Olympic Roster Speculation - Sweden

Sweden is one of the favorites in this years Olympics. They won Gold in 2006 but was unable to grab a medal in 2010. Sweden always has a large selection of talented players to pick from and they will build a solid team around arguably the best goalie in the World, Henrik Lundqvist. With the invitations for the camp roster already out, the most surprising player missing is Daniel Alfredsson. The major competition within the roster will be on defense. All of Sweden’s defensemen invited to Sweden’s ’14 Olympic camp roster are considered “top 4” on their respective NHL teams. That being said, here is what I think the Swedish Olympic roster will look come February.

Forwards

Line 1: Loui Eriksson, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin
Line 2: Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Backstrom, Johan Franzen
Line 3: Patric Hornqvist, Patrik Berglund, Gabriel Landeskog
Line 4: Carl Hagelin, Alexander Steen, Oscar Lindberg
Extra Forwards: Marcus Johansson, Joel Lundqvist

Defensemen

Pair 1: Erik Karlsson, Niklas Kronwall
Pair 2: Alexander Edler, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Pair 3: Victor Hedman, Niklas Hjalmarsson
Extra Defensemen: Johnny Oduya, Jonas Brodin

Goaltenders

Starter: Henrik Lundqvist
Backup: Viktor Fasth
Extra Goalie: Robin Lehner

Olympic Roster Speculation - Canada

Canada enters the Olympic Tournament as the favorites, as usual. Also standard to Team Canada is the gigantic pool of players from which to choose from. The hottest competition for roster spots will be in net, where five goalies have been invited to camp: Roberto Luongo, Mike Smith, Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, and Carey Price. As usual, they have a rather large advantage over other countries when it comes to scoring depth. Here's what I think the roster will look like when all is said and done:

Forwards

Line 1 - Rick Nash, Sidney Crosby, Corey Perry
Line 2 - Jonathan Toews, Claude Giroux, Steven Stamkos
Line 3 - Jordan Staal, Eric Staal, Tyler Seguin
Line 4 - James Neal, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic
Extra Forwards - John Tavares, Shane Doan

Defensemen

Pair 1 - Duncan Keith, Shea Weber
Pair 2 - Dion Phaneuf, Drew Doughty
Pair 3 - P.K. Subban, Kris Letang
Extra Defensemen - Francois Beauchemin, Alex Pietrangelo

Goaltenders

Starter - Mike Smith
Backup - Roberto Luongo
Extra Goalie - Carey Price

NHL Schedule Released, Divisions Named

The NHL released its schedule today, after reaching an agreement with the IIHF on its players' participation in the upcoming Olympics in Sochi, Russia. With the release of the schedule came the long-awaited names of the four new divisions. They are:

• Atlantic Division: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto
• Metropolitan Division: Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
• Central Division: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg
• Pacific Division: Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver

Personally, I think now would've been a perfect time to go back to the old names, being Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe. Also, they probably could've picked a better name than Metropolitan, but I'll let that slide for now. Here's the scheduling matrix, from NHL.com:

Western Conference (7-Team Divisions)

Within Conference (Division): 29 games

* 5 games vs. five teams (3 Home/2 Away vs. two teams, 2 Home/3 Away vs. three teams) AND 4 games vs. one team (2 Home/2 Away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 5 X 5 =25 games

* 1 X 4 = 4 games

Within Conference (Non-Division): 21 games

* 3 games vs. each team (2 Home/1 Away vs. four teams, 1 Home/2 Away vs. three teams). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 3 X 7 = 21 games

Non-Conference: 32 games

* 2 games vs. each team (1 Home/1 Away)

* 2 X 16 = 32 games

(Exception: one team from each division plays one less game inside Division and one more game inside Conference outside Division)

Eastern Conference (8-Team Divisions)

Within Conference (Division): 30 games

* 5 games vs. two teams (3 Home/2 Away vs. one team, 2 Home/3 Away vs. one team) AND 4 games vs. five teams (2 Home/2 Away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 5 X 2 =10 games

* 4 X 5 = 20 games

Within Conference (Non-Division): 24 games

* 3 games vs. each team (2 Home/1 Away vs. four teams, 1 Home/2 Away vs. four teams). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 3 X 8 = 24 games

Non-Conference: 28 games

* 2 games vs. each team (1 Home/1 Away)

* 2 X 14 = 28 games

You can view the complete schedule here.

Same Faces, New Name

One of Europe's oldest hockey leagues is getting a rebrand - complete with a new name. Last month, officials of Sweden's top league, Elitserien, decided to change the name of their league to SHL; the Swedish Hockey League. Citing the need to make the brand more recognizable, the acronym SHL is about as straightforward as it gets; it's Swedish, it's hockey, and it's a league. The name and brand change will take effect this coming season, which begins on September 14th.

Two new teams will be joining the SHL this season. Leksands IF and Örebro HK were both promoted to the SHL through a tournament called Kvalserien, which serves to promote and relegate teams to either SHL or HockeyAllsvenskan, which is Sweden's second-tier league. Each season, the bottom two teams from the SHL compete in a double round-robin against the top three teams from HockeyAllsvenskan, plus the winner of a double round-robin between teams placed 4th-7th in HockeyAllsvenskan. The top two teams in Kvalserien are promoted to the SHL, while the rest play in HockeyAllsvenskan the following season.

Off-Season Update

Here is a list of recent Offseason signings and some thoughts on each of them.

-  Dustin Penner has returned to the Anahiem Ducks with a 1 year deal worth 2 Million. I feel that this was a good signing for the Ducks as they added a top 6 forward with good size at 6'4" and 240 lbs. In the shorten season, he had 14 points in 33 games but he was mostly on the 3rd line and the 2nd Power Play unit for the Kings. I feel that with the Ducks, he could be on the 1st or 2nd line and we could see about 45-60 points this upcoming season. He was with the Ducks when they won the cup in 06-07 and he will fit in nicely on either the top line line Getzlaf and Perry or the second line with Selanne (still an UFA).

-  Detroit has resigned Brendan Smith to a 2 year deal worth 2.525 million per year. Brendan Smith was the 1st round pick of the Red Wings in 2007 and is a top 4 defenceman for the Wings. I feel that the Wings gave a little bit too much money for the young Dman but at 24 and only 2 years of NHL experience, he still has a lot of potential to be solid on the blue-line.

-  Islanders resign Josh Bailey to a 5 year deal worth 16.5 million. I feel that this is a great signing for the Islanders. Bailey, 9th overall in the 2008 draft, is only 23 and has become a solid 2nd line center for the Islanders.  He plays on both the PK and the PP and was an important piece in the Islanders reaching the playoffs. In the shorten season, he was able to accumulate 19 points in 38 games and I can see him getting around 40-50 points in a full season.

- Alec Martinez has been resigned by the Los Angeles Kings to a 2 year deal. Terms have not been released yet. Since the terms of the deal has not been released, it's a bit difficult to put a full review on this signing. That being said, I feel the Kings have resigned an important part of their team. Martinez is a 3rd line defenceman on a team that is build around Drew Doughty. Based on his first deal, I feel that the terms of the deal will be about 1.3 million or so. If it is, I feel that the Kings were able to re-sign a key part of their defensive unit.

- Jacob Markstrom signs a 2 year deal with Panthers. Terms have yet to be released. Markstrom is the future goalie of the Florida Panthers but its taking a bit longer than thought. He plays for a rebuilding Panthers team that will be better with the addition of 2nd overall Aleksander Barkov. I feel that Markstrom will be a solid starting goalie but he is only 23 and the Panthers will still be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for a few more years.

Blake Geoffrion To Retire, Takes Scouting Job With Columbus

It's always a sad day when someone's career ends, and doubly so when the cause is a severe injury. Such is the case for Blake Geoffrion, who retired yesterday at the age of 25 after battling the effects of sustaining a concussion and a depressed skull fracture while playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.

The hit took place on November 9, 2012 in a game between Geoffrion's Bulldogs and the Syracuse Crunch, which is Tampa Bay's AHL affiliate. Geoffrion took a hard hip check from J-P Cote and appears to hit his head on the boards while airborne. Below is the video clip of the hit.

It's not really discernable from the footage, but Cote's skate blade actually cut Geoffrion deep enough to cause the skull fracture. This occurred when Geoffrion landed. What makes the play (and end result) even more unfortunate is that the hit is perfectly clean. It's simply a solid, hard hockey play that went terribly wrong.

Geoffrion wasn't out of work for long, however. Today it was announced that he has been hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets as a pro scout.

Geoffrion had eight goals and five assists in 55 career NHL games, split between Nashville and Montreal.

Predicting Where The Top Remaining UFAs Will Land

Here are the top 25 remaining UFAs, according to NHL.com, and where this writer thinks they'll land:

Forwards:

Jaromir Jagr - Vancouver
He's going to want to play for a contender, but not many can say that they have the chops to contend and the cap space to sign a guy like Jagr, who made $4.5 million last season. The only team I can think of that fits both categories is the Canucks.

*UPDATE 7/16* Jagr posted a cryptic video on his Facebook page. It seems to imply that he won't be playing in the NHL next season, but it's been confirmed that he will be explaining this turn of events tomorrow.

Alexei Ponikarovsky - Columbus
Ponikarovsky shouldn't be an expensive pickup for a prospective buyer, and given the Blue Jackets' relative lack of size up front and need for another checking winger, this could be a good fit. He could also help on the power play, cleaning up rebounds.

Mikhail Grabovski - Buffalo
I would have said Arizona, had they not signed Mike Ribeiro earlier. Grabovski would be able to step right in and be the #1 pivot for the Sabres, which is the type of role that he needs to be in to succeed. Buffalo has ample cap space to get him even though he won't come cheap, and the thought of centering a line with Thomas Vanek has to be appealing to him. Granted, the Sabres have pretty much nothing else around Vanek and Ryan Miller, but I have to believe that Grabovski would take the chance to torch his former team five or six times a season if he could.

Damien Brunner - New Jersey
Since Ilya Kovalchuk quit on them, the Devils have some money to play with now. This means that they're certainly in play for a least a couple of names on this list, but Brunner is one they should target. He was on a roughly 50-point pace last season, and he also tallied 9 points in 14 playoff games for Detroit. He won't score like Kovalchuk did, but he can provide some scoring punch, something that the Devils are sorely lacking.

Dustin Penner - St. Louis
I don't really have any logical backing for picking the Blues as the destination for Penner, but after trading David Perron to Edmonton for Magnus Paajarvi and a second round pick in next year's draft (I'm still scratching my head over that move, Perron's yet to hit his peak), maybe they look to add even more size, with the added benefit of veteran leadership, by signing Penner.

Brenden Morrow - Anaheim
Can't fault the guy for chasing a cup, but he certainly isn't going back to Pittsburgh, that's for sure. The Ducks, who have a bunch of free agents but only two (Selanne and Lydman) worth trying to re-sign, could be a landing spot for Morrow. They could use another veteran up front, and Morrow proved to be a solid checking forward after coming over to Pittsburgh.

Daniel Cleary - Detroit
The Wings have made it clear that they want to bring Cleary back, so I don't have much else to say here.

Milan Hejduk - Minnesota
As crazy as it sounds, I think this is where Hejduk ends up. He wants to play for a team that will slot him in the top six, and I'm assuming he also wants that team to be pretty good. Minnesota's the best balance of that out there, with just enough cap room to sign him, if desired. He could conceivably play alongside Jason Pominville and Kyle Brodziak, which wouldn't be a bad #2 line for the Wild.

Peter Mueller - Florida
He's still eligible for arbitration, so I think that one way or another, Mueller remains in Sunrise. Whether he can return to the form he displayed in his rookie season, scoring 22 goals for the Coyotes, remains to be seen.

Brad Boyes - Washington
I have to be honest, I'm surprised that Boyes is still on the market. Even more surprised that the Islanders aren't bringing him back, after he put up 35 points in 48 games for them. He was a bit of an adventure at times on both ends, but he proved he could still produce at the NHL level. I think he winds up in Washington. The Caps need scoring, no matter the source or position, and Boyes can provide that if he's paired up with the right linemates.

Kyle Wellwood - Calgary
Wellwood is a guy who needs to be in the top six in order to reach his potential. Looking at the Flames depth chart, he could probably step right into a top six spot for the Flames. I think he's underrated, but then again he's 30 years old and his career high is 47 points. Maybe he goes to Calgary and helps bring some of their young talent along.

Scott Gomez - New Jersey
Why not? Gomez won't be back in San Jose and I'm not sure there's much of a market for him around the league. He might have to go back to the place where he made a name for himself.

Nik Antropov - Winnipeg
The Jets have a little under $20 million in cap space to work with (highest in the league), though they do have a total of 12 free agents to decide on. One would think they'll hang on to Wheeler, Little, and Bogosian at the very least, and I believe they'll keep Burmistrov and Postma as well. Whether that means they'll have enough left to keep Antropov remains to be seen, but I think that when all is said and done, he'll stay in Manitoba.

Mason Raymond - Edmonton
I could see the Oilers making a big play for Raymond, as they seem to be trying to get even faster than they already were. Playing on the league's fastest ice will benefit someone like Raymond, who once scored 53 points (25 goals) for Vancouver. It might also help him to not be buried on a depth chart.

Simon Gagne - Toronto
Wherever he lands, it'll likely be a one-year deal due to his injury history. However, he can still produce offensively and the Leafs could use the help... especially after buying out Grabovski.

Teemu Selanne - Anaheim
He either goes back to the Ducks or retires. Simple as that.

Defensemen:

Douglas Murray - Colorado
The Avalanche need a guy like Murray. He's big, strong, throws huge hits, and is a smart player in his own end. Given that they allowed 150 goals last season (3.12 per game), which was 4th-worst in the NHL, they could use the help in front of Semyon Varlamov. He's a good fit for them, the real question is whether they're a good fit for him.

Ron Hainsey - Nashville
Hainsey's been steady for the Jets, but I don't think he'll be back in Winnipeg next season. Enter Nashville, who has already spent a boatload of money on second-tier and lower forwards this offseason, but hasn't addressed their defensive depth yet. They could use a guy like Hainsey to replace Jonathon Blum.

Ryan Whitney - Calgary
Whitney's probably going to wind up with a two-way contract for a bad team, and the Flames could use the depth. He hasn't been the same since suffering an ankle injury three years ago, but he could still find himself playing on a bottom pairing.

Wade Redden - Chicago
To be perfectly honest, your guess is as good as mine. Somehow I see Redden taking a minimum contract to play for the Blackhawks. There isn't and shouldn't be a market for him at this time.

Ian White - NY Islanders
A scratch in the playoffs for Detroit, he's out to prove that he can still play in the NHL. Since they're used to doing things of this nature, it wouldn't shock me to see the Isles take a flier on White. At worst, he's a second-pair defenseman on that roster, and we all know that they can use all the help they can get on defense.

Goaltenders:

Tim Thomas - Ottawa
It actually makes perfect sense for the Senators to bring Tim Thomas in. Their current backup, Robin Lehner, is on a two-way deal for one more season. After getting Bobby Ryan in a trade with the Ducks, the Senators have made it apparent that they're trying to win now. I think they should bring Thomas in, see if he can still play, and if not they can just keep Lehner as their backup.

Ilya Bryzgalov - KHL
At this point, I would bet money on Bryzgalov being done in the NHL. It became obvious during his time in Philadelphia that the only reason he was productive in Glendale was Dave Tippett's system. Could he succeed on some teams in the NHL? I suppose. However, those teams are already set in goal. I'm talking about teams like Columbus, Los Angeles, Montreal, and any other team that plays solid defense. He's going back to Russia.

Jose Theodore - Vancouver
He certainly won't make Canuck fans forget about Corey Schneider, but Theodore won't be back in Florida and will be the backup somewhere. The Canucks haven't really replaced Schneider yet, so they're as good a place as any for Theodore to end up.

Johan Hedberg - Retirement/Elitserien
I'm sorry, but The Moose is done in the NHL. He didn't play well in the backup/spot starter role a season ago, and at 40 years old, he probably won't have a market for his services. He could go back to Sweden and play there, but I'm thinking he retires.