Analysis of the Buffalo-Winnipeg swap, breaking down Craig Button's new draft rankings and a look at the Calder Trophy race.

Thursday, February 12th

Let’s get straight to the big news that shook down Wednesday afternoon with Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian headed to Buffalo in a trade. Kevin Cheveldayoff did a miraculous job in a trade where his hands were tied (Kane being a diva with a questionable character and then add in the fact that he was out for the remainder of the season). As I was reading the return for Kane, I kept getting more and more impressed.

College gems, prospect analytics and more...

Edit: Evander Kane has been traded to Buffalo, and part of the return are prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux. Their profiles have already been updated to reflect the trade.

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Ryan Murphy will be out four weeks with a leg injury. He had been playing much better as of late, and looked to have secured a spot in the NHL with 7 points in 21 games and improving posession numbers. Hopefully this won't be a long-term injury for the former 11th overall pick. Especially if Sekera leaves, Murphy should be able to secure powerplay time and a consistent top-four role next season. While the Hurricanes aren't the greatest team, there is enough talent to support two fantasy relevent defensemen. 

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Brendan Perlini has had a pretty great week with eight points in three OHL games for the streaking IceDogs. He is sixth in OHL points per game with 40 points in 26 games. Arizona's 12th overall pick this past June has really stepped into another gear recently, after a broken hand kept him out to start the year.

Crazy saves, streaks and Jevpalovs...

Life, school and an annoyingly good Butler have been occupying a ton of my time, but this will be the sixth week of consistent ramblings and the show will go on.

Nicolaj Ehlers is having a historic season, and currently has a 25 game point streak going on. 59 points in 25 games. That is pretty great, and the Jets are thanking the Canucks every night for taking Virtanen and leaving them such a special prospect. Don't get me wrong, it is way too early to predict those two players' NHL careers, but I don't think too many people would take Virtanen (who has 37 points in 29 games, but has been doing better lately) at #6 if we held a redraft tomorrow.

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Tell me who the top scoring defenseman was for last year's World Junior's. Didn't think you could.