September 17, 2013

Dobber Sports

2013-09-17

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Louis Leblanc was one of the first cuts from Montreal Canadiens camp and his girlfriend Aleksandra Wozniak wasn’t impressed. If you don’t know, she’s a pro tennis player on the ATP tour. Leblanc played 42 games with Montreal in 2011-12, but wasn’t called up at all last year.

 

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The Senators signed Curtis Lazar to a three-year entry level deal on Tuesday. He went 17th overall in the 2013 Draft.

 

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Tim Thomas is an interesting acquisition for Florida. I agree with Dobber that he probably makes the team and plays substantially in 2013-14, but bringing him in says more about how the Panthers feel about Jacob Markstrom it looks like.

 

For whatever reason, it seems Florida isn't as high on Markstrom as they once were. Now granted, his numbers last year weren't stellar with a 3.22 GAA and a save percentage that barely cracked .900, but let's keep in mind the team he had in front of him. Markstrom is now 23 years old and still hasn't played more than 23 games in a campaign, so it would seem the upcoming year where Florida figures to be rebuilding, would be the perfect time to see exactly what they have in the prospect.

 

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Damien Brunner signed a professional tryout contract of his own with the New Jersey Devilson Monday. It's a little surprising that it took this long for someone to give Brunner another shot, as he posted a respectable 26 points in 44 games in 2013 with the Red Wings. Part of the reason could be that even though last year was his first NHL season, Brunner is already 27 and many squads are opting to give younger players a look. Nevertheless, it may be a nice fit since the Devils will be looking to replace the scoring it lost from Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson.

 

 

 

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Leafs winger Frazer McLaren suffered a broken pinky finger during training camp. He could be out for 4-6 weeks, but Randy Carlyle wouldn't commit to that timetable. Toronto was apparently going to have him do more than just fight this year and kill some penalties. What a radical idea. McLaren used to kill penalties with Worcester of the American Hockey League.

 

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Paul Bissonnette who is more known for his Twitter antics than his play on the ice, has been given a 10-game suspension for leaving the bench on Sunday against Los Angeles. Bissonnette was coming to the aid of teammate Rostislav Klesla who took a huge hit from Jordan Nolan. Klesla suffered a concussion and had to leave on a stretcher.

 

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Good news for Oilers fans as it looks like Edmonton will try and avoid having to deal with an RFA nightmare by extending Ryan Nugent-Hopkins early. It's hard to believe that this season will already be RNH's third and final year of his entry-level deal. If the team doesn't sign him before next summer he would become a restricted free agent.

 

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Preseason games continue to roll on and here are some things that stood out from Monday night.

 

The Leafs took on the Flyers and Jonathan Bernier made his debut between the pipes for Toronto, but it was journeyman Drew MacIntyre who stole the show. MacIntyre made some incredible stops and brought the crowd to life.

 

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Bernier held his own as well and the one thing I noticed was his ability to play the puck. That has never been a strength of James Reimer, so that may be one spot where Bernier holds an edge. He did a nice job against Philly helping his defensemen out, especially when the Leafs were killing penalties.

 

Speaking of the penalty kill, Morgan Rielly saw some action there during his 21-plus minutes of ice. The youngster had some nice moments clearing the puck from danger, but he also panicked with it as well and one led to a needless icing.

 

Carter Ashton is a guy who has a shot to crack the squad in a depth winger role, but the young Leaf forward was careless with the puck on a few occasions Monday, something Randy Carlyle won't take kindly to.

 

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Adam Almquist picked up two goals for Detroit in a 4-1 win over Pittsburgh. Tomas Tatar also chipped in with a goal and a helper. Almquist might be longshot to make the squad, but he emerged for Grand Rapids during their playoff run last spring with 10 points.

 

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Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, and Jason Akeson played on a line together against Washington Monday night and the trio combined for two goals. Couturier assisted on a goal each from Voracek and Akeson. This could be the year that Couturier ups his numbers to the 40-50 point range.

 

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Jarome Iginla scored twice for Boston against Montreal Monday. Iginla is in a great low pressure situation with plenty of talent around him this season, and he should get quality minutes on the power play. It's not crazy to think he could get 35 goals in Beantown in 2013-14.

 

Max Pacioretty chipped in with a tally that was assisted by Daniel Briere. If those two play together substantially this year, Pacioretty is really going to benefit.

 

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Cory Schneider had a nice showing with the Devils, stopping all 22 shots he faced over two periods of action. That goaltending situation could get ugly at some point this year as Martin Brodeur isn't ready to give up the crease. Brodeur has already been tabbed to start the opening game.

 

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike

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