockey player on the west coast decided to show off ALL of his hair off in a SnapChat pic. Here's Brent Burns flashing a solo nip-slip.

Oh, and you know there would be member of a member of the Anaheim Ducks showing up. And it's none other than the Ducks' biggest name, Corey Perry, going for a skinny-dip in his luxurious pool.

Please, God, have hockey come back soon.

The Swede caps a sensational season with the single highest move up in our countdown's history. Is this the late round gem we've waited for, or are we reading too much into one year?

Particularly on Twitter, I've recently been having a lot of discussions about the Leafs recent draft record. See, I've had the opinion recently that Dave Morrison hasn't been doing a very good job as Leafs Head of Amateur Scouting.

Here's the cold hard truth; since he took over the job and had two fine drafts in 2006 and 2007, that netted several mid-to-late round players, such as Nikolai Kulemin, James Reimer, Matt Frattin and Carl Gunnarsson, the Leafs have internally drafted just three players that have become full-time NHL players.

Luke Schenn. Nazem Kadri. Morgan Rielly. That's the list.

There are players that are close (Petter Granberg, for instance). There are young players that the Leafs traded for and have become NHLers (Jake Gardiner, Peter Holland). There are some that might be on the way (Connor Brown, Greg McKegg, Matt Finn to name a few). But the only Leaf picks were the three I mentioned, and all were taken with the 7th overall pick or earlier in their draft. That's appallingly bad for someone who's been in the role since 2006.

There's been a lot of picks traded away for reasons that have (Mikhail Grabovski, Phil Kessel) and have not (numerous). There's been a lot of picks that have not yielded results that were expected. And unfortunately, there's been no (of yet) late-round steals.

Don't look now, but Thommie Bergmann, the Leafs longtime European scout, might have grabbed another one for the Buds. Andreas Johnson, a 7th round pick in 2013, moves up 23 spots on our countdown, and lands at #9.

Birthyear:	1994-11-21	Birthplace:	Gävle, SWE
Age:	19	Nation:	Sweden
Position:	LW	Shoots:	L
Height:	178 cm / 5'10"	Weight:	80 kg / 176 lbs
Youth Team:	HK Kings	Contract:	15/16
Drafted:	2013 round 7 #202 overall by Toronto Maple Leafs

Looking through Johnson's resume to date, the only thing I can see that kept him available until the 7th round of the draft is this; his size (5'19", 175 lbs), and the fact he spent his draft year in Sweden's junior leagues (where he performed admirably) as opposed to in Sweden's pro leagues. That's about all I can come to, because he possesses everything else you might ask for.

He's a very fast skater, and plays the game with a high pace and energy, and has all the necessary tools to be an offensive contributor. He has the track record at lower levels, both at the U18 and U20 levels (and he's usually playing a year or two ahead of his age). But I don't really know how to compare Sweden;s junior league to, say, the OHL or USHL, and it's hard to get too excited until you see him at a higher level, like when he started playing against men in the SHL.

Simply put, Johnson blew the doors off.

As a 19-year old rookie playing for Frolunda, Johnson socred 24 points in 44 games, which led all players under 20. He won the SHL Rookie of the Year. He was an important player for Sweden's World Junior Championship side that rolled through the tournament before being bested by Finland in the gold medal game.

Mattias Ek of Expressen was kind enough to also pass on some thoughts, though does temper expectations a little bit by giving us more information about Johnson's season.

Andreas Johnson was playing very well for Frolunda in the SHL last fall and was really one of the best players of his team until World Juniors in early January. After that, coming back to Frolunda, he was not the same player and had lost a lot of energy in his game. Therefore, it's going to be fun watch him making a fresh start in Frolunda this year. He is at least one more season away from the NHL, probably more.

He has started off hot again this season, scoring 11 points in 3 games during Europe's new Champions League style tournament (though Elite Prospects says he is currently injured). Johnson appears to be a guy that has scored at every level that is just now coming into his own, and the Leafs may have benefited by grabbing him so late.

We've never heard a player make THIS sort of massive jump up our rankings. Part of this speaks to the qualitty at which Johnson performed last season, and a little of the shallowness of the prospect pool; there's a lot of guys that just don't have the ceiling Johnson displayed this season, and so with reason, Johnson has rocketed past them.

Went from unheard of smallish winger with ashtma taken in the 7th round to the SHL rookie of the year. - Steve Burtch

What can i say? I moved him up so much because I hold young players competing against men in regard. - JP Nikota [Author's note: I think JP thought he was moving Johnson up a lot higher than most of the group would be. Apparently not.

I was actually surprised to see just how far he had moved up, though it's worth noting that he is still a step below the top players in our list, as at this point it should be.

Bob Suter will be remembered as an American hockey hero for his role on the 1980 Olympic team, but his impact on hockey in the United States went far beyond just the Miracle.

In early January, I was traveling on a bus from New York to Boston. During that trip, I was scheduled to have a phone call with Ryan Suter. It was a few weeks before the NHL would take a break in its schedule with the upcoming 2014 Olympics, and Suter was gearing up for the tournament.

Going into the Games in Russia, Suter was considered one of if not the best defenseman on Team USA. He had been putting up historic minutes-per-game numbers in the first half of the season for the Minnesota Wild. There was plenty I was eager to discuss with Ryan. About a week before the call was set to take place, I was also told his father, Bob, would also be on the line.

Conceptually, it made sense. Bob was a member of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, one of two United States Olympic hockey teams to have ever won gold for USA. After grabbing silver in 2010, many thought this 2014 USA team could replicate that 1980 result. Ryan was following in Bob's footsteps, so I figured I could ask Bob a few questions, although he wasn't central to my story.

But in the 10 or so minutes we spoke, Bob Suter told me stories about his past, his pride for his country, and how much he enjoyed watching son Ryan play. Bob had plenty of wisdom to pass along.

On Tuesday, Bob Suter died at the age of 57 due to an apparent heart attack, the first member of that 1980 Miracle Team pass away. Since 1980, Suter's passion and dedication to the game of hockey never waned, and he's truly a great American hockey figure to be remembered.

Bob was a hockey deity in his home state of Wisconsin. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings, but never a played a game in the NHL. Instead he coached and molded many great, future USA talents. From his Madison Capitols youth program alone came the likes of son Ryan, Phil Kessel, Joe Pavelski, and Brian Rafalski.

His passion for the game was evident in his voice when Bob spoke with me about getting to re-experience some of his glory through son Ryan. The competitiveness came out when he said this 2014 team would settle for nothing less than gold.

While this most recent Olympic team did not medal, Bob got one final chance to see his son Ryan play on the international stage representing his country. As USA Hockey continues to grow its profile and its membership, it was Bob's Miracle Team that put hockey on the map in the US.

Bob provided me a brief glimpse into the honor and intensity that Miracle group holds with respect toward USA Hockey. He spoke of sacrifice, and satisfaction. The honor that comes with donning a USA jersey, and the responsibility that comes with that. It almost seemed like a paternal teaching point in his relationship with Ryan; that he could show his son the importance of that kind and other obligations. Bob Suter spoke of the blood, sweat, and tears that Miracle Team devoted some 34 years ago, and the nirvana of its achievement in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Bob helped to and continued to work toward putting USA Hockey on the map. Part of the lasting memory of Bob should be for his devotion to the sport of hockey, especially with respect to his country.

With 12 days to go until preseason begins, let's look at why Paul Bissonnette is still struggling to find work.

Paul Bissonnette is a fan favorite for the Arizona Coyotes for many reasons. His personality is engaging and fun, he is capable of laughing at himself, and he is an NHL enforcer, a player whose job is to be prepared to fight and little else.

His job is now endangered.

Through no fault of his own, the NHL Bissonnette finds himself in is a league that has seen precipitous declines in fighting; 70 percent of NHL games this season did not have a fight, and the overall number of fighting majors decreased at a rate of 17 percent from previous years. This has relatively little to do with the relative violence of the game; if anything the speed and size of NHL players had made the game more violent than before.

But it has a lot to do with stats.

Consider the four conference finalists last season. Of Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Montreal, only the Habs were outside of the bottom ten in the league in fighting majors per game. The last four Stanley Cup Champions have had a grand total of three players with more than 100 PIMs in their winning season (in the lockout season, nobody on the Chicago Blackhawks was on pace to break the 100 PIM barrier).

These teams are instead rolling four lines of players with offensive ability. For last season's Hawks, that included players like Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell. For the Kings, that included Mike Richards and Dwight King. While some of these papers are willing to mix it up on occasion, they are prized primarily for their ability to continue to drive possession and generate scoring chances.

And that is likely the future of fighting in the NHL. Guys like Bissonnette and John Scott are being slowly filtered out of the league. Players in the mold of Shane Doan or Kyle Clifford: guys whose skillset includes the ability to fight, but only as a complement to their offensive ability.

Paul Bissonnette may end up getting a job somewhere (Washington seems to be flirting with the idea of bringing him in), but in the future the fate of him and guys like him will likely be determined by the number of points they can put on the score sheet as opposed to minutes they can sit in the penalty box.

He did the same thing this season that he did last season, but his stock has risen. Why is that?

Can doing the exact same thing two years in a row be grounds for moving up the Top 25 Under 25 Countdown? If that thing is leading your team in goal-scoring and impressing your team's scouts, than yes.

Michael Mersch couldn't achieve too much more in his final season at Wisconsin than he did in his first three. Still, the right winger found a way to add a couple more achievements to the list. He once again was named to the All Big Ten first team, and topped that by earning a spot on the West's second All-American team. Browsing the list of recent All-American teams shows some interesting names; guys like Gustav Nyquist, Carl Hagelin, and Matt Read blossomed after getting second-team nods, while all three of the 2012 Western forward honorees have already gotten time at the NHL level. (Current Kings prospect Brian O'Neill made the Eastern squad that season, but he was already 24 years old at that point.) Oh, and the most recent Los Angeles King to make the NCAA jump and become a full-time NHLer was a 2008 second-team All American. You know the name.

The comparisons to past All-Americans don't do a whole lot of good, though. NCAA prospects can be a very mixed bag, and Mersch certainly fits a different mold than the dynamic Nyquist or the lightning-fast Hagelin. (I still have nightmares about him, most of which involve pucks bouncing off Slava Voynov.) The more fruitful comparisons are to recent young players who have moved up in the Kings organization, and they are really encouraging comparisons for Mersch. Scouting reports generally list skating as Mersch's biggest weakness, but Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson have proven that to be the furthest thing from a death sentence. Skating certainly appears to be more teachable than size, or hockey sense, or the ability to do this:

That bodes well for Michael Mersch going forward. So does Michael Futa's assertion that Mersch has "a pro-style game."

We didn't learn too much about Mersch that we didn't already know this year. His NHLe projection based on 2013-14 was literally identical to the projection based on 2012-13. Thankfully, the Kings are going to get an excellent chance to evaluate what they really have in Mersch, because he's going to be a Manchester Monarch this season. In a cup of coffee last season, Mersch picked up four points in seven games, including his first two professional goals in a 5-0 win over Portland. The top-six ranks have thinned out due to trade (Vey, Kozun) and promotion (Pearson, Toffoli), so Mersch will have every opportunity to contribute. He was also a huge weapon on Wisconsin's power play, which should help him see the ice regularly.

Even if he isn't a true game-breaker at the NHL level, I could absolutely see him following the Dwight King path: big-bodied, capable of the occasional scoring hot streak, and able to positively impact possession numbers. Like most of the forward hopefuls in the Kings' organization, Mersch won't get a sniff this season, but a 2016 stretch run appearance with the Kings in need of a spark or an injury replacement? It's not a stretch.

Jobing.com Arena is now officially Gila River Arena, a great way to celebrate 28 days until the home opener!

Coyotes News

Gila River Arena unveiled | FOX Sports
The Arizona Coyotes unveil Gila River Arena, formerly Jobing.com Arena.

5 Coyotes prospects with best chance to make team -- AZCentral.com
Rookie camp starts Saturday, and five prospects have the best chance of not only standing out when the veterans report but also lassoing an invitation to Opening Night.

Arizona Coyotes' Shane Doan hopes earlier offseason start pays off -- AZCentral.com
Doan, 37, began his summer training even earlier than normal – starting in early May as opposed to the end of the month when he usually resumes workouts.

Paul Bissonnette and the diminishing role of the NHL enforcer - Five For Howling
With twelve days to go until preseason begins, let's look at why Paul Bissonnette is still struggling to find work.

News From Around the Hockey World

Ducks Extend Bruce Boudreau's Contract through 2017 - Anaheim Calling
After months in the desert, and Saku Koivu's official retirement earlier today, the Ducks have announced another big piece of news with the signing of Bruce Boudreau to a two year contract extension.

Farewell Saku - Anaheim Calling
Saku Koivu made his retirement official today, and Kid ish says goodbye to one of his, as well as the league's, most beloved players.

New York Rangers News: John Moore, Rangers agree to qualifying offer - Blueshirt Banter
The Rangers roster gets closer by the day to what it will look like come opening day, and on Wednesday, the team took another step toward rounding it out.

Amanda Kessel to miss Gophers season with concussion - Hockey - CBC
Star American hockey player Amanda Kessel will not play for Minnesota this season because of lingering concussion symptoms.

Does Jarome Iginla have another 30-goal season in him? - SBNation.com
Jarome Iginla rebounded in 2013-14 with the 12th 30-goal season of his career. Does he have another one for the Colorado Avalanche?

If Rinne can stay healthy, could the Preds surprise? | ProHockeyTalk
His hip "feels great" heading into 2014-15.

The Final Howl

Captain's Hockey: The Ugly NHL: What Happens When Teams Trade Colours
I think a Coyotes-Kings swap might actually look good...

Finn leads the Guelph Storm to within a game of a Memorial Cup championship, and moves up one spot in our list as he departs for the Marlies.

Matt Finn's last year in the OHL was definitely one to remember.

As captain of the Guelph Storm, Finn led the team through an incredibly tough battle in the OHL's Western Conference (home to arguably four of the league's best five teams), setting them up as a threat to earn the league's berth in the Memorial Cup.

Then in the playoffs, they blasted the hosts (and two-time league champion) London and a highly skilled Erie team (led by phenom Connor McDavid and Leaf prospect Connor Brown), before rolling through surprise Eastern finalist North Bay to claim the J.J. Robertson Cup.

Guelph ultimately came up one game short of winning the Memorial Cup, losing in the final to the WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings. However, for Finn, he finished up his junior career in about as fine fashion as he could have hoped for, and put Leaf fans on notice he intends to compete for a spot on the Leafs blueline sooner rather than later. At #7, Finn moves up one spot over last year.

Birthyear:	1994-02-24	Birthplace:	Etobicoke, ON, CAN
Age:	20	Nation:	Canada
Position:	D	Shoots:	L
Height:	185 cm / 6'1"	Weight:	93 kg / 205 lbs
Youth Team:	Toronto Marlboros	Contract:	16/17
Drafted:	2012 round 2 #35 overall by Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs were pretty happy to see Finn fall to them at the beginning of 2012's 2nd round, giving them a great pair of young, talented defence (along with 1st round pick Morgan Rielly). And while captain of the Guelph Storm the last two seasons, Finn's shown a lot of the tools that make him such a tantalizing prospect.

Displaying his well-rounded game, and logging lots of minutes for the Storm, Finn racked up 61 points in the regular season, and added 14 points as the Storm rolled through the OHL playoffs. What separates Finn from the defensive prospects we've looked at so far is the offensive component to his game; Finn has good passing skills and a good shot, and understands when to jump in on offence and when to concentrate on defence. He has a very well-balanced game with a lot of raw skill, which is why he was considered a potential first round selection.

Finn leaves junior hockey behind this year, and unless training camp brings a massive surprise, a year of seasoning in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies (A sweater he's indirectly worn before, having come through the vaunted Toronto Marlboros minor hockey program). Finn is one of four new faces expected to battle for ice time on a Marlies defence full of young pros.

If all continues to go well, the Leafs might have managed to build a major portion of their future defence core through the 2012 draft, if Rielly and Finn can continue to develop into top four D. Rielly seems well on his way, and while Finn may take a little longer, he's one of the few guys the Leafs have with that sort of potential.

Much like yesterday with Josh Leivo, this part of the countdown is tougher to make major moves up. As a result, Finn improved slightly on most lists, and was seen virtually across the board as a Top 10 choice (Burtch the only one leaving him out).

Along with Stuart Percy, I think Finn is one of the two d-men in the Leafs system who weren't in the NHL yet but could be. Finn was considered a steal in the 2nd round and so far it looks like he's outperformed his draft spot. - Chemmy

Last year I had concerns about the knee injury taking away a big chunk of key development time. Finn was instrumental to everything Guelph did this season, and he proved he's ready for the next level. - clrkaitken

Dallas needs Ryan Garbutt's energy and aggression to succeed in a packed Western Conference. However, as last season's playoffs demonstrated, Garbutt's tendencies towards recklessness also pose a major risk. How well he makes the little adjustments to keep himself on the ice will be a big factor in Dallas' progress to contender status.

Projecting Ryan Garbutt’s possible impact on the 2014-15 Dallas Stars is a frustrating, most likely futile exercise. The crucial word, here, is Impact. The thing about a player like Garbutt is that he’s going to have one. He shows up every night, no matter what. The other thing about a guy like Garbutt is that his impact isn’t always going to be positive.

Let’s start with the good, and as a thought exercise, examine the previous five Stanley Cup Champions. It’s easy to look at those rosters and see high-end skill, a strong defensive corps, and multiple scoring lines. Beyond that, and significant in our discussion of Mr. Garbutt, is that those champions also had a couple of notable a-holes.

Los Angeles’ two entries included the likes of Mike Richards, Dwight King, and Captain Smirk himself, Dustin Brown. Boston leaned on Brad Marchand, Shawn Thornton, and Daniel Paille. Chicago got memorable contributions from David Bolland, Andrew Shaw, and Ben Eager. Yes, lists are fun, but several of those names should pop out. No team will ever have 12 Jonathan Toews. Championship teams are often defined by their complimentary pieces as much as by their stars, and the players listed above all played meaningful minutes in important situations.

I think that Ryan Garbutt can be one of those guys. On the ice, he melds plus speed, fearless aggression, physicality and a deceptive scoring touch. It’s a combination of attributes that keeps him in the lineup against all types of opponents, kind of like a Swiss Army Knife.Garbutt can skate with the north/south bunch, disrupt the cycle-heavy squads, and muck it up if things get too physical. He can also score, which is so very critical given his checking line role. If you can get the puck, keep the puck, and generate offense against a team’s top line, it’s going to be difficult for that line to beat you.

Last year’s stats give further reason for optimism. Garbutt averaged 13:04 a night across 75 games played, which suggests he’s durable despite his robust style, and has the confidence of the coaching staff. An offensive output of 17 goals and 15 assists further supports the notion he can be effective defensively while providing depth scoring.

If we dig further, he drove positive possession (51.3% Corsi / 52.8% Fenwick) despite starting 55.9% of his shifts in the defensive zone. Yes, advanced stats can be icky, but they build a narrative any Stars fan should love. Ryan Garbutt was undeniably a valuable, positive force across the balance of the last season. And by the way, Dallas will continue to enjoy all of this for a cap hit of $1.8 million. Excellent business.

But I mentioned negatives, so I guess we should get to those. Ryan Garbutt is 28 years old, entering into his fourth NHL season. To date, he’s played exactly 131 regular season games. That’s a pretty small sample size. Furthermore, the first 56 games in that sample (the 2011 and 2012 seasons) did little to suggest last year was coming.

Prior to last season, the offense I just finished celebrating was nonexistent (3 points in 2011, 10 points in 2012).There’s also a troubling spike in his shooting percentage (from 5.1% to 10.3%) to consider. This may well be a case of a player growing into an expanded role in the lineup (his average time on ice also jumped from 8 minutes to 13 minutes during this window), or we might have just witnessed an outlier. It will be interesting to see how his role changes if he starts slowly, or goes into an extended slump. Dallas doesn’t need Garbutt’s offense to be successful, but 17 more goals would sure ease pressure elsewhere in the lineup.

We must also consider the way he plays. On any other team, Garbutt would be infuriating. He’s our pest, sure, but he chirps, he dives, and he takes dumb penalties. The most egregious of those penalties came during the first period of Game 5 last season, and hints at a larger problem: Ryan Garbutt is not Corey Perry (or Jamie Benn for that matter). Yes, Corey Perry is a scumbag, but he’s an MVP-caliber scumbag. That matters. Ryan Garbutt is going to have to learn to conduct himself differently without losing the edge that makes him so valuable to the team.

Next season, Garbutt isn’t going to enjoy the benefit of the doubt. He is also unlikely to produce enough offensively to offset disciplinary problems. That means he’ll have to play smarter to stay in the lineup, which is where Dallas needs him. In many ways, Ryan Garbutt will have to overcome as an individual the same hurdle the Stars face as a team: success is easy when nobody expects much, but much harder to maintain under bright lights. Personally, I think he figures it out, but even if he doesn’t, it’s going to be one heck of a ride.

Will the Los Angeles Kings get the Marian Gaborik who was unstoppable during their Stanley Cup playoff run? Or the one who scored 11 goals in 41 games during the regular season? Or perhaps one who is somewhere in the middle?

For the second time in three years, a midseason trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets helped propel the Los Angeles Kings to a Stanley Cup championship. This time it was the deadline deal that sent Marian Gaborik to Los Angeles in exchange for Matt Frattin and a draft pick.

Gaborik was an immediate fit on the Kings' top line with Anze Kopitar, recording 16 points in 19 games and then positively erupting in the playoffs, scoring a league-leading 14 goals in 26 games, the second-largest total of any player in one postseason run since 2000. Considering some of Gaborik's recent postseason performances (nine goals in his previous 36 playoff games) that seemed to find him in the doghouse of former Rangers coach John Tortorella, it was probably a welcome surprise for the Kings.

They were so impressed that they ended up giving him a seven-year, $34.1 million contract to keep him with the team.

But which Marian Gaborik are they going to get in 2014-15?

The numbers

What went right and what went wrong in 2013-14?

It was kind of a mixed bag for Gaborik as injuries, for the third time in his career, limited him to fewer than 50 games.

Offensively, his goal scoring, which was well below his normal career levels due in large part to a decline in the number of shots he was able to generate, remained pretty steady throughout the season with both Columbus and Los Angeles. His assist numbers saw a pretty nice jump almost immediately after the trade, likely a product of playing alongside players like Kopitar and Justin Williams. A lot of the decline in terms of getting pucks on (and in) the net could be attributed to the fact he missed half of the season due to knee and collarbone injuries.

It was the playoffs, when he was finally healthy and playing on a stacked roster, where everything started to go right for him and seemingly everything he touched found the back of the net. I referenced this chart during the Stanley Cup Final to show Gaborik's impact on the Kings' offense and how similar it was to Jeff Carter's following his deal to LA back in 2012, but it's worth a second look.

Is any of it repeatable?

Probably not, and that's true for both the good and the bad.

If he's healthy, he should be better than the 11 goals in 41 games winger we saw during the regular season (and the 12 goals in 47 games we saw the previous year), but he's also not going to come close to matching the torrid goal-scoring pace he experienced during the playoffs thanks to that 17.9 percent shooting percentage.

The only regular season in his career where he topped 16 percent was during the 2008-09 season when he scored on 19 percent of his shots while only playing in 17 games. He hasn't topped 15 percent since 2009-10. Seasons are full of peaks and valleys for players; they get on hot streaks that make them look unstoppable, and they get stuck in cold streaks where it looks like they will never score again.

When a player hits one of those hot streaks in the playoffs, it sometimes creates unreachable expectations the next season. Gaborik hit one of those hot streaks in the playoffs.

What to expect in 2014-15

Gaborik is 32 years old and will turn 33 in February, so it's probably not unfair to say that his best days are behind him. That said, he is still one of the more dangerous wingers in the NHL when he's healthy and as long as he gets to play alongside a center like Anze Kopitar, one of the best players in the world, he's going to be a serious threat to opposing defenses and goalies.

The past three years he's managed just around 3.1 shots on goal per game, and if he maintained that average and shot at 10 percent, which is the neighborhood he's been in recently, you're looking at a 25-goal season. If he converts at his career average of 12.9 percent, that's good enough for around 30 goals over 82 games.

Positives

If you're like me, the first thing you think of when Tyler Toffoli comes up is this picture of Toffoli celebrating in the Stanley Cup after game 5. But there's a lot more to Toffoli than just baby-faced adorableness: his performance at the AHL and NHL levels over the last few years indicates a rising star. Let's investigate.

Toffoli has recorded a stellar 44 goals in 77 career AHL games. That works out to an NHL equivalency of about 25 goals over an 82 game season, which is quite an accomplishment at such a young age. Based on these numbers (and a similar scoring prowess in the OHL), it's reasonable to think Toffoli could someday be a 30-goal scorer in the NHL when he hits his scoring prime. I wouldn't expect that next year - he's unlikely to get enough ice time on a stacked Kings team - but he has that kind of offensive upside.

After flashing some promise last year, Toffoli met expectations and delivered a major NHL impact in 2013-14. His ice time was typically limited to third-line minutes, and his linemates usually weren't the best the Kings had to offer (-.865 Relative QoT). He did receive a moderate zone start push to make up for that. All in all, he faced minutes of middling difficulty, basically identical to those of teammate Mike Richards.

Toffoli absolutely crushed those minutes. His 9.9 Corsi relative was third among Kings forwards. Of the 9 forwards to spent at least 50 minutes with Toffoli, 8 did better with him, and usually by a lot. The wonderful stats.hockeyanalysis.com has a neat way to visualize this:

A way to look at these graphs is to imagine a straight line from the bottom left corner to the top right corner; if the bubbles (the size of which represents amount of ice time with Toffoli) are on that line, the player is not influencing the Corsi% of his teammates positively or negatively. If the bubbles are above it, the player is dragging down their Corsi%; if they are below it, the player is helping things. Toffoli is clearly doing well. Tanner Pearson in particular did much better with Toffoli than without in a small sample, which agrees with the common notion that those two have chemistry.

In terms of goalscoring, Toffoli's 29 points in 62 games is actually quite respectable given his lack of ice time. His 1.94 points/60 at even strength was third on the team and is a first-line rate of scoring. Toffoli attempted shots at a higher rate than any King not named Jeff Carter; if he keeps that up, he's going to score a lot of goals as his share of ice time increases.

Toffoli was also excellent in the playoffs, combining with Carter and Pearson to form a line that drove play and scored at very high levels. His 58.32% postseason Corsi led the team.

Weaknesses

I've mentioned Toffoli's lack of ice time several times in this article. Even in the playoffs, Toffoli was only 8th among Kings forwards in 5v5 time on ice per game, behind guys like Jarret Stoll and Dwight King. This is a bit of a puzzle because Toffoli obviously had much more to contribute offensively and wasn't a defensive liability, either. With Toffoli on the ice the Kings conceded goals against an incredibly low rate last season (thanks in large part to an unsustainable on-ice SV%), and they did well in terms of shots against, too. So it's not like Toffoli kept making mistakes that ended up in the back of the net.

Nevertheless, Darryl Sutter sometimes seemed unhappy with the rookie's two-way play, commenting in January that Toffoli "has to excel at the whole part of the game. You don't always have the puck." (Read the full quote here). That lack of trust probably showed up in Toffoli's light workload and somewhat sheltered zone starts; clearly, he has some work to do to gain the confidence of his coach in all situations. Given that Toffoli was a 21-year-old rookie last year, I'm not worried about this; I'm sure the trust will come in time.

Highlight

The knock on Toffoli has always been his skating, but that seems to have improved lately.

Going Forward

Toffoli will be a key forward for the Kings, but no one knows exactly where he'll line up. I'd like to see him remain on the second line with Pearson and Carter. It's a good bet that he bounces around and spends some of the season on the first, third, and fourth lines, too. He's an RFA after the season.

Grade

Toffoli's underlying numbers show great promise. He also played a key role in the playoff run and the whole cup thing. He was good. A.