Hoss

Here's what the jerseys look like without retouch:

I have no problem with Couture pointing it out. I don't think it's whining. I'm sure he wouldn't say it if they were winning, but I think he has a right to point that out. It's not like he's been railing about it. It was a single comment and that's it. Do we know if he was asked anything first? Giroux insinuated that Crosby was responsible for a broken wrist he had, too. Crosby cheating on faceoffs is nothing new. It doesn't make me lose respect for him or those pointing it out.

Not even Chicago or Los Angeles' second lines have a Kopitar or Toews on it.

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC That would make two openings in BUF. Brad Shaw, Todd Richards? Both with connections to Dan Bylsma

Hmmm... I think I'd rather kee our first next year for bait at the deadline if it comes to that. Or to use for a player we can plug in now.

Eichel is a center regardless. After that it depends on Stamkos and/or O'Reilly's willingness to play wing. If Stamkos is willing then he goes to the wing. And it depends on the defender, innit? Top four is a pretty wide net to cast. If it's Stamkos vs a true top-pairing defender it's a tougher decision. Except the part where we'll have to give up assets and cash for that and can just get Stankos for cash. So right now my eyes are all over Stamkos. We can still pickup a top-four defender on top of Stamkos. Let it be known: I won't be heartbroken if we don't get Stamkos and I think we're on track to winning a cup regardless of where he ends up.

http://www.tsn.ca/buckle-up-for-a-busy-month-of-trade-activity-1.500124 TSN's trade bait list. RNH number one. Mikael Granlund makes an appearance on the list (first time I've seen his name mentioned in deals).

From Chris Johnston: Hearing the executive committee of the NHL's board of governors will meet Tuesday in NYC. A recommendation on expansion is expected there. Sounds like the recommendation is coming sooner than expected.

On the question of which team around the league is the best fit for Stamkos if all else is equal - Nashville. I'm a definite yes with little hesitation. I understand questions about where he fits and how we'll manage the money but it's something I'm confident Murray would have a plan for if it comes to it. I think Stamkos gets between $10-11 million and that's fine. I would give that to him if the contract can be insured without issue. I just think he's too talented and signing a guy like that could also attract the available role players looking to hop on with a contender. If we were to add Stamkos and a top-four defender this offseason I would think this team is a playoff lock with realistic Eastern Conference Finals aspirations immediately.

Logan Couture is so good.

I think they end up being named the Las Vegas Knights which is the preference of the owner. He said he plans on holding a team naming contest, but I feel like it'll be rigged. The colors are already decided as black, silver and gold. The Knights, especially if predominantly black, will be too close the the Kings for me. I like a reference to Vegas' lifestyle but it'll be tough to do so without it being too inappropriate. Maybe just the Las Vegas Nights? Fun fact: the winning name of the San Jose franchise's naming contest was the San Jose Blades but it was also the name of a local gang so they went with Sharks.

Probably worth rebooting this with all the latest details. Might even be worth a pin until late June with the Bettman announcement that a final word should come June 22nd. Latest details: NHL BOG is expected to make their recommendation on June 22nd and we should have word then. The options are: expand to Las Vegas and Quebec City in 2017-18, expand to one of the two in 2017-18, expand to both or one during another future season, no expansion There is no longer a minimum salary required to be exposed during the expansion draft Players with NMCs are exempts from the expansion draft and will not count against your protected players Players with NTCs likely will need to be protected If a team has too many NMCs to the point where they can't expose the proper number of players they will be penalized by loss of draft picks and others Players with two years of pro experience will not need to be protected (meaning Jack and Sam are exempt if it's in 2017-18) Reports out there indicate just Las Vegas in 2017-18 is likely

His wording makes it sound like it would need to become the norm of American sports before they did it. I would rather see a few additional ads on the ice before jerseys.

Gary Bettman said this only happens "dragging me kicking and screaming." He shows a surprising awareness of how much hockey fans love their jerseys. Said it would take a ton of money and the marketplace would have to dictate it. Said there will not be any ads on helmets. Whole thing is worth a watch: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-05-26/nhl-s-bettman-on-jersey-sponsorships-franchises-and-expansion

@A_Kalnins: Hearing multiple teams in the NHL are interested to sign Girgensons. Same guy that reported the KHL trade of his rights. My guess is he means teams are interested in general as opposed to just signing him to an offer sheet. I'd be fine including him in deals if the return involved at least one player who would play immediately.

I have both cell phones and both laptops set up. At 10 am I had the page refresh and instantly selected 4, 3, 2, 1 for "best available." All instantly said "not available in this quantity." Tried again for about ten minutes straight and got nothing. I did get tickets to day two with ease. It starts before work that afternoon so I'll probably go, then eat lunch and head to work.

No. '17-18 is next offsesson. If the rules are interpreted the way everybody has been they won't have to be protected. Also, Bill Daly's response was "I would say that Mr. Dater doesn't have any different or additional information than anyone else has." That sounds like an attempt to seem like a denial but, in reality, confirming his report.

Adrian Dater and other reporters reporting Vegas is a done deal for '17-18 and the BOG will approve later in June.

Brian Gionta has a NMC. And it was said as players with only two years of pro experience are also exempt which the assumption is that Eichel and Reinhart will not have to be protected if it happens next offseason.

NMCs are exempt. It appears NTCs are not exempt and must be protected. I doubt they are done tweaking the expansion draft but it's probably got to be announced by the draft considering some teams' entire offseasons will be dictated by these rules (that is if they announce expansion for the 2017-18 season).

I have been surprised by network tv shows lately, namely Gotham and The Blacklist. James Spader has been incredible in The Blacklist and this season was one of the better seasons of network television I've ever watched. I don't consider it to be procedural since they carry storylines for so many episodes and the deeper mystery of what's going on is always apparent as opposed to getting shoved to the back burner for extended periods. AND their best episode yet took place when they did something network tv RARELY does. They had an episode where they exclusively focused on the psyche of Spader's character Reddungton. The entire episode was focused on him and did little to advance any aspect of the storyline other than to highlight the show's best character. Cool stuff. Gotham is fun. It's got the cheesy parts a comic book adaptation should and has enough interesting characters to carry it for a long time. I'll be interested in what the end-game is for the show. I doubt the ratings are good enough to carry it into a full transition for a Batman show, but I wonder where they'll end it. With young Bruce's first time putting on the suit?

Sorry, I somehow missed your dman question. I would probably go Juolevi, but I do like Chychrun a lot. It's close between those two for me. And it's mainly that I like the others more. Keller's size doesn't concern me much because you can mix in some undersized guys as long as they compensate with speed and finishing ability which he has.

I see a note above that expansion is EXPECTED to be pushed back to 18-19 That's not true. Nothing remotely close to that was said. What was said is that it's an option but that's always been known. The options have always been zero, one or two teams in 17-18 or 18-19. In fact, the only reporters I saw offer an opinion after the state of the league address said they still expect Vegas to get expansion for 17-18. The league has said they'll need to make a decision on expansion within a few months if they want to get it done for 17-18. Bettman said exactly that last week when he appeared on Bloomberg. The date Bettman said we'll have an answer is June 22nd. June 22nd is within a few months... ALSO: I see a discussion on how teams don't need to protect players with NMCs. They also got rid of te minimum salary exposed requirement. However, the league said teams will be punished heavily if they can't comply with the expansion draft (meaning they have too many NMCs and can't expose players or don't have the right number of players to expose). I saw an implication that there are some expansion draft rules that haven't been leaked yet.