Dr. Daps' Absurdly Early 2012-2013 Season Predictions

Hi again, everybody! For those of you who follow this blog regularly (which is nobody) you might go back and remember a post I put up last year which was me calling what I think was going to happen. Around this time last year, I called that the Los Angeles Kings were going to win their first Stanley Cup, and they did! I was right! So now, I'm going to try and go 2-for-2 and pick the scenario for what the end of the upcoming season (if there is one) right now, here in July. And like I said last year, I was not expecting to be anywhere near as right as I was last year. So if anyone even remotely cares about my opinion out there, don't get your panties in a bunch when it turns out I'm laughably wrong. This is merely something to fill the void until something big happens in the hockey world that I can report on.

Eastern Conference


1. Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Boston Bruins
3. Washington Capitals
4. New York Rangers
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. New Jersey Devils
7. Carolina Hurricanes
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (yes, I'm actually serious)

1st. Round


Pittsburgh over Toronto in 4 games.
Boston over Carolina in 7 games.
New Jersey over Washington in 6 games.
New York over Philadelphia in 6 games.

2nd. Round


Pittsburgh over New Jersey in 6 games.
New York over Boston in 6 games.

Conference Championship


New York over Pittsburgh in 4 games.

Rick Nash Reportedly Heading to the Rangers; Has Glen Sather Finally Resurrected His Image?

After months and months of looming rumors and speculation, the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers have finally formulated a plan to bring Rick Nash to Broadway.

The news broke around 2:30 PM on July 23, as Twitter feeds began erupting with news of a trade going down. The details slowly came up, and it would appear that Glen Sather has once again worked his trade magic and landed a good player for a nearly bargain-bin price. The trade will involve Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round pick for the right-wing Nash. All of these players combined equaled what Rick Nash managed to do in the NHL last season, as he did have one of his worst years, with 30 goals and nearly 60 points on the worst team in the NHL.

Many fans, including myself, were looking at this trade through the spaces in between their fingers, as the worst was feared that perhaps Derek Stepan, Marc Staal, or even Chris Kreider would be involved with the trade. But GM Scott Howson was the first to blink in this staring match, and he needed to do something soon. And this is what we were left with. And it's pretty good.

Why I Am Not Happy with the Rangers Free Agent Signings

All is calm on the Rangers free-agency front, and now that the dust has settled on the chaos that is the first week of signings, I look around and see.... well, not a whole lot. In fact, I don't see much. In fact, it truly upsets me what I see. When I look at the free-agency tracker on NHL.com and see what the Rangers have done so far this offseason, I am not one bit pleased, or assured that the Rangers are going to be fine in the upcoming season with the moves they have currently made.

Let's kick off with the gents who have shipped off that were here last season. Ruslan Fedotenko to Philadelphia, Jeff Woywitka to St. Louis, John Scott to Buffalo, Brandon Prust to Montreal, and John Mitchell to Colorado. I did not look, but I'm pretty sure if I went back and added up every goal all of these players scored last season, it'd be less than 15. So, there is not a lot of tears to be shed on this part, the Rangers have simply trimmed some of the non-producers on the lineup.

That isn't what upsets me. What upsets me is what the Rangers have done in response to all of those players leaving.

The walking of all of those players clears up quite a bit of cap space. So one would think that if the Rangers were letting all of those players go, they would want to sign someone who is going to be worth a pretty buck, like Zach Parise, right? Well, that ship has sailed. He's off in Minnesota swimming in dough with Ryan Suter, who the Rangers were also thinking about targeting. Or, maybe they're looking to swing a trade for someone like Rick Nash, or Bobby Ryan? Possibly, but then that would leave the Rangers down quite a bit of cap space and a few players in exchange for one guy. No, what really gets me mad is what the Rangers HAVE already done with their cap space, and what "good use" it's going to be going to.