Here are all the links from around the hockey world, and what I’m reading, while the Bruins already have a game in the books, having been played at 2:30 a.m.
*It’s too bad that NHL general managers pretty much never, ever use the offer sheet on restricted free agents because rival Atlantic Division teams could really screw with the Toronto Maple Leafs by dropping a big offer on talented RFA William Nylander. The 22-year-old is coming off a strong 20 goals/61 points season for the Leafs and Toronto is in a fairly tight salary-cap situation after signing John Tavares and still needing to shell out massive bucks for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner after this season. So, a significant offer sheet for Nylander could really start to rip things up for young GM Kyle Dubas in Toronto. Instead, the Leafs GM sounds confident Toronto will eventually sign the player and not have to do anything too extraordinary in order to make it happen. The GMs will continue to shy away from one of the tools they could use to help bury a division rival and the hands-off treatment of RFAs in the NHL will continue.
*Fun little PR stunt for the Springfield Thunderbirds as they have invited big-mouth defensive back Jalen Ramsey to work out with them after he said he could play in the NHL within a couple of weeks of training.
*How cannabis changed the life of former NHL player and Stanley Cup winner Jeff Friesen after he retired at 36.
*Pro Hockey Talk has the youthful New York Rangers focused on getting better after all the changes to their roster.
*With schoolboy hockey all the rage there, Milton, Mass., is an epicenter of hockey in New England.
*Trying to make sense of Nik Ritchie’s contract negotiation struggles with the Anaheim Ducks that have now spilled over into training camp.
*For something completely different: With family in the Merrimack Valley area, I hope they get to the bottom of this and nothing like the home gas explosions ever happens again. The injuries and life lost, the untold damage to people’s homes and the trauma of displacing families from their homes, there’s no doubt it’s a tragic disaster. I wonder how long before we find out it was a completely avoidable disaster as well.