Grab Bag: UFA winners and losers

In the Friday Grab Bag:
- My review of the winners and losers of the first week of free agency
- Let's get creative when unveiling big extensions
- The most obscure RFA offers sheet target ever
- The week's three comedy stars
- And a look back at the Nail Yakupov draft. If only there were some subtle hints that it wouldn't work out...

>> Read the full post at Vice Sports

When first overall busts are traded

News broke this week that Nail Yakupov has asked the Oilers to trade him. That’s probably not devastating news for Edmonton fans, most of whom have soured on the unproductive winger. Four years after being taken with the first overall pick in the 2012 draft, there’s little question that Yakupov is dangerously close to settling into bust territory.

But there’s good news for the Oilers. Trading a disappointing first overall pick is far from unprecedented. And in fact, history tells us that it’s even possible to extract some value from the deal. So let’s look back on five times in NHL history that a first overall bust was dealt a few years into their career, how those trades worked out, and what lessons the Oilers might be able to learn from them.

Brian Lawton, Minnesota North Stars

The bust: In 1983, the North Stars made Lawton the first ever American to be taken with the top pick. Among the players they passed on were another American, Pat LaFontaine, as well as a pair of decent Canadians in Steve Yzerman and Cam Neely. Lawton managed just one 20-goal season with the Stars, and never topped 50 points.

The trade: Days into the 1988-89 season, the Stars sent Lawton, Igor Liba and prospect Rick Bennett to the Rangers for Mark Tinordi, Paul Jerrard, Mike Sullivan, Bret Barnett and a third round choice.

The aftermath: Lawton didn’t last long in New York, appearing in just 30 games before he was on the move again, although in fairness that was five games more than Liba and Bennett would have in New York combined. In December, the Rangers packaged him with Don Maloney and Norm MacIver and sent him to the Whalers for Carey Wilson and a draft pick. (Ironically, the Whalers had owned the second pick in that 1983 draft, and had also passed on those future Hall of Famers, opting for a quasi-bust of their own in Sylvain Turgeon.)

Lawton bounced around with four more teams before his NHL career ended in 1993; he’d go on to become a player agent, and also had a stint as the Lightning GM.

While the pick was a painful miss for the North Stars, the Lawton trade worked out fairly well. Jerrard, Sullivan and Barnett combined for just five games in Minnesota, but Tinordi filled a regular role on the blueline until the franchise moved to Dallas in 1993. He went on to have a son who was so good that Maloney himself would trade away an all-star captain just to acquire him.

Lesson for the Oilers: While missing on a first overall pick is never fun, it is possible to salvage at least some value out of the eventual trade – assuming you move fast enough.

>> Read the full post at The Hockey News

A hockey fan's guide to NASCAR

The vehicle was allowed to finish the race, then
listed as day-to-day with "car crash like symptoms".

Hockey fans may not have paid much attention, but one of the biggest sporting events in North American was held over the weekend. That would be the annual running of the Daytona 500, the signature event NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

While there may not seem to be much overlap between the two fan bases, the NHL and NASCAR actually share more than a few characteristics. They both began as largely regional attractions, both have seen significant revenue growth over the past 20 years, and both have struggled with trying to expand their appeal without alienating diehard fans.

So if you're a hockey fan who's interested in learning more about one of America's most popular sports, here's a guide to some of the other similarities and differences between NASCAR and the NHL.

NASCAR: Fans of other sports cannot understand why anyone would want to watch someone just repeat the exact same thing over and over again 200 times in a row.
The NHL: Fans of other sports cannot understand why anyone would want to watch Sidney Crosby be interviewed.

NASCAR: A "green-white-checker finish" is a rule that allows a race to be completed with two full laps of racing instead of ending under a caution flag.
The NHL: A "green-white-checker finish" is currently being applied to Don Cherry's jacket.

NASCAR: A vehicle known as the "pace car" starts out in the lead and sets the pace before everyone leaves it in the dust and it's never heard from again.
The NHL: There's a similar concept, but it's called "the 2013 San Jose Sharks".

NASCAR: According to stereotypes, is a sport populated entirely by toothless Southern beer-guzzlers with ridiculous mullets.
The NHL: Has never been accused of appealing to Southern people.

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Ways Phil Kessel is dealing with his nine-game scoring slump

But seriously Zdeno, the game ended
three days ago, you can let me go now.

Phil Kessel has zero goals so far this season. You're probably well aware of this fact if you're a Maple Leafs fan, or have watched a few seconds of a Maple Leafs game, or walked by a newsstand that included any Toronto newspaper.

But while everyone's seen what Kessel's been doing (and not doing) when he's on the ice, we haven't heard much about what's happening off of it. The notoriously private winger hasn't said much about how he's dealing with the cold streak heard 'round the NHL.

According to well-placed Maple Leafs sources, here's how Phil Kessel has been spending his time during his season-opening slump.

• Repeatedly sneaking into the room of a sleeping Joffrey Lupul with duct tape and a UHU stick and trying to put his arm back together.
  
  
• Getting the sinking feeling that when Randy Carlyle showed the team clips of Nail Yakupov's various goal celebrations and sternly warned them all never to do that, he may have just meant the celebration part.
  
  
• Waking up in a cold sweat from that recurring nightmare of Zdeno Chara following him everywhere; calmly reminding himself that it was only a dream; rolling over to find Zdeno Chara standing over his bed cracking his knuckles.

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So you've scored a goal: The etiquette of NHL celebrations

He skated as far as he could as fast as he
could and when it was over he was devastated
to realize he was still in Edmonton.

Edmonton Oiler rookie Nail Yakupov managed to make himself the talk of the hockey world last week when he celebrated a last-second goal against the Kings with an extended slide down the length of the rink.

While many chalked the moment up to youthful enthusiasm, others weren't so kind. Don Cherry called him an idiot, and many fans of other teams were even harsher. But was the criticism justified? After all, has anyone ever actually documented what exactly a player is allowed to do when they score?

They have, as it turns out. But apparently Yakupov didn't get the memo. So for the benefit of him and any other rookies who missed it, here's the official NHL etiquette for celebrating.

Do: Celebrate your 50th goal of the season by pretending that your hockey stick has caught on fire.
Do not: Forget to check your insurance company's fire policy first, to make sure they'll eventually replace your stick with one that can still score goals.

Do: Borrow the signature celebration of the Green Bay Packers by leaping into the first few rows of the stands after scoring.
Do not: Try this in Toronto during the opening ten minutes of a period, since you'd prefer to land in an area that actually has fans.

Do: Celebrate enthusiastically when you record a hat trick.
Do not: Use up all of your energy on that celebration, since you'll want to save some for your second shift against the Flyers defense.

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Grantland weekly grab bag: Was it ever OK to use that breakaway move in NHL 94?

This week we're debuting what we're hoping will become a weekly grab-bag style feature at Grantland.

This time around, I tackle pressing issues like Nail Yakupov’s celebration, Don Cherry’s missing chair, whether it was OK to use that breakaway move in NHL 94, and the Calgary Flames' legendary "Red Hot" video.

>> Read the full post at Grantland

2012 NHL Draft Preview

Unsurprisingly, Brian Burke is desperate to trade up
for the one who apparently can't tie a necktie.

With the Stanley Cup final wrapping up last Monday, hockey fans were forced to endure over one full week without any major NHL news. Luckily, our long collective nightmare is now over: The NHL draft starts on Friday night, and we can spend the rest of the week speculating about which young players will wind up where.

Of course, NHL scouting departments have been preparing for this weekend for months. They've compiled detailed reports on each player available and can recite their strengths and weaknesses with ease. But the casual fan may only be getting caught up on the top prospect now, which doesn't leave much time to cram before things get started on Friday.

Here's a look at some of the names that fans can expect to hear called early in the 2012 NHL draft.

Nail Yakupov - The consensus top pick has recently added a previously unseen physical aspect to his game, according to all those holes he punched in his wall after watching the Oilers win the draft lottery.

Alex Galchenyuk - Impressed scouts at the combine by showing off his surgically repaired left knee, although some admit they'd have felt even better if it hadn't been inside a jar with holes poked in the lid.

Ryan Murray - The young blueliner has been described as a perfect fit for the New York Islanders, so apparently he's really good at turning to the referee and saying "I think our goalie's bones just exploded".

Filip Forsberg - Is often incorrectly assumed to be related to former NHL star Peter Forsberg, which is understandable since he's Swedish, an excellent two-way center, and retired from hockey four separate times last season.

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Beyond the trade deadline: Other dates to look forward to this season

I have no idea what any of these words mean.

It’s over. After weeks of nonstop speculation, swirling rumors and backroom intrigue, the trade deadline has finally passed. The dust has settled, the phone lines have gone quiet, and there won’t be another significant NHL player transaction made until the offseason.

Wait! Where are you going? Come back!

OK, it’s true that the days immediately after the deadline can feel like a letdown for hockey fans. The buildup to the big day can be so overwhelming that it can be difficult to make the sudden adjustment to a world without trade talk. It’s only natural that some hockey fans may find themselves, at least temporarily, struggling to stay interested.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. After all, there’s still plenty of excitement left to come in the 2011-12 season. So just to refresh your memory, here are some of the important moments that fans can look forward to over the coming weeks and months

February 28 – After several days of trying, Leafs goaltenders James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson finally extract themselves from under the team’s bus and head off to Ron Wilson’s office to find out which one of them is starting that night.

March 1 – As he continues to get settled in with his new team, Ben Bishop wonders why the Senators are suddenly enforcing this new “Goalies may only ever eat ice cream and soup” rule.

March 4 - A confused Jay Feaster tries to figure out why nobody seems interested in talking trade with him.

March 8 – Jeff Carter returns to Columbus for the first time as a member for the Los Angeles Kings and is greeted with a lengthy ceremony, if Rick Nash following him around and sobbing “Please take me with you!” all game long can really be considered a ceremony.

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