I am in relaxed mode today and missed this by about 7 hours.

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Speaking of goalies, how much is the NHL changing right now? The league average save percentage is .908 as of Thursday morning. If that continues, it will be the first time below .910 since 2008-09.

- A number of Western Conference GMs are curious about what Colorado is going to do. They’re good enough to like their chances, but not yet deep enough to believe they can win it all. They’ve got a lot of assets to work the trade market with, but the biggest question is whether or not the Avalanche believe this is the year to try to win it all.

- Sounds like Carolina’s been debating Vladimir Tarasenko, but would St. Louis want Martin Necas?

- Columbus’s Jarmo Kekalainen and Detroit’s Ken Holland were two GMs seen at the Channel One Cup in Moscow. (Apparently, Montreal had a decent-sized delegation, too.) The Blue Jackets had defensive prospect Vladislav Gavrikov there, who apparently played very well for the victorious Russians. There is a push for some Russian free agents, but the highest-rated ones may not be free until the summer of 2020. There are rumblings that ex-NHLers Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Nesterov are contemplating returns, too.

- Someone made an interesting comparison this week…Alexander Ovechkin to Steve Yzerman. Yzerman had a phenomenal career well before he won his first Stanley Cup in Year 14, lighting up the NHL season after season. We all know the story. He changed his game, won two more times, adding a gold medal for fun. People spoke a lot differently of his legacy after 1997 than before. We’re seeing the same path for Ovechkin, who climbed the mountain in Year 13. The only difference is Ovechkin’s numbers aren’t declining.

much more