Another tidbit from Ecklund..

That’s why you heard reports of a Malone’s rights-to-Columbus trade.

And please. It was just 981268981 years in a row.

Ouch. Good thing you had a top 3 pick 981268982 years in a row!

I would agree with that but take it several steps further.

Wake me in the fourth round.

(Unless something disturbing happens with Malkin. Then shoot me.)

Streit - Good second pairing D man, great on the PP. He’ll get, I’m guessing, something around a $3-4MM cap hit.

Campbell - I think he’s looking for bank. Sounds like the Sharks aren’t offering what he was looking for, and my guess here is in the $6MM cap hit range.

Malkin - This much I know. He’s a HUGE star in Russia. When I was in Torino, there were probably more Malkin jerseys than any other, including Ovechkin, Datsyuk, Kovalchuk, Kovalev, etc. Maybe because he was the only one playing in Russia, but I was like “Who’s this Malkin that everyone is wearing?” That said, I’d be surprised if he went back, as right now the NHL is still clearly the gold standard of hockey. But then with that said, if they were able to lure him back, that would be quite the coup and would go a long ways towards really legitimizing the new KHL as a competitor to the NHL for players. It’s not about “screwing the NHL over”. It’s about the Russians being serious about creating a league that is an attractive alternative to top players.

I don’t think it would cause teams to re-think the salary cap. The NHL can still pay players plenty.