2009 NHL Draft

According to Larry Brooks of The New York Post, the New York Rangers have agreed to terms with 2008 second-round pick Derek Stepan.

Stepan, who played two years at Wisconsin, helping the team reach this year's Frozen Four, reportedly agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract worth $875,000 base salary cap. However, as per the NHL's collective-bargaining agreement, the deal cannot be registered with the league until July 1.

Since July 1, every day for me has started out the same.

I wake up, I log on to NHL.com.

Then TSN.ca.

Then Sportsnet.ca.

Then Hockeybuzz.com.

This continues throughout the day whenever I get the opportunity.

In today's NHL, with salary cap constraints and perhaps the most parity the league has ever seen, the transactions in the NHL are both abundant and significant.

As is the case every year, the Boston Bruins rookies eagerly arrived in Wilmington to take to the ice and show off their skills to Bruins coaches, executives, and the fans.

With the camp concluded, it appears that the development of players from the 2008 camp has continued to grow strongly, due in large part to time spent with either the Providence Bruins of the AHL, or gaining maturity in the junior leagues. With the players officially back home, it's time to look back and review how the camp went.

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The most important position on an NHL team is the goaltender. A goaltender can make a mediocre team into the 2005-06 Edmonton Oilers and can turn a great team into the 1989-90 Quebec Nordiques. 

The following is an email from Pierre McGuire in reply to "An open letter to Pierre McGuire".  I think it was a very classy thing for him to do.

With the NHL's Free Agency beginning yesterday, plenty of goaltenders found new homes.

Ty Conklin found a new job in the Midwest to battle for a starting spot, while Florida rotated backups and sent Anderson to the west. Also moving is former-Oiler/Penguin Matthieu Garon and also former-Oiler Dwayne Roloson.

The full wrap-up of all the goaltending transactions that occurred on opening day of NHL Free Agency is below.

Conklin stays in the region, finds a home with the Blues

There is disappointment in Toronto concerning the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2009 draft picks.

It’s the kind of dissatisfaction your stomach feels after having a rice cake instead of cheese cake. 

Coming from the little city of Peterborough, Ontario, I have grown up watching and idolizing players that played for the hometown team.

You may or may not have heard of the organization before, but the Peterborough Petes are one of the, if not the most historic, junior teams in Canada. Founded in the late 1950's, the Petes have been a factory for NHL players.

They pump out more players then any other franchise in the world: Steve Yzerman, Bob Gainey, Larry Murphy, Steve Larmer, Chris Pronger, and more recently Eric and Jordan Staal (just to name a few).

The National Hockey League completed its 2009 Entry Draft on Saturday in Montreal and just like on Friday, there were no major surprises from the Los Angeles Kings, who selected nine players in rounds 2-7 and were involved in four minor trades.

The 2009 NHL Entry Draft has come and gone, leaving many to analyze the aftermath. 

I'm going give you a recap of what the Buffalo Sabres did with their selections, and what it could mean for the future of the club.

Heading into the draft, there were a few issues that needed addressing: firstly, the team lacked a puck-moving defenseman and had since the departure of Brian Campbell. Finding one in the middle of the first round wasn't likely heading into the weekend, however.